A Walk Through Dash Point State Park

The title is pretty revealing: Last Saturday I took a wonderful walk through Dash Point State Park. The entire day included either rain, fog, or the combination of the two. Not willing to give up one of the most splendid times to be in a forest (the fog and rain produce, in both appearance and sound, an isolation that is by no means lonely), I put my rain gear (an old bread bag) on my camera and started my enjoyable expedition.

Now the effort involved in getting these last photos deserves some attention. I was about as close to doing the splits as my legs would let me over this creek in order to to get my view right for the next two pictures.

 And for these last two I took off my socks and shoes, rolled up my jeans, and got over ankle deep in the water, knowing that doing so would mean I would walk a couple miles home barefoot.

One time I heard a photographer say something along the lines of "A fair weather photographer misses some of his best opportunities." And this is so true: a beautiful sunny day provides some of the most difficult lighting for photography (though you may still get a good photo from it), but the evening, the overcast sky, or the fog provide some of best natural lighting available. Now if you know me, you're likely thinking "Easy for him to say, he loves the wet weather!" Which would not be a false thought. Nevertheless, often obtaining greater result or skill in almost any field  (if not all fields) requires going beyond the comfortable and normal routine. I found one of these photos by climbing up a fallen tree trunk to see what everything looked like higher off the ground, I got my feet wet while it was a sixty degree day with a light rain, a guitarist must play after his fingers hurt to get a good callusing, a Christian may need to talk to someone smelly and weird and still love them.

I hope the rambling was no bore, for it was written late within a night, much like a journal entree.

With smiles,
Philip Westfall :D