You can find this photo on my Viewbug site as well.
I have a hate/love relationship with hiking. I hate the effort it takes to get anywhere, I hate how insects are usually absolutely everywhere, and I hate the fear of believing a bear might be nearby. I love, however, taking photos while hiking, and this love drives me to continue hiking despite my hatred of a lot of things found out in nature (mosquitoes, I’m looking at you).
With the ongoing pandemic, hiking in solitude has become a great way to get out of the house and take a better variety of photos, so I was excited to visit Shirakoma Forest in Nagano Prefecture, which is famous for the moss covering the ground.
I have to say that considering how incredible it was seeing the moss everywhere, I was impressed the locals hadn’t turned the area into a tourist trap. I can just see some spots in America milking the area to death, but as far as I can recall, this natural wonder had a sign indicating the name of the area with a little ball of moss with eyes standing next to it, serving as a kind of mascot.
I’m embarrassed to admit this, but I’ve been dealing with a Canon DSLR for quite a few years now, and it took until this trip to realize I have a “natural light” setting on my camera. It’s been driving me crazy for years now that the photos I took did not express the lighting I saw with my eyes. And then destiny finally guided me to the “natural light” setting. Finally I feel like I’m taking photos that better represent what I’m seeing. It’s an exciting time for me.