I spent a good part of last Friday standing in an ice cold creek.....why?? Because i wanted to shoot some pictures that gave the viewer a sense of what it looks like when you are standing in the middle of a creek...crystal clear flowing water, rocks above and below the surface, pine trees on the gorge above me...a somewhat different perspective from what the average person might see.

It was a bright sunny day and with the sun straight overhead was not the greatest shooting conditions. Middle of the day sun makes everything look flat and the shadows are less than interesting, but I was outside enjoying nature and that's all that really mattered.

I went to the creek with the intention of shooting some long exposure pictures. The sun being as it was forced me to use an 8 stop neutral density filter to allow for a longer shutter speed that I had hoped would result in some interesting water motion.

With my knee high rubber boots on i carefully walked amongst the rocks and fallen trees hoping that a slippery spot would not take me down. Boots won as i managed to stay above water.

So, after looking for the best spots, maneuvering through the water, setting up and shooting for a couple of hours i managed to come away with nothing that interested me. Working with the long exposures taught me a few things about shooting in the middle of the day but other than that i can honestly say that none of my pictures were a success.

When i was finished i moved upstream to a small water fall and set up so that my camera was inches from the water flow. Now it was time to shoot some high speed exposures so that i could freeze the water movement. Twenty five shots later i walked out of there with only one (in my eyes) winner........

So, if you are thinking that i was disappointed in my outing you couldn't be further from the truth. Photography is my passion and i am almost always "in my zone" when i am out shooting. Even those times (and there are plenty of them) when things just don't gel, i can still walk away energized about learning something or experiencing the peacefulness of what nature has to offer. It's hard to describe the feeling but i am sure it's no different than how all of you feel about the things in your life that give you that extra charge that just seems to make life a little better.

You could be a chef, a painter, a marathon runner, a musician, a volunteer or a mom or a dad, it doesn't matter. Having a passion for something in your life is a game changer for your soul. It can lighten it or pick it up when things aren't so great. Having a passion can make all the difference.

Friday night i sat in the driveway and took pictures of gravel. I looked at the way the light effected the shadows of the many different geometric shapes. Am i nuts???? no, not at all, I am passionate.....

See ya soon