East - April 6, 2020

I didn't go out yesterday and with time running out today I found myself packing up my camera and heading out to try and find some light. A quick glance at the sky and it looked like downtown might be in shade but there was some open sky towards the north west. I didn't really want to head downtown again so I decided to drive just east of the city and see if I could find something to shoot, perhaps a sky/reflection photo or some trees.

At first I was regretting my decision because the first part of the drive was just past flat fields and the ponds were all still frozen over. The sun seemed to be heading down fast adding to the pressure to find something. I continued further north and made this photo out the car window at the first thing that was sticking up off the ground.

solar power

I find that when I'm out looking for photos that there is often a mental barrier to the process of finding a composition until I take a first photo. It's almost like I need to shoot something/anything before my brain turns on and I start to focus on the task at hand.


I continued up the road stopping a few times to get out of the car and take some photos but nothing was really clicking. There was a coyote in the field but it was too far away for a photo so I just watched him move into the distance. I could hear geese settling in for the night. The sky in the east was turning pink and the near-full moon had risen.

I found a calmness had settled over me. Standing here alone out on a dirt road surrounded by all these beautiful things I became present in the moment.

pink moon

Towards the west the sun was gone but the sky was putting on a show. In the frame below I was super lucky to catch a hawk approaching the tree. I shot a few photos and was able to get near perfect placement.

serene

Under darkening light I tried to capture the moon above these old buildings. A couple of the structures have slumped over since I was here last year. In the spring of 2012 and 2015 there was an owl's nest near by. I spent a fair bit of time in this area trying to capture photos of them and have fond memories of those adventures. The nest has been gone for a few years and I haven't found any other nests in the area to feed my owl obsession. I feel a sense of nostalgia when I come here and notice subtle changes like the nest being gone and the slumping of the buildings. At the surface it may look like things stay the same but in truth nothing does. Everything changes.

days gone by

With that I headed home. Click here to view larger versions of the posted photos.

Thanks for looking.