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When the sun peeked out from behind the clouds the red forest floor lit up like magic! 

I was exploring some new areas in The Pinelands this autumn and I was driving on a sand road deep in a part of the forest that I had never been in before.  The driving took a lot of attention to avoid doing any damage to the Jeep - some water, deep holes, fallen branches, and a narrow winding road all conspired to make me wonder if this was such a good idea.  But turning around now would be admitting defeat and I couldn't do that!

I noticed the soft red autumn color of the wild blueberry bushes here and there.  And then I came to a section of the forest where the entire floor was simply covered in them.  And when the sun briefly came out, it lit them up from behind to create an incredible red glow, deep in the forest.

I started walking around to see if I could come up with a composition that would convey the feeling I had felt when I saw the forest floor light up.  It's surprisingly difficult to make good images in the forest and most often they fall flat in terms of communicating what I felt.  I found an isolated oak tree among the pine trunks and red forest floor and waited for the sun to come back out.  It eventually did and I was rewarded with an image that really does show what I felt - the expansiveness of the red forest floor, the soft glow of red filtered light as far as I could see, the backlit gold leaves of the lone oak, and the mesmerizing patterns of the pine trunks.

It's been a great autumn for photography and so I have been sharing a couple extra images.  Don't worry, there's no extra charge for the additional posts! :)    And I'll probably drop back to once a month as the weather turns.  Hope you are enjoying this extended autumn too!

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For the first time in several years I was able to be outside hiking and photographing many days during the Autumn as the leaves changed colors. I was in the Pocono Mountains, Ricketts Glen several times, and a couple trips to the Pinelands of NJ. And the weather was incredible - sunny days, cool evenings, foggy mornings - what more could you ask for?!

I have several images that I really like that capture the colors of autumn - and you'll probably see one or two of them in another blog post soon! They are the more typical autumn photos - nicely composed scenes of the beauty of the land around us and the places I visit.

But the one above is the one I was most excited about. I know this image won’t be liked by everybody, but it represents the kind of photography I have in my mind when I am out photographing. I think of it as landscape inspired photographic art. It is clearly an autumn photo, but not an autumn "scene". You wouldn't know the location from the image and you don't care whether this is the Pinelands, Ricketts Glen, or or my backyard. It is an image of the "feeling" of autumn. At least it is to me! :)

So now you know what I have in mind when I am out there. I fail more often than I succeed - but the fun is in trying! You'll probably see more "typical scenes" on future blog posts - but hopefully some of these artistic images start coming though with more frequency.

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On October 1, 2020 I left my house at 5am to get to Hawk Mountain before sunrise. I hiked in the dark to the North Lookout - guided by my headlamp and years of hiking this same path. Even with the autumn hawk migration in full swing, I got there before anyone else. That is exactly what I wanted - to be the only one on the North Lookout watching the sun rise on the first day of the next chapter of my life.

After 20 years at MicroStrategy, and 35 years of post college employment, with never more than two weeks off, I retired. I had been thinking about it for a couple years and decided that now was the right time. I had also given a lot of thought to what I would do on that first day - would I relax and sleep in? Nah!! I would do it all! After the sunrise hike at Hawk Mountain, I drove back home and did a 20 mile bike ride. And since there was half a day left, I loaded the kayak on the Jeep and spent 4 hours in the afternoon kayaking on the Batsto River in The Pinelands. After all that, I enjoyed a nice dinner with Marilyn. It was exactly how I envisioned the first day of the rest of my life!

So where is the classic, straight into the sun, starburst sunrise photo you might ask?   I have it - and it's a decent image - but I'm not sure I really like it.  It looks like every other sunrise photo and no matter how long I stared at it, it didn't seem to have much impact.  What a disappointment! 

