My wife and I drove to Mount Greylock Reservation last Friday to explore new trails. Our first two hour hike was at Jones Nose that initially took us through a mountain meadow and then after climbing a bit in dense forest, led us to a beautiful vista looking west. There we met two other hikers, Clare and Lily who were mother and daughter, and had a wonderful conversation centering on local attractions.

After returning to the base of the trail my wife caught a brief glimpse of an adult black bear that had quickly crossed the road and headed into the woods. And of course my camera was back in the bag instead of in my hand.

We later drove to the summit and were treated to an air show of local hang gliders and paragliders.

Paragliding1; © reserved 2009, Richard Lovison

Hang Gliding 1; © reserved 2009, Richard Lovison

Paragliding 2; © reserved 2009, Richard Lovison

Hang Gliding 2; © reserved 2009, Richard Lovison

Hang Gliding 3 shortly after takeoff; © reserved 2009, Richard Lovison

So after having a nice picnic on the lawn with my wife, I attempted to capture some images. It was fun to watch them fly and challenging to capture them digitally. I wondered at the sense of freedom they must have felt and the courage it took to launch oneself off a mountain top.

All the photographs were taken at ISO 200, f8 or f6.3 and between 1/600 and 1/1000 of a second. It was fun to play around with in-camera image stabilization and continuous focus, two features I rarely use in landscape photography. The ZD 45-150mm lens performed well, especially for a consumer lens, and its light weight was a benefit as I was hand holding and panning the camera the whole time.

The road to the top of Mount Greylock was reopened to the public this spring after being closed for repair for several years. I hiked to the peak (3500 feet) a couple of years back, an arduous journey that took 2 1/2 hours. Being able to drive a nicely paved seven mile road to the top provided for more opportunities to explore and do photography.

Mount Greylock; © reserved 2009, Richard Lovison

The above image was taken a short distance from the peak, looking west at sunset.

On the way down, a small field in the reservation drew my attention. I parked and chose to explore even though it was long after sunset. It was dimly lit by twilight and so incredibly peaceful with the stars beginning to uncloak themselves. The only sounds were the disturbances in the tall grass and trees caused by a slight breeze and those from a few crickets. I was looking for a way to photograph what I was experiencing but then just gave in to the tranquility and stood in silence. I am usually an anxious person in the everyday world, never quite sure where I belong yet out in the middle of nowhere with no one close by and in darkness, I felt quite at peace with a deep sense of connectedness.