The mosquitoes and heat have arrived in full, brutal force.
click for larger images
What I pondered during my walk, and have been thinking about the past few months, is the value and priority we place on locations based on apparent beauty. Some places are so grand that we have turned them into parks and flock to them to get majestic, high-on-life feelings while viewing the spectacular scenery.
Consequently, a lot of landscape photography seems to emphasize the importance of such places.
Then there are the spots that are commonplace, ordinary, and even ugly. Is it still possible to experience the grand thrill and wonders of the outdoors?
This photo project is allowing me to feel exhilarated and awed and get that satisfied feeling of being close to nature in this apparently dirty, flat, tangled area reserved for holding storm run-off so that the parts of Houston downstream don't flood.
Honestly, I was once fully married to that school of thought regarding the grand landscape. I never thought about doing serious landscape and nature photography here in the local reservoir.
The awesome, beautiful things I experience in the reservoir are often on a small scale, but no less spectacular than things I've seen in our national parks, for example. It's a matter of seeing instead of just looking. It's a matter of perspective. And a lot of times it's a matter of seeing on a much smaller scale.
It doesn't mean that I have no less desire to go to those grand landscapes and national parks. But I think I'm learning to appreciate this local world so much more and enjoy it (and photograph it).
Did I mention that it was HOT?
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