Reflections from the Journey

A picture may tell a 1,000 words but it still never tells the whole story.  I’m going to take you on a journey back through the lens and out the viewfinder to tell you the story of the making of the image.

Come over here and step inside my Wayback Machine.  We are going to take a trip back into ancient times, to a day when film ruled the photography world.  Yes, dear readers there used to be a time when photographers thought in terms of “grain” rather than “noise” and had to wait a whole day or so to see the fruit of his efforts.

This particular image was shot on Fuji 100 ISO print film which at the time was some of the finest grained color negative  film on the market.  Now, some of you may be thinking, “Didn’t ‘real’ photographers shoot with slide film?”  That is partially true and I did predominantly shoot transparencies, however, I already had a foot in the digital world.  You see, I’d been scanning film almost as long as I’d been shooting with  it.  The reason I sometimes shot with color negative is that it had a wider exposure latitude (basically, held more information) than transparency/slide film and I could bring some of that image detail out using Photoshop.   (On a side note used I’ve Photoshop since version 2.5 in the early 90’s.)

Anyway……back to the image…

This photo was shot along one of my favorite sections of the Blue Ridge Parkway near Blowing Rock, NC.  I had driven past this tree that stands on a hill overlooking the picnic area of Julian Price Park countless times.  Every time I would pass it I would think, “Boy, that sure would be a beautiful image under the right conditions.  But the conditions were never right.  Over and over I would see this lonely tree up there begging to become a great photograph, but my timing was always off.

One late Spring (maybe early Summer) day I had been shooting further South along the parkway and was heading home because a line of thunderstorms was moving into the region.  As I neared the picnic area I glanced over and saw the storm clouds moving in behind the tree, but there was this beautiful backlight making the grasses practically glow.  I pulled over quickly and grabbed my equipment.  I jumped out of my Jeep and ran with my camera, a Canon Elan 7, and my tripod across the Parkway, over the barbed wire fence and up the hill as fast I could.

As I set up the tripod I could already already feel a sprinkling of rain starting to fall.  I composed my shot, fired off the shutter twice, then adjusted the exposure & composition a bit for the next shot.  I fired off that shot and as I heard the “click” of the shutter the heavens opened up on me.   Hearing & feeling thunder booming around me, seeing flashes of lightning, and getting plastered by huge, heavy drops of rain, I put the camera under my shirt and ran faster than ever thought I could.  I don’t even remember climbing back over the fence.  Before I knew it I was back in my Jeep, soaked but safe.

The image you see above is that last frame.   It may not be the best photo in the world, or even one of my best, but is and always will be one of my favorites.

I’ve learned a lot from this photo and the experience of shooting it.  You see, at the time I started focusing on getting into nature photography I was pretty angry with God.  I believe that He existed, but I didn’t want anything to do with Him and, especially, not anything to do with religion.  I had trusted God and trusted a group of people who called themselves Christians.  I was hurt by that group and blamed God for it.  (I may go into more detail at a later time, but not today.)   It took a lot of time, 10 years, but I eventually came to realize that God promises his love & his grace, but not a life free of pain and trials.  Just like this image.  I got scared and soaked in the processes, but I ended up with a thing of beauty that I will always cherish.

Created & Creative by God’s Design,

Rich Nicoloff

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