For years I have gone home from work via different routes depending on mood, time, and traffic. I have what I call my scenic route that passes by some vignettes I hope to photograph “one day”.  I saw my friend Brian had taken the long way home after a hike in the woods and found a nice Ice wall at sunset because the opportunity presented itself.  So last Sunday instead of one of my usual SMA’s to the the mountains, I reversed my scenic commute and captured a couple of the shots I have taken hundreds of times in my mind. Sometimes I am an awful procrastinator and eventually miss out on a shot because the scenery changes or construction or disaster wipes it out. This post is to encourage you to not let that photographic opportunity pass you by , go out there and get that “one-day” image you pass by often. You can use the commute to study it at different times of day and plan your chances for a best shot. Overcome your fears and procrastination and get that shot out of your head and onto film. Even if it is not a prize winning shot it will be a valuable step on your photographic journey.

The first image I knew I had to capture in winter is a slightly arched golf course bridge crossing over a wide drainage creek. It always reflects the scene in the water below with painterly reflections. In summer the overhanging trees would block the view of the bridge mostly, but during the winter the trees are  bare with some color coming from pines and distant greens of the golf course. I supposed this would be an ideal image for color, but I still focus mainly on black and white. The ideal place to take this image is from the parallel roadway bridge but it is two lane with heavy traffic even early on a Sunday.  So I parked nearby and climbed down under the roadway bridge and found a spot that allowed a high enough vantage point that still showed the reflections. When I first looked at the ground glass slightly out of focus the image looked right side up the reflections were so strong. It will be interesting to see how it turns out.

The second image is a swampy drainage area that has some dead trees sticking out of the swamp.  In summer the perimeter bushes and swamp are a deep lush green, which contrasts nicely with the brown dead trees. In winter the scene is more subdued and open so I waited for a cloudy sky day to provide the cold gray look of a winter landscape , minus any snow. There is one tree in particular that always catches my eye because it is basically a large slingshot Y shape. I may shoot this scene again in summer and maybe even revisit it to capture that tree more prominently as a detail shot. Rain was threatening as I captured the overall landscape so it was one and done for that day.

There are a couple of barns on private property that need my camera’s attention too. I am hoping to see the owners out one day as I drive by to get their permission to come on their property and preserve the buildings before they are torn down.  I wonder how many commuters pass them by without even seeing them or thinking they are worth preservation.

Update: when I processed the second image I had a chemical failure from not shaking the Pyro part A well enough. Looks like I will be reshooting it again. The bridge negative is ok.