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Beneath the Dappled Light: Finding Healing at Tateshina-Otaki Falls
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木漏れ日の蓼科大滝：自然が織りなす癒しの瞬間
- Location: Chino, Nagano Prefecture, Japan
- Timestamp: 09:23・2024/09/11
- Pentax K-1 II + DFA 28-105mm F3.5-5.6 + CP + 10-stop ND filter
- 28 mm ISO 200 for 1.3 sec. at ƒ/11
Visiting this landscape on a cool, sunny day offered a welcome relief from the nearly relentless heatwaves we were enduring in the concrete jungles of the Tokyo metropolis. The air here felt alive, in stark contrast to the stifling city.
This photograph of the falls, while far from my best work, brings to mind the frustration I felt that day. The scene was challenging, filled with a chaotic mix of sharp angles, extremes of light and shadow, and a cacophony of dark and blown-out greens. No matter how I framed it, I couldn’t seem to balance the composition to my liking.
At some point, I told myself to just stop—stop overanalyzing, stop worrying about the flaws and what others might think. I was robbing myself of the moment.
I wandered over to my border collie, Dale-chan, and we sat by the water’s edge. I allowed the symphony of the crashing falls, the soft rustle of leaves in the breeze, Dale-chan’s relaxed panting, and the faint chirping of birds hidden deep in the forest to wash over me.
In that soundscape, I found clarity—a natural form of noise cancellation, one that stilled the chaotic thoughts racing through the back of my mind. For a moment, I was able to turn off the constant stream of worries from my day job about unanswered emails, deadlines, and sales targets that I had subconsciously brought with me on this photowalk.
When I was a boy scout, I learned how to survive in the wilderness, how to endure Mother Nature’s harsh conditions. But as I grow older, I often need to remind myself that there's more to learn. I hope to better master how to thrive with Mother Nature—to let her thick woods, rugged coastlines, towering mountains, and hidden waterfalls become sources of healing, revitalization, and peace.
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