Cabin in the Woods

In the deep woods of Eastern Tennessee, there’s a lovely little place called Cades Cove. Camping, fishing, hiking, rafting, and of course a historic set of buildings and farmland. It brings tourists from all over to view this little valley locked in time. This is the John Oliver cabin, of all the homes I visited that day, I found this one to be, strangely perhaps, the most picturesque. I pulled my camera free, and began running through the frames and eventually I found my composition. A little path leading up to the house, fencing enclosing the home, and a bit of sunshine in the summertime light brings out the timelessness of the location. It allows us to see the world that once was, a world left behind by a society that has moved on. Beauty, tragedy, and yet the memory remains.

I don’t do a lot of hand held shoots, it runs against my grain so to speak. I like to shoot stabilized, and ready to tweak my composition a little at a time. That’s not always the best way to shoot though, sometimes spur of the moment inspiration demands we grow beyond our need. This shot, as alluded to was indeed shot handheld, and while I could of benefited form pushing the camera higher, I think the scene itself it put together well enough to lead the viewers eye to the cabin that is the main subject.

The footpath and fence both act as leading lines here, the deep shadows of the woods against the brighter house make for good subject isolation. If you break this scene down, you will find the fence not only works as a leading line, but because of its construction you have little arrows pointing towards the house, the path curves around before disappearing next to those fence features. It’s not perfect, and had I had more time I could of perfected the vision here, but this is an excellent way to utilize features in the environment to frame a subject.

Until Next Time!

Aperture: f8
ISO: 160
SS: 1/125
Focal: 16mm

Fujinon 16-55mm