Field Notes - Summer ‘22
Looking back on a hot, humid Tennessee Summer
It’s hard to believe Summer is almost over and plans for the Fall are already forming. This has been my third Summer doing nature photography in an intentional way and it, like the previous two, barely resembles the one before in terms of creative approach.
Last year, I was motivated to get up extremely early to capture the sunrise for planned photos, for example. This Summer, by contrast, I’ve been a lot more relaxed about my work, and I’ve valued being present over being productive. I believe this mindset has helped me to realize the importance of taking my time, playing the long game, and blocking out feelings of creative inadequacy. Finding ways to shed pressure, both self-imposed and external, has been tremendously helpful.
At any rate, this Summer I’ve gone out on hikes quite a bit at random times, simply to enjoy the woods by myself. The quiet and solitude have been particularly profound Monday through Friday, when the crowds are away. This has been wonderful for many mental and creative reasons.
From a creativity standpoint, and as a side benefit, all the hiking and exploring has helped me to make mental, written, and digital notes of places I want to return to later this year. Summer foliage and weather make photography difficult where I live (in fact, it can be downright uninspiring) but this Fall and Winter will bring conditions more conducive to the kind of images I know I’ll be excited to make.
Maybe it’s my age talking, but I’ve found that something as simple as being comfortable outdoors can play an important role in inducing flow. Constantly wiping sweat, swatting mosquitos and checking for ticks, not so much (though of course it is very possible). I suppose it boils down to eliminating distractions. Photography is, after all, an art of omission (according to some).
Field notes and scouting photos
Scrolling through my phone images the other day, it occurred to me that I have taken lots of scouting photos with it. So, I decided to put the best ones together in a post that I can look back on later this year or another time. I believe these will look great in the Fall and Winter when my favorite conditions return.
They’re not complete compositions yet, but basically little notes that will help to remind me where to return and, to a degree, what to expect in terms of hiking distance/difficulty and composition potential.
So here is my 2022 Sweaty Summer Scouting photo dump of nice scenes I’ve discovered. Each clickable image has a small caption with a few thoughts on why I found the scene significant. Enjoy!
In the elements
Selfie 1
Summer photo scouting has been fun in a Type B kind of way. High humidity fogs my camera lenses, so I’ve learned to acclimate all my gear by leaving it outside for about an hour before I head out.
I bought insect-repelling clothing to try to ward off mosquitos, ticks and flying stinging insects. The latter could literally hospitalize me (or worse) because I’ve developed a severe allergy to their venom.
My hiking poles have been used more to guard my face from spider webs, extended vertically out in front of me, than for stability.
And of course I’ve had to really get used to being constantly drenched in sweat, which may not seem like a huge deal but can make handling photo equipment annoying. I don’t baby my gear but I do try to keep sweat off of it. I don’t think my camera bag ever got a chance to dry out this Summer.
Selfie 2
I do believe I’ve put in work despite a lack of what I consider portfolio-quality photographs created this Summer. It’s certainly not “work”, of course, because I believe simply existing in a natural area will reveal wonderful images by default. I wrote about this truth in a previous post. This selfie shows my little “office” one day where I could work my real job when needed, while it rained, and pop out to explore an awesome boulder garden I had found.