And then I looked more closely at a set of three images I made right after the planned sunrise photo.  One of these is shown at the top of this post.  They show the valley below Hawk Mountain coming to life in the morning mist.  It's humbling to realize this happens every morning, whether I am on the mountain watching it or not.  And it will continue happening long after I am gone.  I made these almost as an afterthought.  And I really liked them - much better than what I had gone to the mountain to photograph.  These "afterthought images" were much more impactful than the obvious image - the image I had planned to create.  I think I'll keep that in mind as I enjoy my retirement - sometimes the unplanned moments might be better than the grand plans you draw up.

The Valley Awakens…

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I've started combining my newest addiction of kayaking with my love of photography.  Instead of just paddling for hours as a workout, I use the kayak to slowly explore new rivers and see things you couldn't see from the land.  Sometimes it's just a new angle or viewpoint, but sometimes you are able to get to locations you simply could not get to by hiking or walking.

One Sunday morning I left home under beautiful sunny skies headed for the Pinelands to kayak.  As I drove deeper into the Pinelands and closer to the coast, the sun gave way to clouds... then mist... then drizzle.  As I pulled into the launch site, I briefly thought about turning around.  But there was a group of ten girl scouts already there, excitedly and loudly climbing into their kayaks.  And these weren't just any girl scouts - these were Pinelands Girl Scouts!  I thought if they could do it, I could too!  What really happened is they saw me pull in with my kayak on the Jeep - and turning around now would subject me to ridicule and taunting - so I toughed it out!  :)

It turned out to be a great decision.  The girl scouts stayed on the lake and I paddled into the river.  The drizzle stopped, but the clouds remained.  It gave the river a dark and mysterious mood.  I paddled slowly for hours - sometimes just gliding on the slow current - enjoying the peace and quiet of the river.  I took a lot of bad photographs - it's hard enough when everything is still, but imagine trying to compose and focus while the current is moving you. 

But, I also took this one which seemed to capture the mood of the river - dark and mysterious yet somehow light and hopeful at the same time.  Every day and every visit to the Pinelands is different - and rewarding.

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For a couple years I have been thinking of buying my own kayak rather than renting them when I go on the water.  So in late June I finally decided the time was right and I would get my own kayak.  I did lots of research and decided on the perfect kayak for me. 

And then I tried to buy one... during the pandemic... at a time when every person on the planet is buying a kayak or a bike!  You guessed it - not a kayak available anywhere.  I even considered driving to Rochester (5 hours each way!) to get one since the website said they had the one I wanted in stock - thank goodness the website was incorrect - they had nothing!

After many hours of searching, I found my third choice kayak at a store about 2 hours away!  I told them to put it on hold and I would be there the next day!  Of course they had kayaks, but no paddles, no life jackets, or anything else I needed!  Amazon to the rescue and I had my complete setup just in time for several days off in early July.

I've been out on lakes and rivers nine times since I bought it (you know my obsessions!) and just absolutely love kayaking in the The Pinelands of NJ.  The rivers are small, they twist and turn, and they flow through the most amazing feeling of wilderness - ninety minutes from my house.

I took the image above on Oswego Lake in the Pinelands.  I know it's a cliche photo - it must be the first thing everyone takes a photo of when they are on a kayak!  But I really like the color, simplicity, and "airiness" that seems to capture the beautiful blue sky, white cloud, low humidity, late summer day I had on the lake and river.

Nothing earth shattering - just a pleasant scene - as seen from a kayak!

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There is an occasionally recurring theme in my blog posts and photo adventures... "Planning and excitement" followed by "something going wrong", leading to "anger and whining", followed by "grudging acceptance" and ending with "thankfulness that I remained flexible".

Whether it's deer hunting season closing the trails I intended to hike, or a lost camera bag causing me to go to my destination the next day under much better lighting, or early morning fog obscuring the fiery sunrise I planned to photograph.  All of these have happened... and yet I ended up loving the resulting images I made even if they were not what I planned.

I'm sure there is a lesson here like... remain flexible, stop worrying, make the most of what you are given... but I'm a bit slow on the uptake of lessons like that!  :)

The image above was not my planned early morning, incredibly colorful, sunrise in the Pinelands photo I had in mind.  The photo that I planned was taken by someone else 10 miles away with better luck than me!  Instead, I was walking around in fog so thick you could hardly see.  Is this what I got up at 3:30am for?  To be in the Pines by 5am in time for the "can't miss" sunrise photo?  I knew I should have changed my plans and location when I drove from clear pre-dawn light into the fog bank!  

