A few weeks ago, I set out on a sunny, if cold, afternoon hike with my dear husband and our two dogs to a local conservation area. It was my turn to choose our Sunday outing, my husband and I have recently started alternating that privilege for various reasons that could warrant an entire blog post. I have seen some really phenomenal forest shots and we are going to Oregon in September. I have not done a lot of forest photography, so wanted to practice my technique and composition. I was looking for a pine grove shot to add to my portfolio and wanted to find a local place that would be easy to get to for practice. I searched Google Maps and All Trails looking for nearby locations where hikers had posted photos of pine forests similar to what I had in mind and came across the Gramp’s Loop Trail. I knew I did not want the sun overhead and we had an event the night before, so rather than head out for sunrise, we planned to head out as the sun was going down.
This was our first time at this particular conservation area, and walking along the trail was a bit disappointing at first. I was not finding the shots I was looking for, or even the shots I had seen online. I stopped to look at a few scenes as we walked, even found what could have been a fabulous shot of the sun squeezing through the forest to light up a single tree…if the tree was a little more interesting. Finally, as we were rounding toward the end of the hike, we came upon the thicker pine grove I had been looking for, I guess we should have started at the end. By this time, the sun was too far down and not angling enough to light up the grove as I had been looking for. Alas, I did not get a single usable shot for my portfolio.
In the past, this would have gone down in the books as a failure for me, and perhaps even discouraged me from trying forest shooting again. Certainly not from this location again. But in our greatest failures, we find our greatest growth. And while this in no way classifies as a great failure, I was able to find a fair bit of growth from the experience. Both in my photography, and more importantly in my quest for personal development.
If you read my previous post about getting out of the fog, you know that this blog is engineered to help me to get back outside and active, enjoying this beautiful world with my family and enjoying my hobby again. While I didn’t find the shot I was looking for, I did find success that day, I just needed to take a moment to reflect and learn to recognize what success looked like, for me, not for others.
For me on this day, success was a two mile hike while making fun memories on a sunny afternoon with my husband and my dogs. Success was taking a few moments on that trail to breathe in the fresh air and remember how wonderful it felt to be outside in nature, to feel my blood pumping through my veins and be fully aware and present in that moment. I also learned that while this wasn’t a successful photography shoot, it was a successful location scout. It is a fabulous conservation area close to home that is perfect for practicing my forest photography, as long as I go in the morning hours instead of the afternoon.
It is so easy in today’s world to focus on what went wrong or to get caught up in what other people think success looks like or what others find perfect and beautiful. That’s not what this life is about though. At least not for me. Seeking out other people’s ideas of beauty, perfection, success is not what is going to make me happy. Finding my own version of beauty and success, now that is the key! But first, I need to continue to work on finding me!
What about you? I would love to continue this conversation. What is something you find beautiful in the world that others may overlook or take for granted? Please share in the comments below!
Seas The Day Blog 