“Don’t wait. The time will never be just right.” – Napoleon Hill
Opportunity doesn’t come to us every day. Sometimes opportunity comes to us quickly and is gone just as fast as it came. How do we not miss a great opportunity? The main thing we do is prepare for it. We don’t do the bare minimum while waiting for what we want. We prepare for the opportunity we want by taking advantage of the place we are in. This is how I am with photography. Can I go to some exotic place hundreds or thousands of miles from home all the time? I wish I could, but reality says no. Can I take my camera with me when I go for a bike ride or walk in the neighborhood? Of course, I can. I get the most practice by taking photos of things around me. This way, I can prepare for those moments when I am in some new and exotic place for the first time.
The practice I do at home paid off when I visited Alaska last summer. I captured these photos and many more when we visited Icy Strait Point. When we planned the trip, I didn’t realize I would be visiting a rainforest. Alaska is home to the largest temperate rainforest in the world, the Tongass National Forest. This vast rainforest stretches along the coast of Southeast and Southcentral Alaska. It receives significant rainfall and boasts a unique, mild climate compared to other parts of the state. On average, the area gets around 200 inches of rain per year. Compare that to where I live in Charlotte, North Carolina, which gets 42 inches of rain a year. This area is home to Sitka spruce trees that can grow over 200 feet tall. The rainforest supports a wide array of wildlife. These include brown bears, wolves, salmon, and bald eagles.
Through Griffin's Lens 