The breaking of day, the silence between words, the light emanating from a real conversation, and kindness, truth, love and the apparent random hand of grace: I want to remain gobsmaked by all of it. Rendered speechless by wonder, I await the next unfolding.

Richard Wagamese: Embers

This image was from a week long trip I took back in October of 2003 to Smoky Mountains National Park. It was my first and only visit to the park. I had only owned my Nikon D100 (6 megapixel sensor) for less than a year. It was my first ever digital camera so I was still early in my digital photography formation, getting to know the camera and using Photoshop Elements. A slight break in the clouds on an overcast day offered a gold glow on the water of the Roaring Fork River that lasted just a few seconds before it was gone. It is still one of my favorite moments on that trip and ignited the desire to experience the next unfolding in nature. I find it interesting that I just happen to remember these images and that experience. So I went back into my archives to see what Lightroom enhancements could do today. I also wondered how would I approach this scene today? I also believe that photography has helped me see the world with new eyes and I can easily get gobsmaked¹to be extremely surprised or shocked, almost to the point of being speechless, like being smacked in the mouth by something I see in the viewfinder.