Every time I put a date on the calendar for a shoot, I get all excited! My imagination runs away with me with all the possibilities of that shoot. This is especially true for dates way off in the future a year or two. And as the clock keeps tickin away and the months go by the excitement gets mixed with the reality of making those what seem like long ago plans come together. And as the time gets closer and closer, the logistics start to replace the imagination as airline tickets are purchased, rental vehicle reserved. Then a week out you start checking the weather, something that can’t be predicted a day out let alone a year. I learned long ago that until my feet are on the ground, it is what it is!
Fall color is just one such example (more to the point then bears or marmots or aircraft) of planning of something you really don’t have any control over. Above are photographs of the same hillside in Killington, VT, a favorite haunt of ours. One year they said you should have been here last week. Next we arrived on that date and they said you should be next week. One year they said you should have seen it yesterday before the wind storm. One year they said the &#)(@$ worm has wiped out the fall color and then one year, it was spectacular!
In my years behind the camera, I’ve never found anything a guarantee. You either learn to go with the flow or you stay home and enjoy the view. The weather seems to have a mind of its own and it above all else pushes us and our photography around. If you think about it, its influence over our every click is really amazing as we chase light. And with that being the case, it is amazing at times we can shoot at all and the next minute, can’t fire the camera fast enough. How’s that saying go, best laid plans of mice and men. It is also said the best laid schemes of mice and men. Whatever the case, embrace what if offered up to your camera, then you will know why you planned it a year ago!