Appalachian Spring, Study 2

Artwork ID # 2306-005

" I wish for you what the spring does with the cherry trees."
- Pablo Neruda

While hiking on a rainy day in the Great Smoky Mountains a brilliant flash of sunlight momentarily broke through the clouds. Suddenly the forest and air were full of promise. I quickly began to find a frame with my viewing card . This showed me that moving to my right would allow overhanging branches of a great oak to form graceful and powerful lines which began to speak to many contact points and which would join together other tree forms into one balanced whole. It was as if all the trees were speaking to each other,

Given the swiftly changing mountain weather I knew I had to act quickly to set my tripod support and mount my camera with a lens which would produce my desired perspective as a frame. I adjusted my exposure settings and immediately opened the shutter. No sooner than I had advanced the film roll the light began to change. Suddenly the brilliant sunlight completely disappeared. I then began to have the feeling that I had just witnessed what seemed to me a gentle spirit silently passing through the surrounding forest.
And that brief moment also reminded me to pay closer attention to every moment if I'd like to receive the many unexpected gifts life has to offer.

North CarolinaGreat Smoky Mountains National Parkmountainsforesttreessunlightspring AprilAppalachian MountainsBlue Ridge MountainsSmokiesInternational Biosphere Reserveold growth forestcove hardwood forestSpruceFirblack bearssalamandersUNESCO World Heritage SiteEastern Continental Dividemountain ashpin cherrymountain mapleoakFriends of the SmokiesCherokee Tribe

From Wilderness Series Archive - "An ARCHIVE of every WILDERNESS SERIES image"