Into the night

Disappearing
London, ON
October 2007

About this photo: We're continuing to follow this week's Thematic Photographic theme, autumn. In this scene, the leaves had already begun their annual journey to oblivion, but were still mostly on the branches. The end was near, I thought to myself, as I shuffled through a few piles of leaves on the ground in search of workable pictures. Please visit here to participate.

There's something forlorn about the outline of a tree on a foggy night. Nothing's clear or well defined. Some branches simply fade into the murk. Others are bathed by streetlamps that glow all night even though no one's around.

It's a weird place to be, but you never know when the fog will roll in and turn an ordinary street just outside the front door into a bit of an optical wonderland. So even though it's late and I really ought to be in bed, I grab my camera and tripod and head outside.

I often wonder why I write and shoot. The closest answer, I think, is that I get to immerse myself in a process that's completely within my control. No one can tell me how to structure a story, for example, or compose a scene. All these things simply pop into my head - how they do this I'll never know - and I rather enjoy following through on that initial spark of...I'm actually not sure what it is, but it's definitely something.

So on this night, I'm working alone, trying to figure out how to expose a challenging light environment that's rather new to me. I'm a little too tired to think straight, but I feel right at home in this magical, temporary wonderland around the corner from my house.

Call me antisocial, but sometimes I'd rather be alone.

Your turn: The eternal sunshine of the solitary mind. Please discuss.