Ascutney BoundSouth view near Coon Club RD, Windsor, VT

In 2001 PBS made a popular documentary series entitled "American Roots Music" exploring the roots of American music. As I worked to improve my photography I eventually arrived at a "wall" and I felt my images were okay but not very distinctive or impactful. My camera, compositional, and post processing skills were good but continued improvement in them was not going to give me what I wanted. Luckily for me 2 factors converged. A group of individuals led by Trey Ratcliff launched a learning experience called The Arcanum using the traditional Master/Apprentice model. The second factor involved my affection for Hudson River School paintings and Currier and Ive prints. The Hudson River School was the first distinctive American style of landscape painting and reflected both the grandeur of the American wilderness but also the Manifest Destiny perspective that many 19th century American held. As an apprentice in The Arcanum I am improving my technical skills while being encouraged and allowed to pursue my specific goal of creating landscapes inspired by 19th century American paintings and prints. My next several posts will reflect some of my initial attempts. In this example I was able to include 3 Hudson River School elements: a view down a valley towards a distant mountain (Ascutney in this case); a dominant foreground tree; and a figure moving into the landscape.