As Summer Wanes

Field Notes II.XXXV: A morning photography walk through a meadow in late August.

Welcome to Field Notes!

The approaching change is perceptible, though not with the common senses. It lingers in the shadows where the warblers and wrens and buntings flit from limb to branch. Hard summer heat softens. The air is dry.

It may be the lower angle of the morning sun, cresting the hill noticeably later now, heralding a shift. Behind the trees, its veiled golden rays tumble through the lacework of foliage, falling lightly in patches on the tall grasses of the meadow.

A subtle breeze trembles the leaves up high, but I only feel it brush my skin like a fading memory. It carries the crisp chirps of birds across the hillside- birds speaking brightly of sadness, knowing that change is the nature of all things.

It is spider season. While the fields vibrate with the buzzing of innumerable insects they sit in silent patience in the center of their translucent geometric nets. The spiders’ intricate weavings shine in the morning light as deadly gossamer compositions of hope.

The grass stretches waist high with seed heads aglow. Heavy dew overlays the green. Soon my shoes are saturated.

The gentle hillside falls away below towards the tree line. Clouds above drift slowly, held aloft by a wordless nostalgia. The season is on the verge of change. I feel it, but in a deeper sense, under the skin and behind the ribs. The fervid summer’s passing leaves a void like the recollection of youth.

The heat will return again before autumn arrives. It always does. Each experience of the turn of the earth gives such knowledge. That knowledge makes these mornings so poignant.

Nothing lasts. Not the summer. Not this sunrise. The crickets will grow silent, the grasses will die back, and birds will migrate away. Now come the last few days of the way things were.

In this moment I stand in the first crisp air at summer’s end and feel the warmth of the morning sun. Breathing deeply into the bottom of my lungs, I look forward to listening to the colors of autumn in trees as their orchestra of hues reach a crescendo.

Ok. Today’s issue of Field Notes was mostly a photo essay. I walked into this field on a cool-ish morning at the end of August and mostly experienced feelings that were difficult to describe in words. It was sort of sad, sort of exciting for the upcoming change of seasons.

I think some of these photos capture the mood fairly well. Putting words with them was a struggle. Here I offer only a few, my attempt at artfully composed phrases.

This post comes as I am having an ebb of creativity and difficulty with keeping to a schedule. As the fall progresses I have more of an urge to just sit with a coffee and read a book.

I enjoy writing, but as I do more of it I am spending less time on photos. The same goes with creating films. Its hard to balance with the limited time I have available for all of this and with still taking time to go on adventures in between. The pressure to keep to a weekly posting schedule is becoming heavier. Maybe more of these simpler photo essays are the answer?

I hinted at a change of direction in my photography in the last issue of Field Notes, so now I feel like I need to explain. I received a lot of good feedback from the photographs of people that I took in Honduras. So, the change is that I’ve decided to lean in that direction a bit more.

For you, the readers of Field Notes, I don’t know if it will be much of an apparent difference. You might notice that I re-organized my photo galleries (link below), or if you dive deep and go to my website erikhoganphotography.com you will see it is re-done as well. I haven’t decided how or even if this will make its way into my Field Notes posts.

A subtle difference to you is kind of a paradigm shift for me. I’m branching out from photography that is entirely focused on the landscape and my artistic vision of it towards making connections with people and their interactions with nature. My intention is to occasionally offer sessions for authentic natural light portrait photography or for outdoor adventure pursuits.

I’m calling this direction The Human Element and we’ll just have to see where it goes. Right now, it is a process of small and iterative steps in that direction. I have a tab for bookings, but haven’t opened any sessions yet. Obviously, they will be for people in my local area for now. Maybe when I become a successful world traveler I can provide sessions all over?

I’ll announce openings here when I have them. Or, maybe I’ll announce them in a separate email. Or maybe create a separate section for my publication? Again, we’ll see where this goes. For now, I’d be happy if you checked out my re-organized galleries. Note that all of my landscape and wildlife photos are available for purchase as prints on a variety of mediums.

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