Imperfect

The landscape lay before me like a painting.
If there could ever exist a perfect painting, that is.

But no human creation could possess such beauty.
Such blend of form and function.
None.

Taking it all in, I saw the final photograph in my mind’s eye.
A beautiful piece of art, able to stir in the viewers heart,
the same emotions that I felt inside me.
A frozen moment in time,
capturing forever the brilliance of the scene before me.

It pained me though, to realize that I could never make that happen.
How could I ever capture the grandness of it all?
The smell of moss in the air.
The sound of grass rippling in the water by the gentle breeze.
Then softness of the ground.

No matter how good the gear,
or how advanced the tools,
I would not succeed.
No, a photograph would be but a poor portrayal of my experience
of nature’s magnificent spectacle

The Photographer’s Moment

Heavy rains were forecasted for the entire day, and that is exactly how it started on that August morning as we found ourselves gearing up for the hike.

The Norwegian summer can be unpredictable, especially this late in the season, so even though we had been hoping until the last minute to see an improvement in the forecast, we were fully prepared for a wet and windy experience. Although that could be an adventure in itself, my main concern was missing out on the view from the summit if the clouds did not clear.

Luckily, we only saw light rain as we made our way up, and the winds drove most of the low hanging clouds away by the time we reached the summit. As we were standing at the top the sun broke through, giving us a spectacular show of shadows, light, and color, fulfilling the promise of “the finest vantage point” in Luster!

This is when the photographer got his moment, the image was made, and all hardship was forgotten.