The sun doesn’t care … it sets just the same way be it majestic mountains, lovely valleys or man made concrete jungles. It continues it’s magic. But may be we should care. Or is it already too late to fix the mess we are creating and embracing nature more ?
Our society thrives on the concept of being busy all the time. The entire system is built around to keep you busy, on the edge, always being bothered, forcing to carry the mountains that aren’t yours to carry. Photography for me, helps to go within and contemplate what is it I am here to do. Sometimes our life is full of chaos, sometimes the mind is full of chaos. It is all about Calming the Chaos … Hidden in the chaos, are the treasures of life … Would you agree :)
This is not a great shot in technical sense, but the experience was quiet surreal … I was really lucky : I got to experience the synchronous fireflies at Smokies for two years in a row. For the first year I got the tickets (this was the first year when they introduced the lottery for the viewing). For the second year I was not that lucky – the tickets got sold in minutes, from when it was opened up online. As I was exploring to see if anyone would share or other alternate options – realized that booking a camp site at Elkmont campground, during the same days – would grant access to the trails. After trying few days, was able to grab a reservation as someone else cancelled. This even had an added advantage – It gets you within a mile of the Elkmont Viewing area. Even more, one could hike up the entire trail to avoid the crowds, much beyond the set area for lottery viewing. Just make sure to carry the campground reservation. This shot is a composite of 164 shots (22 minutes) and around 8 sec exposure for the foreground. Thanks to the Sony A7S II that I was able to rent. This low light monster was able to capture so much of details even in the faint moon light ! The 70% gibbous moon was not conducive for the fireflies, but that did help light up the nearby stream :) The hustling stream, chilling breeze, dark of the night, the little bit moon lit forest, walking with my son, by the trail into the Smokies Forest & Fireflies along the path – it was indeed a surreal experience !
