Seeing | MC^2 Nature Photography

It was a hike on the Tolleston Dunes trail in the Indiana Dunes National Park which sparked a different way of Seeing nature for me. My wife loves wildflowers and has always enjoyed spotting and identifying them, while hiking this trail together I first began to really pay attention to the details and the little things alongside the trail.

First I noticed this Chicken of the Woods fungi. True, being bright orange and yellow, and sitting in the middle of the trail it was hard to miss. But it was really cool and I was captivated by the colors and shapes.

As we continued down the trail I was more focused on scanning the ground and foliage alongside the trail, and I started noticing more subtle things like a frog resting in a leaf.

Or a spider having lunch.

Or a spiny mushroom.

Once you start noticing these little things, these small details, you really cannot not notice them anymore. Things that previously your brain would have ignored, begin to stand out. A little flash of color, a shape, or a bit of contrast. Little things start catching your attention, making you stop to take a closer look. The brain is learning to see the natural world in a different way. The change is subtle at first, but it builds over time to the point where you can barely walk 50′ down a trail without spotting something that makes you stop to investigate.

As a result I can now hike the same trail dozens of times and never run out of new, beautiful and fascinating things to see, and of course photograph.

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When out on a hike on a heavily wooded trail, what do you see?

Hiking along a trail like this, your eye-brain system is presented with an overwhelming amount of information. The amount of detail in a scene like this can make it seem featureless and uninteresting. Not too long ago I would have plowed through an area like this and come away feeling like it was ok, but not particularly interesting or inspiring.

Even stopping to take a closer look just reveals a seemingly infinite number of green leaves. It certainly does not scream out “fascinating nature photography opportunity“. At least it never did to me. Similarly most of the people I hike with, and many who I encounter on the trail feel the same way. A trail like this is often viewed as a way to get to some other more “interesting” destination like a beach, or is simply a source of exercise. I suspect that most people would find it quite boring to hike a trail like this over and over and over again. Maybe come back in fall when the colors are changing, but certainly not in the winter when everything is dead.

Up until a few years ago this is how I used to see nature when out on a typical forested trail here in the midwest. But then something interesting happened and I began to see nature in a whole new way.

MC^2 Nature Photography

Category: Seeing

Seeing – Learning to See Differently

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Seeing – What do you see?

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