Other People

One of the things I like about being out in nature is being 'at one' with it.  Solitary.  Quiet.  But then I get thrilled when life from the animal kingdom appears seemingly out of nowhere, entering the scene, sometimes lingering for a while before it naturally moves on, or sometimes, like birds flying above, quickly pass by on a mission.  From time to time, human animals will appear.  Rather than viewing them as an intrusion on my solitude, I welcome the new subject of interest and observe them as I do of all animal behavior, particularly when I see them first--before they see me--to catch them in their own natural state.

The other morning while photographing the "fractured sky" (see previous post) this kid strolled into the scene.  It was a clear, cold morning, but layers of smoke from wood stoves burning inside homes from around the lake created a misty aura as it dissipated.  I watched this kid walk over to the water's
edge of another pond and bend down to get a rock.  He turned around and 'skipped' the stone over the pond before turning back toward the direction he came and left as quickly as he came.

These two guys walked all around the lake looking at the extensive damage done by the beavers.
(Images of felled trees that I, too, had been observing and shooting that morning will follow in another post.)

I also love seeing other photographers stopping to capture something along their way.
I recognize that we're kindred spirits and I immediately draw inspiration from them.  I
appreciate that their perception differs from mine, causing me to look again, curious to
see what they see.

I also like sharing a space with sport hunters, like this small game/wild bird hunter. 

Although different forms of shooting, we still utilze mostly the same skills to achieve our desired outcome.