Getting Out

I have not really been interested in writing or posting photos despite the fact that I have gotten out quite a bit this spring and taken too many photos, but this past Friday I had an opportunity to go out again and shoot a little bit. It is always nice to get out, although for most of this year so far, it has been painful to hike and so many of the outings have been to places where limited walking is needed. But Friday was a trip out to Circle B which I knew meant we would cover at least a few miles.

As is our usual, we met at Panera for breakfast at 6:00 am and then hit the road. We drove separately, as Mike had a very small window before he had to go into work. We arrived around 7:15 and headed out.

I took my first photograph at 7:31 and the last one at 8:52.

So what, I shot for about and hour and a half, walked a few miles in pain, nothing spectacular in that and there was nothing that unusual on the hike. But when I got home and went through everything I had taken, I think I realized the importance of getting out.


First, it’s really not about the shots, it’s about the experience. Just being outside and enjoying the world around us, and it could have been anywhere. This was a Reserve we have been to many times before, it could have been to a downtown for street photography or it could have been somewhere exotic, it doesn’t really matter, we got out for the experience and on this day, it did not really take all that long.

Second, after reviewing all of the photos and selecting many of them, I could not believe everything I had seen in such a short time, from dew on spider webs in the morning light, to ospreys enjoying possibly their first meal of the day, to woodpeckers under the bright blue sky. It was amazing everything that was out there, the natural world going on as it does every day and on this one, I had the opportunity to be a witness to it.

The following are 25 photos, presented in the order taken in the hour and a half hike.

It was a great morning and I am glad I got out.