I’ve been excited to learn more in recent months about the Slow Photography Movement. So much of photography for me has been about slowing down, paying attention, being astonished, and sharing with others what I’ve seen. I explained recently to another photographer that, for most of my 44 years, I’ve lived primarily “inside” — inside my own head as a writer, and actually inside, as someone who always preferred the indoor things: cozy furniture, a hot cup of coffee, a crackling fireplace, reading and writing, the sound of rain on the window panes. But two years ago I fell in love with photography; that got me out of my head and out of doors. What I discovered is a world overflowing with beauty — brokenness too, but also incredible complexity and magic and beauty.

Last Saturday I went to Baskett Slough National Wildlife Refuge for a morning of bird and landscape photography. But I left the house 90 minutes later than I should have. It’s a shame too, because the early morning conditions — sunny above, foggy below — were magical. My favorite photograph of the day was one I took outside my car window as I was driving down a country road. There was a car behind me and I couldn’t safely pull over.

This photo is less “slow photography” and more “drive-by photography.” Still I was have happy to notice the moment (that might not have happened before) and then capture it as best I could.

Location: Marion County, Oregon

Exposure: 1/500 second, f/5.6, ISO 64

Focal Length: 66 mm

Gear:

• Camera: Nikon D850

• Lens: Nikkor AF-S 24-120 f4