Taking Time

My church is in the woods—sunlight through branches and leaves is stained glass mimicry. Quiet and solitary are the members of the towering congregation. Not a word is spoken, only the murmuring of prayers is heard as wind moves silently overhead.

For me, taking time to visit a forest is to escape into the real. Walking through trees resets my perspective and allows me to shed the stresses that build up as a natural part of living. Collecting and looking at frames gives me a sense of being alive—a sense I sometimes lose sight of in my day-to-day existence.

Walking in the woods is always time well spent, even if I don’t capture any “keeper” images. Photography almost becomes secondary to the energy I gain from a day in the woods. It’s magical. Refreshing. Spiritual. It’s a feeling that keeps me urning to return time and time again. It never gets old.

Sugarloaf Mountain, Maryland