Overnight Canoe Camp - Best Ever Fishing Day!

 Managed to finally load up my canoe again for another overnighter canoe camping/fishing trip on Kentucky's Barren River Lake. Even though I often find myself returning to the same location(s), every trip is unique and each one possesses a different flavor. This trip was no exception. Early fall is one of the best times to get out and October possibly the best overall month for the weather tends to be in transition with warm days and crisp and cool nights. 

Packed along some good food on this one again feasting on a wonderful Ribeye steak cooked in a cast iron skillet and cooked over a campfire. Man-o-man...mighty tasty and satisfying. Breakfast the next morning consisted of crispy bacon along with scrambled eggs again cooked over a campfire.

The first day was simply a paddling day...about 4 miles was all...but done in a leisurely style just enjoying the blue skies. Camp was set up tucked away on the edge of an isolated point of land where a simple and rustic gravel beach offered a nice respite from life challenges. Slept under a tarp with a great view of the lake.

Day two started out in an unhurried manner fixing breakfast, clean up, packup, load the canoe, and a mid-morning shove off. About half way back, I started casting my fishing line next to a long and rocky bluff that dropped off into deep water. A few casts later and the first fish of the day grabbed hold of the lure. He turned out to be a nice 2 1/2 lb black bass with a bigger fight than his size would indicate. A few casts later and bass number 2 was on. He turned out to be about a 3 lb bass. Over the next half hour or so, I caught several more fish before moving on .

A half mile or so later I started casting another line along a similar bluff. After a few casts and another bass was hooked. He was another 3 pounder or so and had a lot of heart. One cast later, and another bass was on that was about 3 1/2 lbs or so. (just a fisherman's estimate on the sizes). What a morning fishing! Ended up catching 10 fish over all including 4 nice bluegill, and several bass.

Turned out to be a great overnight trip....please enjoy the video!

To Be Alone - Quiet Times in the Woods or on the Water

 Recently, someone asked me, "What's your favorite thing to do?" The answer required about three or four seconds of thought; "To be alone in the Woods." In all honesty, being alone in nature (with my camera) is probably a more encompassing answer, for that is where I feel most at home and most intune with who I am as a person and a photographer.

Nature has always fascinated me. Growing up in southeastern Oklahoma as a young boy, I often found myself sitting outside in the shade of my grandparents big yard and dreaming about wild adventures. I read adventure stories, there were no DVD's or VHS videos back then, so reading was just about the only way a boy could build his imagination. One of my favorite publications was Boy's Life, the Boy Scouts magazine. It was always filled with true life adventures that came to life through the wonderful illustration that filled the pages. Oddly enough, I was never a real boy scout, I just sort of became one on my own, and I loved the BB Gun advertisements on the back of comic books. Oh my, how I wanted one of those Daisy pump BB guns. My parents never did get one for me, but I did eventually manage to own a trusty lever action Red Ryder...still have one. (Some of my fondest memories raising my two boys was when I taught them how to shoot it.)

I'd build miniature log forts and cabins using the numerous broken limbs and sticks that littered that dusty old yard. While doing so, my young mind would flow across time to imagine what it must have been like back in Daniel Boone's day. (Come Fourth of July, I'd blow them up with firecrackers.) But, the most adventurous moments of my youth came when I'd take off on my own, cross the railroad tracks behind the neighbors house, and head off through the woods and fields to eventually find the shallow running shoals where the  Poteau River split. In the imagination of a young boy, I was exploring the deepest of backcountry woods just like ole Daniel Boone did. In reality is wasn't very far. Even so, I'd sit alone for what seemed like hours, until I'd get hungry and make my way back to civilization. 

Those imaginings from way back then became ingrained into my heart and I still treasure those moments for without them, I'd not be even close to who I am today. Things have changed in a lot of ways since then, but in other ways they remain the same. That young boys adventurous spirit still lingers inside of my now older self, only now I am able to play them out for real, more or less, with my canoe, my backpack, my Jeep, and my camera. There are few outing I explore without my camera for with it, I can visually capture the essence of what it means to be alone in the quiet of the woods or canoeing across a lake with the sun setting across the way. Oddly enough, the mental images I made all those years ago are just as sharp, just as real, and just as rewarding as any photograph I've ever made...maybe even more so.

I need those simple quiet times in the woods to clear my head of all the nonsensical rhetoric that floods our world today. I often long to revisit those simpler days when I was a boy, but I understand...you can never go home again. Yet making time for a short hike and finding a quiet place to just sit awhile and listen to the wind talk to the trees or listen to moving waters as they dance across a set of shoals, or maybe watch as a swollen creek tumbles over a waterfall well, it's a good way to clear away the clutter from inside. Along the way, I'll take a photo or two just because I can. Maybe someday, someone will see one of those images and understand why the moment was important.

A Willingness to See Through the Clutter to Discover the Larger Scene

 Today the summer air temperature is hovering just below 100 degrees and the humidity not far behind. Tomorrow and the next day could easily surpass the 100 degree mark. It is August by the way, so days  like these in this part of the country do not come as much of a surprise. But, a week or so ago a hint of fall, the false fall, drifted across the landscape with cooler temperatures and pleasant days. I am so looking forward when the weather crosses a tipping point and the surge toward a new season is launched full swing. 

It's been a good summer overall. I've managed to get out a number of times with my canoe and camera and fishing rod, not nearly as much as I should have. Even so, those few outings offered a measure of relief from the daily routine. Today, avoiding the heat, I browsed through a few photos I made last winter. Sometimes doing something like that will reveal an image or two that simply jump out at me, and I ran across these two. I kept asking myself, "Why do I like these images?"

I've certainly captured better ones, but for some reason, I really like these two images. Let's take look at each one and try to dissect their qualities so I can answer that question.

Both images were taken out at one of my favorite places, Shanty Hollow Lake, on the same day a few minutes apart. On this particular day, and time of year, the lake level was much lower than normal which offered more area to explore. I stepped into the now dry lake bottom toward the upper end and walked across toward the other side. The fall leaves had dropped months before, but a few colorful ones still clung to their limbs. All the tall grasses lining the shoreline had turned brown. 

What caught my eye was the blown down river birch tree as it lay sideways across the brown grass. The tops of the grasses carried a distinctive silvery shine that slowly blended into the brown lower portions. Most the background trees provided another level of silvery contrasts and within that silvery veil I could see brilliant splashes of color. 

Part of being a good photographer is to be able to visually see a photograph before you lift the camera to your eye. Within a few steps, I was able to frame the image with my mind and simply make a few minor adjustments in composition and exposure. The detail of the woodlands behind the grass suddenly took on a fresh appearance no longer lost within the confused state of chaos that can so often ruin woodland images. There is just enough contrast here, just enough white bark, just enough splashes of color to transform a bleak winter day into a wonderful photo op.

This second image was taken from almost the same vantage point. All I did was turn to my left, walk a few yards drawing a bit closer to the water's edge. A similar kind of appeal presented itself where a stark, gray woodland revealed itself to contain wonderful contrasts of white bark, soft grassy tones, and splashes of color embedded deeper within the woods. Add into the compositional equation those soft reflections cast across the water and you a formula for a successful woodlands photo.

It is easy to overlook such simple opportunities. Finding them requires somewhat of a trained eye, but more importantly, the willingness to see beyond the ordinary and through all the clutter to focus in on the elements that define, within a smaller frame, the larger scene.