Once I accepted what I was given, I started to truly see the nuanced color and light of the morning.  And as the sun started to burn off the fog, it softly lit up the three trees while the background just started to emerge.  This combination of soft golden light on the trees while the background was still in the cool blue tones of the fog lasted for about 5 minutes. 

Once again I was in the right place at the right time - just like I planned it!!  :)

“24 Hours of Light in The Pinelands”

Click on the link above to see six photographs I made in the Pinelands all in a single 24 hour period.  I think they capture the essence and variety of this interesting place so remote, yet so near.
 

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The days are getting shorter... but if the mornings start off like the image above I won't mind!  It is the weekend of the Summer Solstice and while most normal people celebrate the solstice as the official start of summer, I always have a slight twinge of regret since it also means the days will start getting shorter.  You know how much I love the outdoors and so I worry about things like this.  ;)

Marilyn and the girls left for the beach Saturday morning so I was going to spend the entire weekend outside - hiking and photographing.  I decided I would spend not just the day, but also the night, in the Pinelands of NJ.  Why drive back and forth?  Why not photograph Saturday evening's show of color, then "camp" overnight in my jeep on a sand road in the Pines, and be there for Sunday morning's colorful sunrise?

It was a bit of a stormy afternoon on Saturday and I did some storm chasing.  I made some nice pictures of the sun lighting up the foreground with ominous clouds in the distance.  After the storm passed over, I photographed reflections of delicate reeds and lily pads on water with alternating bands of pastel blue and warm yellow in the lowering sun.  I was in position for the sunset with big sweeping clouds of color in the sky and reflecting on the water.  And my dessert was wild blueberries washed clean by a summer rain.

The longest day also means it is the shortest night - perfect, since I was a bit nervous sleeping in the still night of the very (very) dark Pines.  Nothing happened (which is good) - but I'd be lying if I said I had a great night's sleep.  My setup was surprisingly more comfortable than I thought it would be - but I think I slept with one eye open all night!

The early wakeup call for sunrise brought disappointment - there would be no fiery sunrise reflecting off the water of Whitesbog this morning - everything was fogged in!  But I didn't give up or go back to sleep.  I decided to enjoy what I was given this morning.  As the fog started to burn off, I noticed this scene glowing with the warm diffuse light of the sun and mist.  And, as it turns out, I like this image more than all the other ones put together.  This image, from a "disappointing" foggy morning.  :)

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I never thought taking a hike would be such a momentous occasion, but it was!  With the pandemic lockdown starting to ease, I decided to get out for a full day of hiking and photography.  And what better place to go than Ricketts Glen of course.  You may be tired of this place, but I'm not - spending a day there alone, among the trees, rocks and waterfalls is rejuvenating.

I usually plan a trip around my work schedule and the weather - I aim for a cloudy day during the week.  Weekends are too full of people and sunny days are tough conditions for photographing waterfalls.  So on a recent cloudy Monday, I packed my gear (and my mask) and made the trek.

For the first three hours I had the park nearly to myself.  I lost sense of time and place as I concentrated on compositions among the roar of the water.  There were no thoughts of Covid19, no thoughts of vacations missed, no thoughts about work or health - it was cleansing just to exist in the moment with no other concerns. Even a modest creek and waterfall can seem like Niagara when you are right next to it and you let your mind clear.

As I moved back onto the trail, I noticed a change.  Since many people are not working regular schedules and the kids are not in school, the trail started getting "crowded" - at least crowded by my definition - which means more than just me in the entire park!  After a while it was time to leave and rejoin reality. 

But for six wonderful hours, everything was just fine with the world!  :)

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With the Covid-19 lockdown, I thought I would have lots of time to work through old photos and dramatically update my website.  Six weeks in and I have only managed to update and finalize a single gallery - Ricketts Glen!  Maybe I need to stop watching Netflix and Amazon Prime - I love documentaries but I may have overdosed on them - and some were definitely questionable choices (Tiger King anyone?).


