A couple of weeks after my trip to Collins Creek, I made a visit to the Lake Sylvia Recreation Area in the northeast corner of the Ouachita National Forest. The recreation area is just a little over an hour from my house making it pretty easy to get to. It’s also a location I’ve never visited in the middle of summer, so I wasn’t sure what I might find when I arrived.
I arrived a few minutes before sunrise at a parking area for a short walking trail. As I sat in my truck waiting for the sky to get a little brighter, I noticed a small forest scene with the trees full of green leaves and split rail fence running along the edge of the woods. I realized I had photographed this same spot (which you can check out here) about a year and half ago in the middle of Autumn, so I was interested to see how the image I created then compared to the previous one.
Many times, I have a bad habit of not spending much time setting up my compositions. I will see something, and, from that particular spot, I will set up my camera, get the photograph, and then pack up and move on. The result is an image that I find boring and uninspired.
But, for this image, I decided to try something a little bit different. I pulled out my camera, attached a 24-70mm lens, and spent a few minutes walking around trying to find the angle that I found most pleasing to me. Once I did that, only then did I set up the tripod, mount the camera, and come away with this picture. Now, I just need to make that a habit!
Finding serenity in the woods