You Can Always Make a Note and Wait Till Next year (Day 27 of 31)
Some photos are dependent on the rhythm of the year and the movement of the sun, and sometimes you have to wait until the next year to get the shot you want.
For example, one photo I’ve taken again and again through the years is when the sun is overhead and shining on wet pavement. It’s that hard light that makes the road look white. (Over time I’ve learned where I might be able to take one of these photos in different places near where I live. In winter, for instance, it’s King Street in a town nearby.) To get a photo that looks the way I want, I have to be in the right place at the right time of year.
Some of these pictures you’re going to miss more often than you get them. With my wet-road pictures, rain, or road salt, is the critical factor, and the sun has to be out while the pavement is still wet. Like the ancient worshippers at Stonehenge, sometimes you’ll have weather that disappoints you; other times you’ll be working, or out of town, or at a child’s holiday concert. The best we can do at those times is make a note—actually write it on your upcoming calendar, so you’ll remember—and wait until next year.
(For the month of October 2017, I’m participating in the 31 Days bloggers’ challenge. You can find out about it here, and check out the interesting work other bloggers are posting.)
WAIT ‘TIL NEXT YEAR
You show so much patience and persistence and focus in pursuing these shots. I had no idea they were planned so carefully, but looking at how perfectly the light illuminates the road I see it now.
Several things come to mind about this. I make notes about what to look for and do in my garden from year to year. If I miss getting a certain plant in the ground at the right time, I put down to do it next year at the right time.
I am not a photographer, but I enjoy reading your thoughts about art and life. My ties to Nova Scotia loosen as more and more of my family and friends have gone, but there is a much appreciated way your work and clear love of the land keep me connected.
Also, as a born and bred Red Sox fan, most years of my life I have said, along with my dad and sister Sal, “Wait ’til next year!”