The Day after my first trip to the preserve, was unusually warm. I could not let it go to waste. Of course, I busted my ass to get my work done by 3:30p.m.. My first trip was on the north side of the preserve, so for my second, I parked by the bridge on the south side. To get to the trail on the south side, you have to climb a rather large and relatively steep hill. I've always loved hills, so up I went. Getting to the top I was surprised at how high, to my surroundings, I was. To my left, far below, was the river; to my right sparsely wooded area that pitched up and to the right. My eyes were immediately jolted to focus by the amount of green and brown. This was truly a place of, 'leaves no step had trodden black'. I walked along the sharp decline of the hill looking down to the river and longing to reach it. As I approached a steep ravine, my heart sank. I knew there must be a way to get around it. I began cutting away from the ledge. In the distance I could see a house that was set back in the woods on the edge of the preserve. I thought, how cool would it be to live in that house?
As I came around the far edge of the ravine, I spotted a trail in the distance and realized that their was a bend in the river directly in front of me. Approaching the path was like walking into a room with a flashlight. I was only seeing small portions of the preserve, but as I moved forward, the picture of my surroundings was materializing in my mind.
The path ran parallel to the river; the right was an incline, the left a decline. Realizing that the left would double me back at the bottom of the sheer face looking up, I decided to cut right and explore new territory. Everything in my landscape was either leaves,needles, moss or trees. In a short distance, I was high over the river. The sun was directly in front of me. As a photographer, sometimes you feel like you have to manhandle the light, this was one of those times.
The view was spectacular and I wondered how many people in N.J. had seen this majesty of nature or even knew it existed. By the judge of footfall on the leaves, sadly, not many. I was slapped to attention by a distant shuffling far below me. The startling sight of a giant blue heron gliding along the the mirror of river prompted action. I knew my lens was not strong enough to zoom in, but after the deer incident, I was not going to let anything distract my shot. I fired shot after shot, making minor adjustments. My heart was pounding, I may not have gotten a close up, but the image of flight as an element of my landscape shots made my heart pound and adrenalin flow. I took a few more shots into the light and decided it was time to take the trail in the downward direction.
Getting closer and closer to the water, the path changed significantly. Acorns, fallen trees, tall grasses, dark ground and water began to dominate my scenery. Following the wind of the river I reached the end off the trail and found a makeshift fire pit and several burnt pieces of wood. People had been here, but were respectful of the area and hadn't disturbed much of the surroundings. Twenty feet ahead was the river. Walking towards the river, small wispy thorn bushes nipped at my ankles. I had come too far, nothing would stop me from getting to the river views. The edge of the water was lined with mud and fallen grass. I felt my shoes sinking in the mud while watching a flock of Canadian Geese sitting safely across the river from me. I remember the first time I saw one and thought how beautiful it was. I've been prejudiced towards them since.
After capturing some light, I breathed in the scene and turned back. The hill did not seem as high looking down as it did, now that I was looking up at it. I followed the trail to the wood and the wood to the decline that led to the Ford. Coming down to street level, I decided to take some shots from the bridge.
Looking to the north side of the bridge I noticed several trails that I had not before. One alongside the bridge, leading to a soft, muddy, track filled bank. Deer had been there recently and someone had put a bird house on the opposite side of the river. A quick look around and I realized that soon I would not be struggling against the light but for it. I got back to the Ford and under the call of a distant bird got in the car and started home.
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