I chose Ricketts Glen as the starting point for working through my older image files that had not yet been edited.  Since restarting my passion for photography in 2000, I have been to Ricketts Glen more than twenty-five times for full day photo hikes. I love everything about the place and I never grow tired of going there. So it was a natural place to start.  I was certain I had already reviewed, selected and published  the best images over the years.  But several older ones caught my eye and made me stop.  I published them to a work area to “live with them” for a few days to see if they still seemed worthy of publishing to my website - and they did!  One of the images is from 2007 - thirteen years ago as I write this!  Hopefully you enjoy these as much as I do!  You can see the new additions from the archive here on the Ricketts Glen gallery page.


One of the images I rediscovered is the one at the top of this page.  I made this image several years ago and as I reviewed it last week, it immediately grabbed me - perhaps because of the situation we now find ourselves in.  We are forced to isolate ourselves from other people and it’s become clear that we don’t have the level of control over the world that we sometimes think we do.  The small lone figure - the gesture - isolated against the vast backdrop of nature seemed to explain something of what we are experiencing today.

I hope everyone is doing well and I hope that soon this blog will show great landscape photos from far away places with no mention of viruses!

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Now that Social Distancing is a phrase we are all too familiar with, I realize I have been practicing social distancing for many years! At least with my photography trips. When we went to the Canadian Rockies last year, we chose Jasper because all the guidebooks said everyone goes to Banff. When we schedule our photo and hiking trips, we travel on weekends and hike during the week - to avoid people. We hated Arches National Park because we went there on a Saturday and there were people there! And we absolutely loved Big Bend because we saw only four other people over the course of a five day photo trip! That was ten years ago and it is still memorable! I may have a problem. :)

After too many months, I have finally finished and posted my Canadian Rockies gallery. Take some time (I know you have it) and click on the link to see the images from that trip. It was one of the most amazing places I have ever visited - and I hope to go back again someday soon.

The image above was from a very calm and quiet sunrise on a lake near Jasper. There wasn’t a manmade sound at all - just the sounds of nature. And it was so calm - barely a ripple on the lake’s surface. It invited you to - no demanded that you - slow down and breathe deeply. I’ve been breathing deeply too often lately - just to check that I don’t have the virus! But when you breathe deeply, outside in nature, I find that you slow down, you calm down, your mind gets quiet, you relax… and you see and feel the healing power of nature and the land.

Go outside on the next nice day - stay close to home and stay away from other people - and look at a view you enjoy… and breathe deeply.

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It’s Leap Day - February 29th - and as promised in my last blog post, here is a second bonus image for the month - at no extra cost! I thought we could all use a little distraction from the coronavirus, the plunging stock market, and the democratic primaries. :)

The image above is from a recent winter afternoon hike in The Pinelands. I came across this marshy area and was captivated by the gold and red grasses next to tangle of lichen covered trees. It’s another reminder that the colors of winter are there to be seen if you take enough time to look and notice them.

It’s been a great winter so far - unless you love snow. Signs of spring are all around - the first robins have been seen, there are buds on the trees, it’s light until after 6pm, the PGA Tour is in Florida, and the Flower Show opened in Philadelphia. Pretty soon these blog posts will be filled with the greens of Spring!

Happy Leap Day everyone!

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Who can resist a great sunset?  

While the sunset was the first thing that captured my attention in the above image, it was the rising then falling hill and tree line that really made me stop.

The bare branches created a beautiful design against the rapidly changing colorful sky. Even the shape of the cloud formation seemed to echo the shape of the hill and tree line.

At times like this, landscape photography can be more like fast paced action photography. I pulled the car off the side of the road and got the camera and tripod set up as quickly as I could. I was only able to get one image with the light at its peak.

It was only later that the title came to me and seemed to sum up what I was feeling and what made me stop and photograph this moment in time… the brilliant color and light of the sunset, and the hill and tree line both reached a crescendo and then quickly faded away.

