Learning to Pause


Winter is a busy time at Away – weekend guests and outdoor activities. And while my wrist continues to heal, I forgo the skiing and snowshoeing, choosing to putter indoors. I don’t mind this quiet time to myself – and yet, I am ready for winter to end…

January has resulted in a dearth of photos; with the exception of a few quick Instagram snaps on my iPhone, I have little to share. Itchy to keep on keeping on, I have been perusing my photo catalogs from recent months – finding forgotten, untouched photos, waiting to take my notice. I came across several from our October camping trip in Acadia – a sunrise shoot on a cold autumn morning.

While the multitudes of Acadia visitors took off for Cadillac Mountain (with out a doubt, breathtaking)  I sought a place along one of the coastal roads, not wishing to share the sunrise with a crowd. Tripod and camera in tow, Greg, Chessie and I climbed among the rocks, away from the road. A short walk brought us to a perfect spot for watching the sun as it rose over the horizon.

I focused primarily on the shore, watching the sun peek over the water; Greg was fascinated by the golden glow that the early light cast on the rocks and trees. I need to remind myself – always – to stop for a moment – take a pause – look around. It seems that I need to learn this lesson over and over – just as I am now taking a pause from shooting new photographs to working with forgotten ones.

Initially, I neglected these photos – baffled by how to work with the deep shadows and white balance of the sunrise. My editing style is minimal, hoping to share the view as it “looked” and “felt” to me at the time.

And then, all too quickly, the sun is up – time to head into town for a hot cup of coffee.

Slowly, slowly, my day-to-day activities are returning to “normal”.  And while I know that this momentary pause has been good for me, I can hear my neglected camera calling to me. I will be back at it soon enough. In the meantime we are planning our next adventures – a bicycle tour in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, a hiking trip in Colorado… working with these photos, only adding to my excitement. And so in my own way, I guess I keep moving forward.

Side note – I just finished reading Heart Spring Mountain, which I stumbled upon in my local bookstore in Vermont. The story brought to life, the unique culture that is Vermont. I don’t generally write reviews, but will add some short comments on Goodreads – eventually – maybe…

Are you – like me – already looking forward to / making plans for summer?

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10 responses to “Learning to Pause”

  1. Sarah Avatar
    Sarah

    It seems that this moment of pause is being good to you, and to us, otherwise we wouldn’t have seen these gorgeous photographs. It has been many years since we have been to Acadia, but I loved it then and would love to go back. You are going to the U.P.! You will love it. I miss the U.P.
    We just booked a week at an airbnb up in my favorite place – The Leelanau Peninsula in April. We are all going Glen, me, Mallory and Findley, should be a lot of fun – if the snow is gone by then. I am ready for warmer weather! Looking to do the Lake Michigan Circle tour we didn’t get to do a couple years ago in June to celebrate my birthday.

  2. Eileen Avatar

    Hello, beautiful views and lovely shots from Acadia. Sounds like you have some awesome trips planned. Enjoy your day!

  3. Nanci Avatar

    Your photographs brought peace and tranquility to my spirit; just gorgeous. Even though we don’t invite those moments of pause they always seem to be good for us. Time to quiet ourselves and reflect on things we often rush by. Your up coming trips sound exciting and I will look forward to seeing the photographs you share with us. Just loving your new blog….

  4. Lisa Gordon Avatar

    Karen, these are such beautiful photographs.
    Maine is such a wonderful place to be in any season.
    I have not used my camera very much this winter, with the exception of some iPhone snaps. It’s been a very cold, and recently a very snowy winter. Not exactly camera weather. However, I do have so many photos taken last year, that I have not even looked at yet. So, in this quiet time, I am slowly going through them, and posting some of them.

    I am so glad to hear that you are healing.
    Take good care of you, my friend!

  5. It\'s All About Purple Avatar

    i too, am ready for spring and warmer weather!!

    the pictures you shared today are stunning, i don’t know why you would not have loved them, or feel they needed editing. i don’t edit my pictures and have no experience taking pictures. i just shoot what looks good…my readers see exactly what i saw. you my friend, are a great photographer!!!

  6. Beatrice Avatar

    We have been to Cadillac Mtn and our visit was around sunset. Thankfuuly, at the time of our visit there were no large crowds, and like you, we prefer to avoid them. Arcadia is a beautiful location and we hope to return, but will drive vs. hiking. Glad to read the healing is going well, Karen, and It’s great that the ice here is finally melting so we can walk outdoors without fears of slipping and worse yet falling. Taking time to look at images taken earlier is what I have also been doing as I move images formerly on CDs to external hard drives. It’s a tedious and time consuming project but the photos do bring back fond memories. And, it allows me time to declutter my image collection as well.

  7. Michelle B Avatar

    I am not to the ‘I wish winter was over’ point yet, but there does seem to be less photo opportunities in the colder weather, or maybe winter just doesn’t inspire me as much as the other seasons. It is always nice to have the time to look back at photos I originally didn’t spend much time with, sometimes wondering why I neglected them in the first place. I do love your sunrise photos, the glow during the ‘golden hour’ is beautiful. We are planning for summer! We are taking a road trip with friends, actually driving, all the way to Florida with a stop in Tennessee to visit family. I am sure I will have a lot of photo opportunities then. Have a great week!

  8. Carola Bartz Avatar

    The pause is so important in our busy lives. I, too, should take more of those.
    I love Acadia and your photos brought back many happy memories of our camping in Acadia during our coast-to-coast trip in 2007. It is such a beautiful place and I loved the shore so much more than Cadillac Mountain (which was wonderful as well). We also experienced the fog there which was very different from our coastal fog – interesting.
    I can’t really say that I’m waiting for spring to start since we are having very spring like weather for quite a while and I’m worrying that we are heading straight into another drought. I wish we had rain…

  9. Jeevan Avatar

    Stunning sunrise and nature to behold! I too like to experience places away from crowd and hope all your plans go well and you bounce back with experience and photos.

  10. Cathy Hubmann Avatar

    What beautiful photos you’ve rediscovered! I’m breathless just looking at them. Sounds like you have some wonderful trips coming up. I’ll be looking forward to seeing how you capture your travels.

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