“Following” by @joef_nc

I was debating between featuring this and two other photos from Joe’s most recent posts. What drew me to this were of course the footprints, but even more so, the story behind it. I was curious as to who the person was in the distance and why he chose to post this particular scene. I’m a huge fan of black and white photography and have been a follower of Joe’s for quite some time now. If you continue to scroll through his gallery you’ll see his amazing captures of animals in the Great Smoky Mountains – including my personal favorite of a female deer in Cades Cove.

“Let me start by saying that I’m not a beach person. I don’t like the sand and I’m deathly afraid of the ocean and drowning in it. I’m also not a morning person – my greyhounds are my morning alarm clock. Those are two of the reasons that I love this image – the entire composition is out of my comfort zone. A morning beach scene? Not usually on my list of things to do.

I had struggled with whether or not to post this image in color or black and white. While I liked the color image, when I started playing with monochrome tones I just found it so much more interesting and it seemed to take on a whole different view. That’s my wife (@samiforzano) walking away from the camera. We had gotten up to see the sunrise and we were on the way back to the car when I stopped to snap this image. To quote Bob Ross, it was a “happy accident” – the footprints running parallel to the incoming tide, a couple of small (okay, tiny) waves lined up and my wife walking almost out frame. It wasn’t until we got home that I realized I had captured a moment.

I love making photographs. People will argue whether or not mobile photography has ruined the art of photography. I’d say no it hasn’t. I think it has allowed talented people to have an outlet for their creativity who maybe couldn’t afford, even prosumer camera gear. I still shoot with my DSLR. I’ll probably never stop shooting with my DSLR. But I have my iPhone with me everywhere, and that makes all the difference in whether or not you can capture a moment.” – Joe F.

Camera used: native iOS camera app

Processed with: Snapseed and Photo fx Ultra

You can find Joe on Instagram, tumblr & twitter