I inhaled the special silence found only in nature. It swept around and through me like a friendly wind, breaking the world’s iron shackles. It brushed out the week’s grime and filled me with new energy to pursue the path before me.
I spent a semester in England in 2007. While there, I visited Scotland, Italy and France. Years later, I’d look back and those photos, dreaming of the day I could capture scenes like this again.
Then, I discovered the Hudson Valley in NY.
I don’t remember what led me to take the Metro-North to Poughkeepsie that first time. I do remember how irritated I was halfway through the trip when I realized I sat on the wrong side of the train. Metro-North’s Hudson line, as the name suggests, travels alongside the Hudson River. And, if you’re sitting on the right side of the train, you get some beautiful views.
Trips on the Metro-North usually last between 1-2 hours but it never feels like because I’d be staring out the window the entire time.
…
(This post has me looking over my old photos. Some are seriously over-edited.)
Fortunately, I can fix them in Lightroom.
…
Sometimes, I’ll hike a trail or visit some Hudson highlight. A few times, I’ll just find a place to write…
…and take some nice sunset shots.
I visited the West Point Foundry Prevere in Cold Spring over the weekend. Scattered across the trails are pieces of an abandoned ironworks.
Good inspiration for a horror story.
Hold on…
That’s better.
It’s also a relaxing place to walk. Some people can live in NY all their lives and thoroughly enjoy all the people and the noise. I’ve been here 10 years and I’m running to nature at every turn. Of course, I bring a journal with me to do some writing and world-building.
Maybe it’s the introvert in me. We get our energy from being on our own. Socializing drains us. Thank God for the Metro-North. Don’t want to think about how I’d be without regular trips to the Hudson Valley.
Ever see those fall landscape photos of waterfalls, ones where the water is smooth like a sheet of glass? I’ve dreamed of taking those kinds of shots. However, there’s an issue. You take those photos at a slower shutter speed. That setting allows a lot of light into your camera. If you’re trying to capture…
A lot of the artists I follow sell nature photography prints. They also say their print sales make up the smallest portion of their income. I’m kinda used to that by now having published 15 books. When it comes to being an entrepreneur, it’s all about multiple income streams. If selling one kind of artwork…
Nature photography often leads to paths that have me shaking my fist at faceless trail makers going “really, really.” Sounds like a fantasy story. Let’s put that aside for later. For obvious reasons, the summit is never at the end of a flat path. I’ve taken the above trail a handful of times and it…
I haven’t had a chance to get into the kind of waterfall photography of my dreams. Hudson Valley and upstate NY have the tall waterfalls I’ve been chasing but I can’t reach them without a car. That doesn’t mean I can’t practice on smaller, local ones. When you have running water, it’s super tempting to…
My quest to capture nice photos of nature often sends me to the same locations. That’s the magic of nature photography. You can visit the same location repeatedly and take different photos of one subject. A beautiful boathouse sits on a lake at one of my favorite photography spots. This boathouse does almost everything except…
I have a love/hate relationship with spring. The season’s perfect for flower photography and my neighborhood smells heavenly. But, I have seasonal allergies and I’m bad at taking medicine before going out. My photo sessions usually end with sniffles and watery eyes. On top of that, pollen’s everywhere. It gets caught in my dog’s fur….
These are beautiful shots!