As the lone photographer on nature walks (Kemper stayed behind), my place is in the back of the queue. I used to feel as if I needed to walk with the pack, and would scurry to keep pace, missing many photographs to do so. Soon, though, I stopped and thought how rare it was for me to be out in nature in North Carolina, and also how it was my vacation as well. North Carolina used to mean fly fishing for my dad and me, and we still fish on occasion, but my attention has shifted to photography in the past three years or so. He relishes the role as my “spotter,” and so we are still engaged together, even without fly rods in our hands.
We both used to loathe walks, but something about the woods of North Carolina evinced a change in us, and we willingly go on hikes through the fallen logs and chaparral of the dense undergrowth. Anna tagged along on this hike, and she kept pace with me at some points and at others she walked ahead with my dad. When I stopped to change lenses (from telephoto to macro ), they evidently had lost interest in waiting for me, and I quickly lost sight of them. I caught up in about fifteen minutes, after finding a bunch of polypore mushrooms and an intriguing shelf mushroom. They were happy to wait and chat as I ambled up the path back towards the car, and I was happy to watch my footfalls, lest I miss the photographs I once raced past to not be left behind.
Click here for a larger version.
ST. AMAND PHOTOGRAPHY 