One Year Later

“Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work.”

Thomas A. Edison

One year and some change later, and here I am writing this. Do people even read blogs anymore? Maybe they do, maybe they do not. I will have to figure that out later. Why did I lay off the blog for a whole year? Because we were in a pandemic and people were not reading blogs, they were reading the news. Now a lot of time has passed and I either need to write or give this blog up. In photography, the only thing that is really consistent is that it usually involves a camera. Either way.

The above quote, the one I started this with, it is something that I am guilty of as much as anyone. “I could never do that,” I can be found saying from my recliner. The thing that stops people from accomplishing in photography the most is not lack of funds, equipment, or subjects. The the biggest thing right before lack of knowledge is that they are not able to make themselves put work into it. I am not saying they are lazy, on the contrary, they are usually too busy and photography would be one more thing. If you want the photograph it is not just going to come to you, you will have to go out there and get it. I know this sounds like a bad sports drink advertisement, but it is true.

I had this idea to go into the Adirondacks and camp over night to photograph a sunrise and sunset at Castle Rock looking out over Blue Mountain lake. I had to camp over night because you do not want to hike in and out in the dark. There was a lot more to it than just throwing a tent. Weeks of prep work went into this idea. It will be less next time because I know that my gear is in order, but I put in a ton of work just to take a few pictures.

Lets go back a bit further. December 2020 I was told that I was prediabetic and insulin resistant. I had known that something was wrong for a while, but not what. I had honestly thought I was depressed, and I still think it is scary how much the two can look the same. A sample of my blood cleared it up though, I was on my way to diabetes. I had to make a change, and I did. Sparing you the details I turned around my eating, cooking, and then resumed the exercise that I had already been doing because now it had a chance of working again. I put aside most of my. creative pursuits during this time and focused on getting my life in order. Now I am back in more way than one. It was like being a whole new person and I wanted to put that energy into being the adventurous photographer I wanted to be! Or as much as I could be without Canon sponsoring me.

Camera? Check! Tent? Check! Bear resistant food container? Hold up. What? Damn bears? Yes, bears. They are apparently a particular nuisance in the Adirondacks. I started reviewing these containers and some of the reviews were about how they did not work where I was going, apparently these are super bears. Great. I put in the prep work, got all nice and ready, and the weather turned…twice. Each time the temperature dropped below the rating of my gear, and I have pretty good gear (if its not light, it is still warm.) You have to realize some stuff you cannot get around on weight, like the camera, and some you can. My gear is a mix of ultralight, good enough and Army. Here is the seventy pound pack I ended up taking.

If you are ever going out that way, stop by the EZ Mart, they have the best breakfast sandwiches I have ever had in my life and I consider myself a connoisseur of foil wrapped road food. Also they are the last stop in civilization. I got those sandwiches on the way in and out. It is the EZ Mart in Inlet NY, just before Fifth Lake.

I get my sandwich, I enjoy it, and my usual activity of listening to Black Sabbath as I drive the mountain roads. I arrive and talk to the hikers who are out there questioning the size of my pack. I put it on, instantly regretting my choice, and headed out. It is not a very far hike and I have done it a few times. I had a good idea of where to camp, near the trail split, as it was the last flat spot not covered in fallen trees (a bad sign.) It is also a good spot because everyone walks past it to get to the top so lots of people would have seen where I was, and I am right on the trail. No lost hiker news story for me.

I made myself a nice little hide out, put my food container far away and you ld greet people as they came and went, eating at meal times and mostly waiting. Apparently I became an object lesson for a man who was using their hiking trip to tell his son (looking at college) that success comes with work and patience. He loved that he found some guy hauling a ton of heavy crap out into the woods and camping in the freezing cold to make a few pictures.

Sometime near sundown a group of very nice (and one very rude) Syracuse college students came down off the top and made their way down and as their voices faded, I realized I was hearing the last human noise I would hear that I did not make for quite a while. Keep in mind I have been mostly in the house and with my family for the past year due to the pandemic, just like most everyone else. I had very seriously misjudged the effect that would have on my mind. It was very empty and quiet out there. I got my photos of sundown, while talking to my friend Carl on the phone (signal is excellent out there.).

I made my way down, and I did not even want to eat. What I wanted was to go home. I will never again underestimate the effects of being alone. It normally does not bother me, but like most things, if you do not practice it, a night out in the mountains alone may not be the best way to try it again after a year. I have no shame in saying that I bedded down, having forced myself to eat something, and watched “You’ve Got Mail” on my phone until I was tired. I fell asleep.

It was the usual camping in the cold stuff. I had brought army stuff which I am comfortable with having used it before. In basic training at Fort Benning, GA our drill sergeants made us pack our stuff up, strap it on, marched us out to the middle of nowhere, and then made us sleep out under the stars in nothing but our sleep system. The next morning we packed it all back up and marched back. Why had we gone? For the same reason we go to the gas chamber, so we would have faith that our equipment works. That was sixteen years ago, and I still would not trade my army sleep system for the lightest bag they make.

The bag worked too well, I sweated some and the moisture pooled in my fancy sleeping mat. That made cold spots. I would rotate and flip and everything, the usual. I got about four hours sleep over the whole night. You never need to pee more than when it is utterly inconvenient to do so. I also started having trouble rolling. It turns out I had melted myself a hole.

During the night I kept hearing these noises echoing around. They were not loud, and they sounded like they were just off down the hill, in the direction of the lake and my food. My mind of course believed it was a bear attempting to get my food, despite the fact that they were supposed to still be in hibernation and that the sounds were fairly regular. What did I know? Maybe they were taking turns. Morning arrived and I made my way back up to get sunrise.

I went back, ate breakfast, and called my uncle while I did. I missed my grandfather Bob a lot out here, because he is the one we camp camped with and so I called my uncle to talk about his dad with him. Never be afraid to admit you miss someone. About that noise…It was the damned lake. I went up for my photos and it was much louder standing over the lake with no trees to break the noise. It was the lake. It was groaning as it warmed from the sun and 40 degree day and then the night plummeted and it refroze. Lakes are noisy and terrifying. Like Grover, “I am so embarrassed.”

Having returned home, what is the moral here? If you want to make those photos, if you want the landscapes and the nature, you are going to have to go out there. It is going to take work. I spent last year wishing I was shooting and living the adventure photographer life. I am not always out there, but I have started this year off right and am out there more often now. I hope this helps you motivate yourself. Be safe, prepared and go shoot. Heres to a better year, and I hope you are doing well.

Brandon Bledsoe

Nostalgic Vanity Photography

931-416-4105

@nostalgic_vanity