September is in full swing with a successful start to the new school year. My children are happy with their classes, and to be reunited with their friends. The first week back isn’t typically heavy in workload, so we made sure to take advantage of the free evening time while the weather is warm.
Over the summer, my youngest one finally sparked an interest in photography. Wondering if it would last, or if he was just “in the moment” as we were out camping with our photography club, I waited for him to bring it up again on his own. He did, a few times, so it was time for him to have a camera of his own too.
One evening during the week, we took in a photo walk down through one of the local nature preserves. There are wetlands with boardwalks built throughout the marshes to give people the opportunity to enjoy nature without causing harm to the ecosystem. We were joined by over a dozen of our fellow photography friends. My sons came along, cameras in hand, I helped the youngest with his first journey out with his camera. He was beaming with pride. Once he had the basics down, off he went, and I watched him as he started to take in the world with a new lens. He is an artist through and through, but something changed as he walked through, looking to frame his images in his mind. He made me proud. He produced some incredible photographs that night, and he forged a deeper connection with the people who over the past few years have become important friends of ours.
Friends. Not just club members. They are friends. We joined together to enjoy the beauty of nature. We captured pieces of it with only taking images away. We harnessed emotion and feeling in those images, and we can now share them with the world. My son can’t wait to go out again to show what he can do. And I can’t wait to spend more time in nature with him and watch him see things through my eyes.
Mountain Girl at Heart 