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It was a gray December afternoon, but the forecast called for clearing at the end of the day. The girls were home for a weekend visit for their annual cookie baking day. That meant it was my signal to get out of the way and wander around with my camera until the baking was done and all that was left were tins filled with warm cookies!

As you may have noticed, I am drawn to trees in the winter when there are no leaves on them. The shapes of the branches are fascinating - as if it’s some sort of natural etching against the landscape. I’ve come to realize, I love the rolling hills and open fields of this area of PA where I grew up, now a long time ago. Lines of solitary trees separating each farmer’s fields from the other.

As the forecast came true and the clouds started to give way to the sun, it lit up the fields and trees in a patchwork of light. I started driving back to some locations I saw earlier and came to the intersection of Fairview and Grandview - the honest truth. I chose Grandview.

I looked back into the setting sun, stopped the car, and realized I chose wisely!

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It happened again! If you read my last blog post, my day of photography back then didn’t go as planned but I ended up being in the right place at the right time. This time everything was perfect - I was going to spend the morning at Hawk Mountain in the fog taking wonderful pictures. The cloud conditions were perfect. It was a Saturday and I had the time set aside. The road that leads to Hawk Mountain climbs in elevation. Within a mile of the top, I entered the fog bank and smiled because all the planning paid off! I started debating between black and white or color images and couldn’t wait to start. I pulled up to the trailhead entrance… and was greeted with a sign saying “Trails Closed for Safety During Deer Hunting”.

I sat there… stunned. I debated going in anyway, but came to my senses and made the intelligent decision not to (ok, the guard sitting in his car stopping people from trying had something to do with it!)

This time there was no whining, no anger, no cursing my bad luck. I turned around (thought again about going in, but the guard was still there!) and drove back down the road toward a small patch of winter color that caught my eye. I had seen it many times on the way to Hawk Mountain and always slowed down and even stopped once before. This time I parked the Jeep and started making some photographs.

Who said winters colors had to be shades of brown or grey? The rain and mist, along with the red colored branches, the berries, the lichen on the trees, and the winter grasses came together to produce color that you never seem to notice in winter.  And the raindrops on the branches echo the red berries, lacking only their own color.  I spent almost three hours just walking and photographing along a roadside in this small patch of winter color - and loved every minute of it!

I can’t wait to meticulously plan my next photo walk only to see what disappointment happens… followed by great discovery!

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Things happen for a reason. 

The light was perfect for this kind of image.  I was hiking in Wharton State Forest in The Pinelands on a late November Sunday afternoon.  It was the kind of soft filtered light you get when the sun is shining through a high, milky white sky.  It's the kind of light that seems to happen more in late autumn and winter.  If I had tried to make this photo on a clear sunny day, it would have been too harsh - with deep shadows on the ground and white branches that would have been too bright.  Instead, I found myself staring at these bare winter trees under perfect conditions - I was at the right place, at the right time, under the right light. 

I didn't plan it that way...

I was originally going to be there the day before - which turned out to be a bright, sunny, cloudless day.  My plan was to do a quick hike in a woodland near my home to make photos of the last autumn leaves in the forest and then spend the rest of the day in the Pinelands.  But my plans were changed for me.  Does anyone know how hard it is to find an earth-green colored camera backpack in a boulder-strewn forest covered with fallen leaves?  I do!  I put my backpack on the ground (like I always do) to take the first image of the day - but then moved a few yards and took another image - then moved again because the boulders over there looked great - then moved again for yellow leaves backlit by the sun - then moved again for more boulders covered in leaves - then walked further up the hill for a different angle.  Ok, where's my camera backpack?

Almost two hours later, after nervously walking the woodland back and forth in a systematic pattern to cover all the ground, after first being amused, then getting annoyed, then getting mad, then cursing so bad it made autumn's last leaves drop from the trees... I found the backpack - with all my lenses... and my phone... and my car keys.  

