My Day In The Forest

I enjoyed a wonderful day today in the forest with my new camera. I've been studying like mad since I bought that camera ... well actually before that too. It's easier now though, since I can actually put into practice what I'm reading. It's a wonderful feeling to learn something difficult. In the past I would have given up before I started, believing I would never get past the first step, and would only frustrate myself. I'm very proud of myself today, although I'm aware that I have a long way to go still. It's so cool to be able to look at my photographs and understand how I got a certain effect, and what I could try next time to create a different effect.

The forest where I spent the day is right beside Wallmart. Trees, ferns and indiginous wild plants were bulldozed a few years ago, to make way for the store and its parking lot. I'm glad that Wallmart is here, I often shop there, but I wish they had taken over an existing, empty store, rather than destroy such a beautiful, natural site. What remains of the woodland is breathtakingly pretty. I shot photographs of large evergreen trees and giant ferns, mosses with their delicate spring flowers thrusting up like pins in a pin cushion. I followed the sound of rushing water, to a tiny pool surrounded by such a tangle of growth, I had to approach on my knees, crawling under branches that snagged my hair and clothes. I followed a louder sound of water, to a wide creek tumbling around a fallen log and over submerged boulders. Here I enjoyed a snack I'd brought - an apple and a bottle of iced tea.

It was a wonderful day, it just flew by. I came home with over one hundred photographs, and after I'd checked them, and deleted those that weren't worth keeping, I'm left with about 72. Now I have to get to work putting them all through photoshop, to get them at their very best.

I love my new camera!