Documenting our Landscape

The photographic image captures a present that is always already gone. I have said that time and time again. The image I show here re-presents just that idea. The image was made early one Fall morning in Northeastern Illinois in Moraine Hills State Park. When I arrived at the park I was most interested in the spectacular fireworks show put on by nature as the trees change color. The morning was quite brisk, temperatures hovered around 29 degrees. The ground and vegetation were covered with frost adding an eerie, almost Winter like feel. As I was walking around, camera and tripod perched over my shoulder, I noticed this blade of grass bending over with a drop of melting frost at the tip of one grain branch. I stopped short, set my tripod down and focused on the grass. I set the aperture at f 2.8 and shot at 1/50th of a second. As I was focusing I noticed the bonus of the small spider web suspended between the two shoots of grains on the bending grass. The light was to my left and slightly in front of my position. I clicked the shutter. As I was getting ready to shoot from a different position, the droplet of melting frost fell to the ground, the composition was gone never to come again in the same way.