The company that hosts my website has had, shall we say, some significant “issues” of late. The specifics aren’t worth discussing here, but as a result of these problems I’ve spent some time recently browsing through some of the many photo galleries on my site, including several that I haven’t looked at in quite some time. This experience inadvertently reminded me of a large part of the reason why I engage in photography in the first place.
By a remarkable, coincidence, my friend, and Photographer’s Guide to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan co-author, Andy Richards, posted a piece on his blog discussing this very same subject just a couple of days ago. Great minds, and all that. In fact, reading Andy’s post settled things for me; I felt compelled to produce this entry.
Photographs–of any theme or genre–can serve as incomparable memory stimulants. Presumably every person reading these words is already aware of this truism. In my case, each and every photograph serves as a personal, discrete memory of one of my various adventures in the field. At a glance, I’m returned to the moment when the image was made, with all of the attendant feelings and sensations that implies.
Because the memories, by definition, are personal, the images that stimulate those memories are every bit as self-defining. The photographs are the shadows of the moments they represent.
Next week, I’m headed to Shenandoah National Park in Virginia for about five days. I was last there 25 years ago, just as I was really getting serious about landscape photography and learning lessons about image-making, through the process of screwing up. We’ll see how the conditions treat me. I’m going to show up with a fairly modest amount of location research at my disposal. The only thing I’m certain of is that new remembrances will be created, visually represented by the photographs that are made along the way: the shadows of memory.
Lightscapes Nature Photography Blog 
Hope you have a productive and memorable trip to Shenandoah! We’re hoping for favorable conditions in Great Smoky Mountains NP at that time.
Looking forward to seeing your images!
Steve
By: Steve Carter on April 8, 2024
at 8:29 am
Thanks, Steve. Hope your trip to the Smokies is a great one.
By: kerryl29 on April 8, 2024
at 8:57 pm
Thanks for the mention 🙂 Where are you staying in the park? We spent a weekend there in October a few years ago. Sadly, the colors were yet to develop there – I wasn’t surprised, as it is a fair amount further south than I am used to photographing foliage. I did get some good shots, though. As you know, layered mountain sunsets will be possible, if you are willing to hike up the trails to the mountain ridges. I also got some nice shots in the meadows. I missed several wildlife opportunities, mostly due to the fact that they showed up at pre-dawn – partly due to the fact that I don’t really carry the right gear for wildlife. 🙂 Have a great, and productive trip, my friend!
By: LightCentric on April 8, 2024
at 11:03 am
Thanks very much, Andy. I’m staying at Skyland, inside the park. I hoping to catch the early part of the leaf out, but who knows if that will happen. I’m always up for a hike. 🙂
By: kerryl29 on April 8, 2024
at 10:20 pm
Gorgeous images. And that light on the Big Bend scene produced probably the most beautiful image of that area I’ve seen.
By: kewtiebird on April 9, 2024
at 2:44 am
Thanks very much! That’s high praise indeed.
By: kerryl29 on April 9, 2024
at 3:44 pm
Thanks for sharing. It is indeed interesting to go back through old photographs and the memories attached to them. I really like the photograph of The Mitten & Merrick Butte. Doing a photo trip in the desert is on my bucket list.
By: davidsmith703 on April 9, 2024
at 11:12 pm
Thanks! Monument Valley (site of the photo you referenced) is a terrific location for photography, though you do need to engage a Navajo guide to access many of the most interesting locations (not the iconic Mittens/Merrick Butte scene, however).
By: kerryl29 on April 10, 2024
at 9:42 am