This is as much about getting off your butt and getting outside, as it is about photography.

Here in New Hampshire there is still more than enough snow left on the ground to keep many indoors. I have become one of them. I have spent a lot of productive time in the field with my camera this winter, on one trip to Pondicherry National Wildlife Refuge, I even managed to turn a $700 tripod into a $500 bi-pod and a $200 walking stick. Don’t ask, but I was able to make a few nice photographs from that trip. But now I am done with the snow, over it, make it go away, done. I just want to get out of the house without the need for layers of clothes, snowshoes, heavy boots, or having to worry how the cold will suck the life out of a camera battery. I want wildflowers, waterfalls, greenery of any kind, nice warm sunshine, and lots of it. Spring is just around the corner, I can almost smell it and I can’t wait. After what will hopefully be a brief “mud season,” I will be out in the woods looking for some of my favorite plants and wildflowers to shoot.  High on the list, the “mother-load” of painted trillium mentioned in a earlier blog post, and  I have several variations of Wavy Green (image below), one of my more popular images, knocking around in my head. I still have a few more tricks up my sleeve involving the false hellebore. I also plan to photograph many of the waterfalls here in the state. Some of the falls will be old favorites, but more I’ll be visiting for the first time. Trying to squeeze them all in, before the high spring flows from the melting snow slows to a summer trickle, is going to be a challenge, but one I plan to willingly take on.

I have also set some lofty goals for myself this summer that have nothing to do with photography. I plan to put my feet on the tops of at least two of New Hampshire 4,000 foot peaks, and hit as many other hiking trails as I can squeeze in. My camera will be with me on these trips, but I’m mainly going just to explore more of New Hampshire than what you can see through the windshield of a car. I’ve wanted to backpack in the mountains for as long as I can remember and I’ve decided this is the summer I make that dream a reality. Better late than never, right?

My kayak is also going to see a lot of use this year, and not just on our lake. I do plan on spending some quality time with the loons, as I do every year, however I know almost every inch of the shore-line and I’m starting to get bored with our little lake and I plan to put the kayak on the car and explore new waters.

My camera will be with me on a lot of my planned travels, but it will also frequently be left behind. I want to be able to enjoy my time outside, without always having to think about where my next photograph will be made. I’m just going to be out for the sake of being out. Do your self a favor, get off the couch and get out on your happy feet. You’ll be glad you did.