A Walk In The Woods: Discovering Visual Moments of the Heart

 There are days when events seem to press heavily upon me. No one is immune from such things. It's just a part of life I suppose and as we grow older the accumulated effects of enduring what at times seems like a never ending stream of pressing moments take a toll on your life. 

As a reult, sometimes I just feel like getting out and taking a walk in the woods. Not nearly often enough do I seek refuge there, but when I do, I rediscover the soothing effects places like woodlands possess. Woodlands, they have become one of my favorite locations to get away and to carry a camera for within them a photographer can discover a myriad of visual moments of the heart. 

It matters not what time of day, kind of day, or time of year, a woodlands will speak far beyond the visual to anyone who enters its realm. 

When light filters through the canopy and sets the leaf edges ablaze with color, or when a morning mist finds its way through the random corridors of trees, who among us can resist taking a moment to just absorb what nature offers. 

As a photographer, I sometimes forget to take those moments of silence to just look. Instead I often get caught up with setting up the shot, working out the exposure values, and checking the results when I should just stop and visually capture what is there. Sort of defeats the purpose of being there when I spend more time looking through the camera instead of observing through the heart. 

There are times I do just that, usually when I don't take my camera along, so I can better focus on the real reason I am there. There have been times I've missed a few camera shots, but they are not lost, really. They are stored in my heart...just for me to enjoy as a memory.

Although I enjoy walking through the woods anytime of year, my favorite is probably fall, especially here in Kentucky. It is during this season the woods come alive with color, and when you catch it all, the light, the color, the mist, the breeze, the reflections, aromas, the feeling, well, it makes being a photographer much easier.

Even a simple nature walk can work wonders, but I really enjoy a longer outing. Sometimes it requires a bit of effort, but I do enjoy making a backpacking trip from time to time during the fall season when the air is cooler, the bothersome bugs are gone, and the colors simply fill your soul. 

Once you've reached your destination and get settled in, it becomes time to just enjoy the moment. A campfire, a one pot meal, then time to expand out on the ground cover of leaves and stretch your back.

Take a moment to gaze upward through the canopy of trees, then just close your eyes and allow the sounds of the woodlands infiltrate deep inside. No finer symphony exists than the movement of the leaves as the breeze searches through their realm high above. On a blue sky day, the contrast of colors produces a no finer work of art. Why don't I do this more often, I ask myself when such moments are allowed to exist for my world. Being retired now, well, there are no more excuses.

Winter of course can be a challenge but it offers a unique opportunity as the light and shadows run deep and long and what is obscured by foliage most of the year suddenly become visible. 

When snow is on the ground the texture and atmosphere of the woodlands transforms into a wonderland. Crisp and clean, fresh and clear, a snow covered woodlands is a delight to explore.

When the snow melts the woods become filled with a damp aroma that clings to everything in sight. At once refreshing and enchanting, and again subtle and bold at the same time. When the woods becomes saturated everything becomes darker in texture and more quiet in atmosphere. The sound of footsteps are muffled, yet the chatter of birds becomes cleaner and magnified. The woods simply takes on a different aura, one that will renew your mind and fill your lungs with fresh air.

It's not always the big scenes that become most important. Often, the smaller more subtle images take center stage. It's the small details that define the woodlands more precisely. 

A single flower, and single brown leaf still clinging to a limb, a clump of snow nestled into a cleft of a branch, the odd green leaf budding from a winters branch, a butterfly sitting lightly on a bloom or a tree stump lying on its side. These are the items that define the depth of a woodlands...and they are easily overlooked.

Woodland edges can also provide a treasure of photo ops. It is there you find a great many plants and wildlife you may not otherwise see. 

The light is often brighter and sharper here but that offers other photo opportunities where plants can be back lit and wildlife feed on the shoots and feel safe having the refuge of the woods nearby. You may also find fencerows or old sheds and barns near the edges of woodlands. All of these make for rustic scenes that enhance the moment.

A walk in the woods to discover a visual moment of the heart can often refill the emptiness that so often infiltrates into our lives. Those emptying events we have little control over, but we can make time to take a walk in the woods.

Take your camera along for the ride and search for those simple compositions that define the woods you are in. But most of all, find time to simply be still and listen to allow the woods to fill your heart with its healing properties.