Curing a slump
For the last few weeks I haven’t really had the urge to photograph. That is nothing unfamiliar to me; I tend to have those slumps during the dark winter months and when the light of spring comes back in late February I pick up photography again. I don’t usually have the “urgh” hit me in September though, so that was a bit of a novelty.
Just to get a bit of fresh air I took a drive to one of my usual strolling areas - the woods around Torup Castle outside Malmö, Sweden. I had no expectations of finding anything new or particularly earth-shattering since I’ve been to these woods many, many times through the years. That wasn’t the point in the first place; getting away from sitting at my computer and finding some fresh air was.
When I turned into the parking lot I saw a lot of school kids, mostly of high school age milling about. I guess they had taken a field trip to the woods that day and were waiting for the buses back to the city. That part of the woods is usually pretty quiet since the main part of the park and castle grounds is some distance away, but not this time around!
I didn’t mind though…there was plenty of room for all of us and the kids have a right to be there just as much as I do, even with their voices at a volume more suited for busy city streets than quiet woods. When I got further into the woods I was passed on the paths by several junior high school kids holding maps and compasses. I’d also seen a few orienteering checkpoints around me so clearly there were a lot of young kids out there that day.
I kept my camera down when they passed, since it can very easily be misconstrued when a middle-aged man is wielding a camera in the vicinity of kids. I did snap this one picture though, since this young lady’s hair was backlit so beautifully by the sun.
With several rather cold nights lately I honestly thought the fall colors around me would be more prominent, but I guess we’re still a few weeks away from the full onslaught of yellows, browns and reds. I don’t mind…that’ll give me a good reason to go back to these woods for more photography.
The whole outing which didn’t last more than about an hour and a half definitely put a bit of energy back into my photography, so all in all a good afternoon!
