A Bit About Letting Go : Nature Photography

First - we are talking about the North Woods, staying up all night and photographing stars. So, let's set the mood with the perfect music which, not surprisingly, is Bon Iver who makes the perfect North Woods soundtrack (press play then read on):

Sadly, between various moves, negatives and photos were lost/thrown out and I only have these few prints left from my experiments back then. Stumbling upon them was enough though to kick me back into gear and grab my digital camera and practice night shots. I was in northern Minnesota this past weekend, on a mission to stay up all night, play around with my camera, test settings and get a few perfect pictures. But I was thrown the reminder that you cannot plan everything when it comes to nature photography. The first night started perfectly clear, but just as the sun set and I was setting up, a lightning storm blew in. I decided that standing in the open, next to a metal tripod, was a pretty terrible idea. I gave up and headed inside. The next night, I was moving through the woods, getting set up, when I walked into one of these guys: an orb-weaver spider with a nickel-to-quarter sized body that, in my experience, like to make webs across paths and have fun terrifying me:

Lightening and spiders - totally natural. But, they both threw me off and were a wonderful reminder that when you are out photographing in the wild, you need to expect the unexpected. Control is not yours. The reminder to be flexible and accepting is an important one,  and is part of the beauty of the process. 

Although rushed, I did capture a couple of images I like a bit. These have me looking forward to my next shoot up north, and hoping for storm and bug free conditions: