Where have you left your heart?

[mark]

I am sitting at the computer. The freedom of a teacher's summer ends and I find myself realizing that I will not be able to just head for the mountains of Southwest Colorado at the drop of a hat. It will be two months before I get the chance to drive the dusty mine and forest routes up from the desert through the pines, the aspins and ultimately to tree line.

Adams had Yosemite. For me it is tree line. There is something about the almost instant transition between lush alpine environment to lunar green specked landscape. My earliest memory is at tree line. Unfortunately I have not been able to capture my feelings at this altitude on film. Most of the time I find myself sitting on a rock watching the world and the clouds forgetting to even set the tripod up.

I was wondering if there were others who had this type of attachment to a place and where that place might be.

 

[bobfowler]

Some of my best photographic experiences were back in the late 70's/early 80's when I lived in, what was then, West Berlin. I'm normally not much of a city person, but pre-fall of the wall Berlin was an exciting place. I hope to go back someday, and though I know a lot has changed, I'm sure it will feel like home.

 

[Les McLean]

I'm with jdef, my heart is also at sea. Living on the relatively small islands of the UK we are never far from the sea, in my lifetime I've never lived more than 30 minutes from the sea. I love the North Sea just 20 minutes from home in the borders of England and Scotland but my absolute favourite place is Durness on the far north coast of Scotland. I'm always amazed when I watch the sea, it's power can move huge house sized rocks and the following day it can drop a tiny stone no bigger than a finger nail on the top of a small rock in the sand. Even in it's most agressive and destructive mood it is to me quite elegant and a thing of great beauty.

 

[rjs003]

The Adirondack mountains do it for me. The views are breath taking and the isolation is just the thing for an intovert such as myself.

 

[jim kirk jr.]

For me there is only one place,Alaska.Beautiful mountains,marvellous coastlines and of course the vast array of wildlife.All I had to do was point the jeep in any direction and go...eventually I would stop somewhere, walk around and be in awe,sometimes not another person could be seen for miles upon end.Pennsylvania is nice too don't get me wrong,but I believe my soul resides several thousand miles away...

 

[Ole]

I haven't "left" it - I live here!

No place better than Western Norway.

 

[photomc]

For me it is the path less traveled..mostly 4 corners region of the US. There is a feeling of coming home every time I go there, Santa Fe used to be like that, before all those people showed up. There's nothing like driving a back road, not knowing what is around the next turn, or down some road to make me want to find out, put the brakes on in a cloud of dust and get the cameras out...

Off topic, has anyone else ever noticed that most of the old churches seem to have a church dog? I swear, every one I've been to, we have been greeted by some dog - they just hang around and watch me until they get bored or I finish. Wish they could tell me all the story's they know.

 

[BWGirl]

Ok, Mike, I hope I don't incur the wrath of anyone here, but... have you ever noticed that 'dog' reversed is 'god'??? It's a possibility!

As to where my heart lies (in my chest, with a cute little 'retaining wall' in it)... well, I guess I've found beauty in most everywhere I've been.
Wisconsin & Michigan have 4 seasons & every one of them has something beautiful to see. I love Colorado and Montery & SF & Washington state & the eastern seaboard & the beautiful island of Hawaii. I've never been to the desert and would like to go if someone could PLEASE just clear out the snakes for me! I want to see Alaska & especially the glaciers!
I'd like to go to Europe... to Romania to see where my Grandma lived & to England & Scotland to see my other 'roots'. I have a niece in Australia & it would be great to see her & go there.
But for now, I'd just like to see more of the US. My dream is to fill an RV with film & go all over the US! So I guess my heart is wherever I am!
Jeanette

 

[doughowk]

Backroads, especially thru farm country. In the US, rural life is being deserted for better opportunities in the cities/suburbs. As a history buff, its like documenting the quickly receding past.

 

[jovo]

Some years ago, my son and I were traveling between Jackson Hole and Yellowstone. We parked at a bend in the road where there was a gorgeous view of the Tetons and I got out the tripod and camera. At that moment, a modestly sized camper/RV parked beside us and we started a friendly conversation with the couple who emerged from the vehicle. The guy had just retired from a mostly industrial photography business and was now on the road with his wife and a very comprehensive kit of Hasselblad equipment stopping where and when they chose to. It was thrilling to me...such glorious independence...just aim the truck where the spirit directs you, and go there. I'm not anxious to be as old as I'll need to be to retire, but I sure am not concerned about boredom when I get there! I've found at least one model for the way to go where my wife's and my hearts lead us.

 

[Thomassauerwein]

I left my heart in the standard gallery.

 

[Eric Rose]

The next adventure I take.