I was aggravated - I had the day all mapped out and this dumb two hour delay prevented me from making the drive to the Pinelands as I originally planned.  I would have to go tomorrow, when it wouldn't be nearly as nice and sunny, because clouds were forecast to move in.

And that's how I ended up at the right place, at the right time, under the right light.

Brian

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Earlier this summer I traveled to the Canadien Rockies with a friend for some hiking and photography. It was a wonderful trip.  We hiked in warm sun and cool air. We walked along emerald colored lakes and streams.  We hiked into the high passes to see glaciers. And we saw wildflowers everywhere.

I still haven't released the full gallery, but I am getting close.  And a funny thing happened as I worked with the images from this trip. I tend to prefer the intimate landscapes - the small scenes, that when viewed together, provide a feeling of the place we visited.

I tend to downplay the “grand landscapes” as images that anyone could make - all you need to do is travel there and push the shutter button of the camera. But I realized that isn’t the case. The grand landscapes can carry just as much unique feeling and personal expression as the smaller scenes. I searched the web and found many grand landscapes of the Canadian Rockies for sure - but they don’t look like the images I made there. I grew to like these images as my favorites from the trip.  I started to see them as portraits of the mountains we visited - each with its own unique personality.

Be sure to click the link to view a small nine image gallery of Mountain Portraits on my Canadian Rockies Gallery page.

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Something told me to turn left instead of right at the stop sign of the deserted early morning street corner. It was barely light but in a few short hours beach goers would be swarming the street. For now it was just me... and a guy on a bike with coffee in one hand pedaling slowly with no destination in mind. Being awake and outside on a calm morning before sunrise was the destination for both of us.

My original plan was to head to Corsin’s Inlet for some wandering in the early morning light - but I listened to the suggestion and turned left. As I parked the car near the sand dunes in the northern end of Ocean City, I felt like I was guided to the right decision. The sky was still a deep magenta, but with orange spreading out where the sun would rise. I immediately composed some frames with dune grasses in this great light. I then walked quickly toward a rock jetty as the perfect cloud formation waited for the sun to rise directly beneath it.

It was the kind of “quiet” where a single sound - the roar of the constant surf - replaced all other sounds. I saw a few other people walking or sitting on the beach, but they melted away as I became obsessed with different compositions of light, clouds, and water. Everyone else ceased to exist.

Thirty minutes later, I emerged from my sunrise experience breathless - as if I were photographing a sporting event. It’s surprising how fast the sun moves, and how quickly the color changes, as it passes close to and then behind the clouds on the watery horizon. I watched the sky go from the magenta and orange of pre-sunrise to the orange yellow and blue of early morning, as the sun rose above the water into the breeze-stretched clouds. What a thirty minutes it was!

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THE ELDER

The tree called out to us almost audibly and stopped us in our tracks. Yes, there were hundreds of other trees around, but this one had presence. And this one’s voice was quiet but commanding. It was clearly the elder tree of the forest - the master - the one that every other tree deferred to. And it possessed both vitality and tiredness.

This giant of a tree seemed unable to stop the slow passage of time as evidenced by the the bare white branches still attached at the bottom. And the limbs (bones) strewn around the ground at the bottom of the trunk looked like they had been undisturbed for many years. It all clearly suggested that this tree seemed to be in the latter days of its great long existence. But it wasn’t ready to give up yet. The bright green needles of the new spring growth gave away the energy still alive in this master of the forest. There was still life, growth, and something to offer, to all who would make the time to listen. We stood there for what seemed to be a long time and listened.

Sometimes I take photos and when I get back home the ones I thought would be great turn out to be just ok and sometimes the ones I don’t expect to be great turn out to be surprises. And then, occasionally, there are the images, where you just know as you see it, as you make the image, and when you get back home - it just works. For me, this was one of them.

This image may be just another tree photo for many of you, which is perfectly fine. But for some, maybe it will speak to you as it spoke to us - when we stood there and just listened and then made its portrait. Either way, I hope you enjoy viewing the image as much as I enjoyed creating it!

