Welcome to the Swamp
Trying to appreciate where I am (photo essay)
I took a lot of photos at various Twin Cities parks on my recent extended anxiety attack vacation in Minnesota. I brought a micro 4/3 digital camera, a DSLR, and my old 35mm Nikon N65 and my 120mm Holga for a change of photographic pace. I haven't found a place to develop those yet (okay, I haven't actually looked yet) but despite my lack of enthusiasm for coming back to Virginia, I have seemingly regained my desire to seek out photo ops in nature again.
Turns out I accidentally left my more compact digital camera back in Minnesota to retrieve at a later date, have not yet replenished my film stock and, not feeling like using the somewhat clunky full-size DSLR lately, I made do with my phone camera.
I call the general area where I live “The Swamp” because that's how the pols cynically refer to it and I appreciate that, but I found an actual swamp nearby and it's actually a nice place to walk, especially when you find yourself bored on a Sunday afternoon or awake at 6am on a Monday morning for no good reason.
Here are some pictures from the past two days at The Swamp.
Some great shots. I like the ones with the Depth of feel focus the best. I can't say I recall seeing that used in the swamp photography genre, at least recently. Kidding, but seriously it gives the images more of an artistic touch than everything in focus. I'm at some weird point where I think focus is overrated, and it's better for everyone if we don't focus on everything, if we allow the edges to be soft or even the subject in some instances. It's a new idea I've been circling back to and was reminded of it again in the images.
Thank you for sharing! I grew up in Florida, and now I live far away from any true wetlands. I miss the swamps. The area I live in has regular wet land only, which is NOT the same thing to anyone fortunate enough to know better! I wish more states invested in making that land accessible like Florida does for its tourists. State parks and at least one city park that I remember have boardwalks through the woods where it gets swampy. The ecology is so unique in those places.