I’m a natural walker. Head down, keep moving, always thinking about the next waypoint and never stopping unless something catches my eye.
I’ve walked this way all my life without really questioning it. There’s a destination in mind, and although I enjoy the walking, it’s often just the means of getting there.
I’m sure that over the years I’ve walked past countless photographic opportunities without even noticing them, even when photography was the main objective of the day. What’s around the next corner? What’s over the next hill? What will the next destination be like?
Five years ago I started photographing my local woodlands more often and things have slowly changed. There’s something about being surrounded by trees that makes it harder to simply march through at my normal walking pace and still see compositions. Light changes from one step to the next. A shape appears between the trunks. The way the branches overlap creates something that wasn’t there a few glances earlier.
Revisiting the same place so often removes most of the reasons I rushed through in the first place, encouraging me to slow down and linger a while. To look behind me, wait for the light, or take a different path simply because something caught my eye.
I now realise that photographing woodland isn’t really about getting to a particular scene that I’d already visualised. It’s about being present enough to notice one when it appears.
Perhaps that’s what I’ve been learning all along: sometimes you see more when you slow down.
Where to Find Me:
You can see more of my work on my website at : www.rickbowden.co.uk
That’s all for now and thank you for being here.
Until next time, take care.
Rick
Slowing down definitely helps! The same scene in different light can produce different photo ops!
I really love your first photo!
More and more I find it essential to slow down and really take in the beauty around me. Not just in nature but also the people in my life, even if it's brief. I too really love the first image. There's something about how the background fades in a mist and the leaves almost sparkle that draws me in.