Island in the Stream -- Lake Guntersville

For the first post to this new blog, I thought I'd use a shot with some philosophical, atmospheric aspects.

(Click on photo to enlarge)


This image was taken at Lake Guntersville State Park -- a cold, wintry day, at last light. I used my Nikon D700 and the 24-70/2.8 lens. The camera was mounted on a Manfrotto CF tripod, and I used a cable release to prevent shaking the camera during the (long) exposure.

Photography is, at its core, a means of expression. Take the process of recording an image -- crystalizing a moment in time -- away from the mundane or obligatory: chasing screaming children around a house, yard, or playground; trying to get a group of distracted individuals to pay attention and look their best for a quick snap, pulling to the curb and leaping out for a nanosecond to attempt to capture nature's grandeur at a National Park...and there is that pure moment when you are there...alone...quiet...with your subject and a camera. And these are the times that photography can become a contemplative pursuit. You proceed wordlessly to understand your subject. You try to understand, know deeply, what and how to interpret that subject. And you begin -- not to take a picture, but to craft an image. This is where I seek to be with my work, where photography comes to life for me.

Sometimes, the subject seems to inform the photographer how to proceed -- which lens, which perspective, which settings to use -- and the image just emerges, seemingly effortlessly, from the process. I derive so much from these instances. The process is meditative, almost metaphysical, and I come back from such a session refreshed and renewed. Such a session, friends, is church. And my wish for you is that you have many such Spiritual photo sessions.