663 - Little Devils Stairs
Today was a haunting exercise in small scenes.
What’s that one saying? “Don’t sweat the small stuff- and it’s all small stuff”
Well, guess what? I am sweating the small stuff because it’s 85°F and we’re hiking up 1,500ft of elevation in two miles. AND EVERY SCENE IS SMALL.
Sometimes I just wanna shoot the latest and the greatest. The biggest, the most grand, the most hyped landscapes of all time. But every once in a while, you got to force yourself to go back to your roots and shoot the low-key stuff.
The stuff that gets dog-shit engagement, but fulfills the soul. Which is what today’s shoot is all about. Replenishing the spirit of photography in a world of likes and engagement.
I say this because my account has been actually getting traction for the first time in 8 fucking years of grinding, and I don’t wanna lose myself to the hype.
The name of the game was Little Devils Stairs, which is fitting because isn’t social media supposed to be associated with devilish mentalities? Or maybe not. I’m reaching for themes here, folks.
Either way, we were in bum-fuck Virginia and we were hiking a massive staircase on some type of geological monstrosity.
The only problem was that there was so much vegetation you couldn’t see the actual monstrosity that you were hiking. I wanted IMAX, but the place was cropped.
So here I was, left with my small scenes. We’ll start from the top. Or the bottom, actually:
Love me a broken tree. Especially when it’s got a pool next to it.
Then I found another tree that felt equally haunting. Doesn’t this thing look like a claw slipping out of the forest?
After what felt like an eternity, we finally arrived at the top- where no view existed. I’m telling you. This was a true small scenes test.
From here, it was a mellow walk down a dirt road until we looped back to the trailhead. But halfway through, we arrived at a cemetery. Which I’ll explain in a second.
First, you need to see some of the macro shots I got on the way. We all know that flower photos are the stuff of photography noobs, but I did my best to step up my game:
Also, I swear to god that plant was actually glowing green like that. Barely any editing. It was the brightest leaf I’ve ever seen.
And speaking of glowing, let’s talk about this cemetery we arrived at. It was thoroughly creepy, but not just because there were dead people buried just a few feet away and the forest was getting darker by the minute.
The story behind this cemetery is that it’s one of the few remnants in Shenandoah National Park of the civilization that used to live here. See, before the National Park was a National Park, over 400 families used to live in these hills. (Or mountains, as you Virginia folk call them ;).
When the park was formally established in the 1930s, these families were forced out, and many of their homes were burned to restore vegetation for the park. Cemeteries were all that could legally remain, making them one of the few reminders in the park that people actually used to live here.
Sad story? Maybe. Maybe not if you enjoy nature. It’s one of those things where you realize that sometimes tragedy has to strike for the greater good. Because without the sacrifice all these families were forced to endure, this National Park wouldn’t be able to give millions of people access to Virginia’s most beautiful lands for centuries to come.
Anywhere. We’re getting deep here. It’s time to circle back to photography.
Overall, I had a great time shooting these smaller scenes. It’s a nice reminder of what’s truly important in this art form.
The craft of somehow creating something beautiful out of nothing.
