Today I came home from work and decided to just go out and walk along the railroad tracks. I needed a picture and I wanted to get outside to get one. I didn’t really know what I was after, just one of those days where I wanted to get away for a bit, ya know? As I started walking I was worried about the state of this country. I was worried about the school levy. I was worried about a lot of stuff. I ended up walking along the tracks for a few miles and every mile I found the stressful things leaving my mind and photography taking over. I found a tiny, lone evergreen growing along the tracks, showing the perseverance of nature. I took a picture but eh....

I found a single train car and a perfect curve on the tracks. I took a picture but eh......

I found a great old rail bridge of the river. I took a picture but eh......

I started walking back, feeling a bit dejected at not really finding anything. As I walked I began to notice that everything in front of me was beginning to take on a red hue. Subtle, but clearly red. I turned around and this is what I saw. I was so busy looking ahead, trying to force a picture, that I forgot to look behind me. My instincts told me that I was forcing it, that I should just stop and sit for a minute and let it come to me. The light was fading and thought the answer was to press forward and I ignored what, deep down, I knew.

The blue was getting deeper and taking up more of the sky as I watched. I put my camera on the tripod and then blew off 5 quick bracketed shots from where I hoped was a fair starting point. By the time I shot the second set, the fire was out. The sky was still red, but no longer alive.

I sat down on the track for a few minutes and listened to the nothing. Light wind through the trees, a train far off. When I was doing my PaD before I would never have gotten caught short on this. I would have seen it coming from a mile away and been set and ready. I’m a little rusty.

Today was a great reminder for me. A reminder to not force it, because that is what ruined it for me in the first place. A reminder to slow down because as long as I have a tripod with me it will never be too dark. A reminder to stop and look behind me because more often than not, that is where the shot is.

“We each need to let our intuition guide us, and then be willing to follow that guidance directly and fearlessly” - Shakti Gawain

Directly and fearlessly.....starting now.