Seasonal Shift.
One of the great joys that come from landscape photography is exploration. It is the perfect excuse to go to places you have never been before and see what is there to discover. That is how I found the location where I created this image. Now, this isn’t some unknown far-off land. It is a popular state park in Northern Minnesota. Temperance River State Park, to be exact. But it was a new place for me. It was my first visit to the park, and I could not have been more excited. It was late March, and there was still a definite chill in the air; spring was only just beginning. Maybe it was the two seasons meeting head-on or the Great Lake colliding with the rocks on the shore, but it was as if two worlds were colliding. I was there to witness it all, which excited me: finding a pace like this that I had never been to before and having the conditions I did that morning were so rewarding. As I mentioned, this was not a remote location, it is a state park 100 yards off the road, but this was a new location for me. I felt the excitement of finding something new and different, a place I had never experienced. This feeling of newness, combined with what I considered fantastic conditions, made this location so stimulating and successful this day.
The other magic power that photography holds is the ability to transport the viewer to a different environment. Photography can place its audience in an arid desert, at the base of a mountain peak looming overhead, or standing on the beach during a peaceful sunset. This sense of place can create wonder and excitement in the viewer. This ability to transport your viewer to a new location and share with them what it was like to be in such a wondrous place holds so much potential. The photographer can tell their story, and the viewer can create their own story. This ability to connect with an individual in more than one way is what photography is all about.
