Redbud Tree and Little River, Tennessee.
© Brenda Tharp. All Rights Reserved.
You never know what you’re going to find when you plan a trip to photograph Spring somewhere - or any season for that matter. If you have a flexible schedule that allows for last minute changes, you might be able to watch the progression of the season to predict when it might be peak for certain things - wildflowers, fall foliage, etc., and make changes to your travel plans. But most of us don’t have that flexibility. My field workshop in The Great Smoky Mountains National Park last week was planned over a year ago for the school to finalize their scheduling and advertising. It’s not possible to know what Spring will be like for 2006 way back then! I arrived on April 7th, only to find that Spring had not really come to the Smokies just yet. Barely begun, the redbud tree were blossoming, but little to nothing else. The dogwood, which often come after the redbud, were scarcely seen save for a blossom here and there on an early blooming tree. The other trees were mostly bare, with few catkins or seeds just beginning to emerge. I was in shock; as I drove around, I wasn’t finding much that grabbed my attention, and I had 12 people coming to meet me on Saturday night! They were anxious to capture the essence of Spring in this park, and it was my job to teach them how. “Yikes!” I remember saying to my assistant as we scouted out all my favorite places there. “Nothing’s happening yet, at least not very pronounced at this point, anyway. What are they going to photograph?” Concern was beginning to set in, as I had specific expectations. That’s when I remembered the danger of going out with a specific plan. And that I know from past experiences that you can always find things to photograph if you look closely and appreciate what’s there. I had to reframe, shift my thinking, pull in my sights. The big vistas of forests dressed in lime-green leaves and bright white dogwood blossoms weren’t happening; so what was? As I looked, I found early spring flowers blooming. And the water was flowing wonderfully over sculpted rocks and mossy boulders, freshly green from the last few days of rain. Bark patterns were still there, and textures of moss with tiny green plants embedded in them. It might not be perfect, but there were things to photograph. The historic cabins were still there, with their silvery weathered wood and peaceful settings in forest clearings and coves. Sparks Lane held possibilities, if we got good morning light and maybe some ground fog. As I inventoried what was there, I began to feel a little better. In the end, I needn’t have worried so much. The students really found great things to photograph, as shown here in these three small examples.
© Rick Tolbert, © Kat McFarland, © Mike Turner.
Many more were made, too. And as each day progressed, Spring began to burst forth and we had new things to photograph! When the end of the week came, it was just coming around nicely. Once again the point was proved that if you are open to what’s around you, and if you love being out in Nature, you will find beautiful things to photograph, no matter what the season. It isn't always about the large landscape; sometimes the beauty of the season is contained in the small things.
Have a great week, everyone!
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