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I just returned from a week of hiking and photographing in the Canadian Rockies with my college friend Rich. We spent five long days hiking and photographing - the sun rises at 5:45am and sets at 10:10pm in the middle of July and we were determined to see every bit of light every day we were there! It was an amazing place - you are constantly surrounded by high mountain peaks, emerald lakes, glaciers, pine trees, beautiful clouds, and clear mountain streams. We stayed more towards the Jasper end of the Rockies to avoid the Disney like crowds near Banff.

The scene above is from what might have been my favorite hike. We hiked a couple miles up the mountain until we got above the tree line and came to a signpost and trail junction. The trail went left and so did all the people. So naturally we went right and walked another mile or two in a beautiful high altitude meadow surrounded by peaks. The meadow was crossed by a small stream from melting glaciers and it gave the water needed for soft green grass and colorful wildflowers. We took a break and just sat for thirty minutes on the softest bed of mossy grass by the stream and just watched the clouds and shadows roll over the landscape. It was perfect.

The trip was amazing. We saw elk, bald eagles, two black bears and one grizzly bear (from the safety of our car), a coyote, mountain goats, and more. We washed our face and head in the coldest clearest mountain streams during long hot hikes. We hiked in warm sun and cool 75 degree air. We walked along lakes and streams that were emerald in color from the melting glaciers. We saw the glaciers of the Columbia Ice Field spread across multiple peaks. And we saw wildflowers everywhere. We were up and down the Icefields Parkway which is an amazing 100 mile road winding down the valley carved by the Athabasca and other rivers - completely surrounded by tall mountain peaks on both sides - for all 100 miles.

It’s no surprise I took a lot of photographs and you can expect to see some more in future blog posts as I work through them and select the best ones. If you are looking for an outdoor destination - I would highly recommend the Canadian Rockies!

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A trip to The Pinelands always brings the unexpected. This area of southern New Jersey is full of stories - from the home of the Jersey Devil to the dumping place for many an enemy of Tony Soprano. Usually for me, the unexpected involves just the natural world - the interplay of light, clouds, water and land in an ever-changing display of color. A friend and I spent a typical Saturday afternoon in the Whites Bog section of The Pinelands. By the end of the day, it became anything but typical. As the day ended, we were treated to mysterious and unexpected music in the Pines…

Music In The Pines!

It was closing in on 6pm and we were about to get the most beautiful light of the day. I couldn’t wait - three hours of hiking and scouting was about to pay off photographically! Except for one thing - the cloud bank that quickly formed on the horizon destroyed any hope of sunset and deep golden light.

After whining for at least twenty minutes, I decided that the photographic part of the day was over. So we packed up and started driving out. I took a slight wrong turn and we were soon lured in by the most unexpected of sounds - heavy metal music! In the Pines! It turns out the band Tallah was shooting a music video for their song, “We, the Sad”. We sat and listened to the loud music in what is usually a very quiet setting. They yelled over to us and asked if we wanted to be in the video, but we knew our hiking boots would make us look out of place and besides, we left our frown face robes at home that day! :) They were very gracious and let me take some photos of my own while they performed and shot the video. It was an incredible thirty minutes to cap the day. Thank goodness the clouds came in or we never would have seen this!

The Band Tallah

After the band was done with the video we talked to them a little and we watched them wrap up. I assumed I knew what heavy metal band members would be like. Yet they were normal people like you would find anywhere. With one exception - they are artists. They have a message and they communicate it through their music, their art. Some might not like it - just like some might not like impressionist paintings. But we should respect their skill, their work, and the fact they care enough to communicate. It was eye-opening in a way.

A big thanks to the band Tallah for letting us enjoy their performance. They were just signed by Earache Records and we were told the video shot in the Pinelands for “We, The Sad” would be online at the end of the month. For now, you can listen to the song here (it is extreme metal music - but have an open mind!) And many thanks to Paul Stamper who was producing the video and graciously allowed me to have some fun photographing this very unique event in the Pines! They all treated us well and allowed us to enjoy the evening with them.

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