I took a trip to Morrison Springs, a local state park, back in May. My hopes were to get some awesome shots that caught a cool blend of sunken cypress trees against the clear blue water of the spring. The main lesson I learned from the trip was I need to plan better before traveling to a shoot. Most times I just wing it - throw my gear and wife into the car and seek out some great shots. That may work for recreational/ fun efforts, but I need to take time on future more serious junkets to scout the location and plan my time.

The foliage that day was, as you see, GREEN. There were many shades and shapes, but everything everywhere was G-R-E-E-N. This posed an interesting challenge that made me feel off the whole shoot and didn't hit me as an epiphany until I was doing my post-processing. All of that green made everything flat through its lack of contrast​. And, that flatness had a definite impact on catching any shots that felt emotionally vibrant...I might as well had been taking pictures in a snowstorm.

I was able to wade into the water in my wetsuit to get up close with the trees and salvaged some contrasts in the darker areas. And there was a really cool VW van parked with an owner happy for me to capture, so the day wasn't a waste. Actually, it's not possible to have a bad day at Morrison Springs.