Kent - even in crazy crowded Yellowstone, I discovered that merely by going there the week the roads were first plowed, but none of the concessions or facilities
yet open, I had even the hot springs around the Lodge all to myself, with all the animals around the river and even Yellowstone Lake itself calm and undisturbed.
I spent about three hours just sitting there watching two swans contending for a little sandbar in the river, until one finally obtained dominance, just to have a bull elk charge across the creek and claim it for himself. Didn't even set up the camera - just wanted to soak it all in, though it otherwise was a very productive photo trip too. Up in the high country I often just sit there watching every nuance of the sun setting, without even taking a shot, even though my view camera it sitting right there ready to go. There will always be another shot. I'm a firm believer that the most important thing is to experience something, deeply appreciate it, slow down and learn to see. But where I grew up, wilderness was straight across the driveway, or right across the main road, and I mean some very rugged
uninhabited terrain. But Yosemite, Sequoia and Kings Canyon, and way way more in terms of high Sierra beauty, were right there too. But the lower canyons,
which are still largely unprotected except by sheer scale, and dammed in many other places, can often exceed the beauty of the higher terrain. That's one reason a lot of my prints aren't immediately accessible in a scenic manner. I want people to slowly get drawn in and ponder over what they are looking at - teach them to look at beauty that is non-stereotypical. Of course, I've got grand subjects too, though I tend to print these very carefully too. Unfortunately, the
damn web is cooperative with only about 5% of my work in terms of representing the nominal subject matter. Much of it either needs the scale, nuance, or sheer detail or a true print to appreciate. Doesn't matter. I've lived it. Nobody can take that from me, even if all those prints end up in a dumpster some day.
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