The "Art of Being There"

 The beauty of the fall season in Kentucky is breathtaking and hiking into the backcountry of Mammoth Cave National Park during this time of year can transport one into a visual canopy of color.

Capturing the feeling of this world requires more than simply physically walking down a trail with your camera in hand. It requires you to fully immerse yourself into and becoming a part of the surroundings. There is a kind of bonding one develops with nature when you allow yourself to let go of the everyday stresses of life and then receive the soothing comfort discovered here. It helps you to step outside the distractions of life, to be elevated above all the things that weigh us down emotionally, so you begin to see the hidden compositions drifting across the landscape.

 I wish I could get that feeling every time I go out, but it is almost impossible to do so. There is an Art to it, the kind of art that is difficult to define. It is the Art of Being There where you allow yourself to become a part of the surroundings, where you feel the subtle sounds of the woodlands,

 hear the splash of light filtering through the trees, see the wind brush across your face, then inhale the aroma of the flotsam of the forest floor. 

When that happens, your camera becomes more than a tool…it becomes an extension of your emotions. The art of being there is what this Adventure Photography series is all about.

Yet it is more, for there will never be enough words to fully describe how it works because it is different for everyone. It's a feeling really, the kind that radiates deep from within yourself. It's more than simply recognizing that it can happen, it's experiencing it and living it all at once.

The Art of Being There as a photographer elevates those moments to a level well above what is ordinary...you are uplifted emotionally and everything becomes synchronized so much so, it all simply falls into place.