Five Frames

Where the Trail Levels Out

This part of the trail didn’t offer the usual drama, no sweeping views just yet, no perfect reflection of the peaks in water. Just a quiet patch where the ground held on to snowmelt, forming pools that wandered between the grass and stone.

And yet, I lingered.

Something about it felt steady. Honest. The water didn’t reflect the mountains; it just existed, slow and clear, carving a meandering path without needing to impress anyone.

There’s something grounding about places like this. Not quite the destination, not quite the spectacle. Just a pause. A place that invites you to slow down, breathe a little deeper, and notice what’s easy to miss when you’re moving too fast.

It reminded me that presence often finds us when we stop trying to chase the view.

Prompt of the Week: Return to the Same Spot

Technique: Revisit one location multiple times - in different light, weather, or seasons.

Why it works: The more time you spend with a place, the more it reveals. Subtle details come into focus. The mood shifts with the sky. Compositions you missed before suddenly stand out. What once felt familiar begins to feel layered and alive.

Try this: Choose one spot this week, your backyard, a nearby trail, even a favorite tree, and photograph it three times: 

• Once in the morning 

• Once in the evening 

• Once on a cloudy midday

Pay attention to how the light changes the feel. What do you notice now that you didn’t before?

Behind the Capture

This waterfall was beautiful, but a bit of a puzzle to photograph.

The lighting was tricky; one side of the falls was cast in deep shadow, while the other was lit by bright sun. I wanted to use a long exposure to soften the water’s movement, but the contrast made that tough. Even with an ND68 filter, I had to carefully balance the highlights and shadows later in post, mostly by lightening up the deep shadows.

Framing was another challenge. The landscape curved in an awkward way, and there wasn’t a perfect angle to shoot from. I had to think ahead: How could I crop this later to bring some balance to the scene? That question shaped the shot before I even pressed the shutter.

And then there’s the branch. I decided to include it, stretching out in front of the falls, to add depth or, as @photographybyjasoncoward put it on IG, a bit of mystery. The only downside? It was gently swaying in the breeze, and without a tripod, I couldn’t do a focus stack. So it’s a little soft. But I’m okay with that. Sometimes imperfection adds its own kind of honesty.

A Thought

We often chase the perfect frame. But what about the moments between - the missed shots, the second before the shutter clicked? Or simply, what we choose to leave out? 

Those spaces say something, too.

What do those almost photos teach you? 

What made you hesitate - or not?

What story lives in the space you didn’t frame?

A Quote

“While there is perhaps a province in which the photograph can tell us nothing more than what we see with our own eyes, there is another in which it proves to us how little our eyes permit us to see.” ― Dorothea Lange

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