Lone Tree in Snow

Excerpt from Not About the F-Stop: I was in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, working on a piece on Herman Melville for the now-defunct Show magazine. I had an appointment at the local library to photograph the original logbook he had signed.  I left my hotel and started driving. There had been snow and the drive was beautiful. I saw this scene and said to myself, “That’s great, but I have an appointment. I’ll come back later and shoot it.” The small voice that takes over in my head said, “Do it now,” so I stopped, got out of the car, and shot this image. When I was finished at the library, I drove immediately back to the snow location. There was no snow anywhere, at all. Zip. Nada. There was no longer any photo. I’m reminded of the quote, “You can’t step in the same river twice,” and ever since then I have been telling students, “Never go back.” They are confused, so I explain that I mean you have to shoot it now. If you go back, it will never be the same. It may be better, it may be worse,