 

[anyte]

Almost any where in which I'm surrounded by nature - the prairie, the woods, atop the bluffs on Lake Superior, in the marsh, ... it's all the same. Nature is a beautiful thing.

 

[David A. Goldfarb]

Moloka'i.

 

[Cheryl Jacobs]

I leave a piece of my heart every time I photograph a child.

 

[jd callow]

The next adventure I take.

Me too. My heart is aching for Toronto and Quebec at the moment. Not because I have such fond memories of them, but because they are my next shooting location.

 

[noblebeast]

I had a short visit to Vermont a couple of years ago, and I really miss it. I am not sure if I miss it just photographically - they have more cows than people there, which is my idea of heaven (not the plethora of cows so much as the scarcity of humans). I would like to return and tackle the photography again, as everything I shot the first time ended up looking like postcards - I'm sure if I have more time, and return with much of the new information I have learned regarding photography, I can put more of a personal "stamp" on the pictures I make. Lots of great old graveyards to explore, the covered bridges, the barns, the lakes and rivers. Maybe someday soon...

Joe

 

[roteague]

Me too. My heart is aching for Toronto and Quebec at the moment. Not because I have such fond memories of them, but because they are my next shooting location.

Agreed. My next shooting location will be along the Murray River and the Alpine National Park areas in Victoria, Australia for 2 1/2 weeks. But, the one place I am just dying to return to one day is the southern part of the South Island of New Zealand (next year, God willing), around Dunedin, Queenstown, Te Anau (Fiordland).

 

[John McCallum]

For me it's where the sea meets the land. On the north east coast of New Zealand the water is warm clear blue green, and full of wild life. The coast varies from rugged rocks and surf, to horseshoe shaped sandy bays. I spent many summers staying at our small wooden bach that my Grandfather and Father built about 30yrs ago. All day on the beach and in the water, not even wanting to stop for lunch. Dad built a little sailing boat with me passing the tools. Anything you could do on or under the water - we did it. As friends we saw each other for 6 weeks each summer and the weekends, but we knew each other better than anyone else.
As a consequence, the sea still draws me. And if I'm away from it for too long, miss it. Not afraid of it but respect it, and I love to capture it with some of my photography.

 

[david b]

I am very fortunate to live in Santa Fe. Everyday the light tempts me to make the photograph of my life time. Especially during monsoon season (now).

 

[papagene]

Two locations in Arizona that I camped out at while a student many years ago:
Mingus Mountain is one place and the Mogollon (sp?) Rim the other. When daughter #2 finishes her senior year of college (5 more years - 5 more years!!) the plan is to (me) semi-retire and my wife and I move to either someplace in Arizona or live near her sister in the Encinitas, CA area.
We spent the last 25 yeares living near my family here in New England, and I promised her that we will eventually move closer to her's (mostly in AZ).
I loved the mountains and high desert of Arizona.
gene

 

[rusty_tripod]

When I was a painter, I had the same attitude as Doughowk because so many things were disappearing. Nowadays I do photography instead of painting. Here around Phoenix so much has been paved over that is difficult to connect with the tired, the worn, and the rustic, much less undisturbed nature. Nowadays I am stuck with decaying suburbia except for those rare forays into small town America where peace still prevails. Rusty

 

[Aggie]

To me it is what we called the golden circle at the travel agency I worked at before I got married. I took tours out starting in Cedar City Utah. We would take in a circular route that first stopped at Zion National Park another place I worked at for several summers putting myself through college. From there we would trabvel to the No. Rim of the Grand Canyon. Next stop would be Lake Powell with side trips over to Monument Valley and other places on the Rez. then it was up to Bryce Canyon for a couple of nights, and back over Cedar Mountain to Cedar City Utah. There is such a diversity from alpine to desert in that circle I can never be tired of it. I know the seasons, and the moods of the weather. I like the peole and as mu husband jokes, I better I dated half of them before I met and married him. Like many other regions it is disappearing from what I knew. Too many people and development.

 

[TPPhotog]

This is a hard one and I've failed to reply several times today. I love fields when the crops are almost ready to harvest, hills where the mist is just burning off and there's just me and the wild creatures, there again the wild untamed sea crashing into everything that attempts to stand in it's way. I guess at the end of the day I'm only really happy when I'm behind my camera searching for that next shot. So on those grounds my heart is wherever the next picture is :confused:

 

[kchittenden]

For me it is the Colorado Rockies... a mere 13 hour drive from here. Whenever work gets stressful, I turn to the Rockies to relieve my stress with hiking and photography. It probably comes from my early 20s when I would backpack there and photograph the "marrow of the earth".

Kevin