Morning Sunshine

This morning I got up early and headed out to catch some of that 'morning magic hour' glow. I had carefully packed my things last night(I knew I wouldn't remember everything in the morning) - my gloves and wallet in my jacket pocket ready to go, my Canon 7D and two favorite lenses, my Minolta X-700 loaded with Kodak Portra 160vc and three MD Rokkor lenses. I had picked out a spot in the Cuyahoga Valley that I thought would make for some great morning landscapes. So there I was driving through the valley, sipping my cup of coffee with my eyes glancing eastward to check on the rising sun. I turned to pull into the lot - it was closed, everything was closed. The Park had shut down everything because of the height of the river - my mind started racing as I started making random turns, "if I got up this early for nothing..." I drove past the glowing Covered Bridge, "been there done that", drove past the Cranz Barns - same deal. I ended up at O'Neil woods, "at least I haven't shot here in the morning," I told myself.

When shooting landscapes(nature, old buildings) time of day is almost just as important as the subject. I know this isn't a huge revelation to most, but when I was starting out I really couldn't figure out why my middle-of-the-day photos were so bland. At the farm I often see people shooting the pumpkins or corn wagon in the middle of the day and I always think to myself what awful photos they are taking..."shoulda been here at 7:15 this morning bro...."

I find the National Park to be a little overzealous with their caution. Last summer a small branch fell on a power line and the Park shut down a road for about an hour. I was trying to get a wagon load of fresh corn through with the tractor. No amount of persuasion or common sense did any good.

A couple years ago a big tree came down on Riverview right across from the Ranger Station. Big John Szalay grabbed a chainsaw and we had the tree cut up and off the road in the time it would have taken the park to block off the road.  I understand why farmers don't like the Federal Government....