p.1 #1 · Do you suddenly believe in Bigfoot.........
....or similar myths when you get a tingling sense out alone in the wilderness?
I'm being a bit tongue in cheek, but this is an annoyance I've had in recent landscape shooting sessions. I know it's irrational, and it hasn't ended a session, but it's a bit of an annoyance. I'm wondering if there's something wrong with me.
Anyway, the way I shoot it seems that you sometimes need to go at least a bit into the wilderness, oftentimes by yourself, for landscape photography and set up in a particular spot for at least half an hour or so. (I can't always take even my brother's dog with me, and when I do she becomes restless when I set up a tripod and sit there for half an hour+)
Last weekend I was in (very) rural Japan for a beach and then a forest shoot, and in a few instances suddenly I got a completely irrational "tingling" sense. There are no dangerous animals of mention on Honshu (save for wild boar, which I've encountered before but which made is presence immediately known by hauling *$$ through heavy brush away from me), so I immediately started thinking about some of the scarier yokai*. I think this is compounded by, in at least one case, the fact a small bird was watching me from the treetops in a valley.
Anyone else something similar happen to them?
* yokai are "demons", "monsters" or such from Japanese folklore, which I don't believe exist. I think this was compounded by the fact that I'm right now in the midst of watching real cool martial arts anime which beautifully brings the yokai to life. (Nurarihyon no Mago, for the curious)
And yes, I have a hard time believing in bigfoot. I've heard a lot of great, chilling stories, but I have a hard time believing a biologically viable population can live in northwest America without any scat, bones, fossil record or anything beyond dubious footprints and blurry photos.
p.1 #2 · Do you suddenly believe in Bigfoot.........
Hiking alone in remote areas can be really spooky. It is especially hard not to be concerned in areas where there are warnings about grizzly bears or mountain lions. I have encountered plenty of bears and once in a while get that uncomfortable feeling that something is following me.
At an even more unreasonable level, I often have the feeling that I am being watched...no guardian angel, but spirits and trolls. I capture some of these with the camera, but I dont post many. Recently I hiked Negro Bill Canyon and a week or so ago even posted the image of old Bill passing by. I try to make light of this type of encounter, but it is also hard to believe this sort of image occurs by accident.
Back to true reality, I had a scary experience a few days ago. I was hiking in a remote area trying to find my way down a wash. I heard a commotion behind me and then a human voice yelling. I thought about mountain lions and feral dogs. I grabbed a stick and went to investigate. Turned out to be another lone hiker who annoyed a mother turkey protecting her chicks.
p.1 #3 · Do you suddenly believe in Bigfoot.........
I tend to get that feeling hiking at night knowing we have lions, moose and bears in the area. Not really afraid of the bears though. lol. Some places just give a creepy feeling though. Just ignore it and go about photography. If something is gonna get ya you aren't gonna see it coming so why worry?
p.1 #4 · Do you suddenly believe in Bigfoot.........
Bigfoot has never killed or eaten anyone. And if you get that shot, it will be worth at least $1,000,000 to the National Enquirer.
Everyone gets "cold shivers" down their spine from time to time. I was at a remote Anasazi site once in the fall, where many murders had taken place. They had removed several dozen bodies from the location. I actually think the total was 90+. Then I started thinking too much and let it get the best of me, so I was out of there.
Fall is the creepiest time for me with the cold winds, and rustling leaves.
By the way, you have an obligation to post one of your landscape shots here. It's a board to show your work.
p.1 #5 · Do you suddenly believe in Bigfoot.........
I went to sleep in my tent to the sound of coyotes howling and I love that sound. I woke up and heard something strange outside. I put on my headlamp, peeked out and saw nothing out the door, so I looked out over the top of my tent and saw about twenty sets of glowing eyes, I heard growling and they came charging at me.
I woke up in my sleeping bag with my heart thumping like crazy. I love coyotes and nothing in my experience has indicated that such a scenerio is even remotely possible, but the human brain does some pretty weird things.
p.1 #8 · Do you suddenly believe in Bigfoot.........
I hike several hundred miles a year - and most of it in crazy places, and I haven't seen anything. I did have a weird feeling (as mentioned in the OP) hiking up Moffett Creek last spring. I also awoke at 3AM up outside Takhlakh Lake to something sniffing around the tent.. Crazy things race through your mind - like a swipe of a huge claw from a bear into the tent, lol..
p.1 #11 · Do you suddenly believe in Bigfoot.........
This has been a good thread. Haven't posted in it prior to this, but I subscribed to it as soon as I saw it. Kelly, thanks for the link to the earlier thread. Still reading it. Plenty of interesting, funny, and scary stories there!
p.1 #13 · Do you suddenly believe in Bigfoot.........
Last year, I walked with my headlight down a hill about 700meters, but I heard a horse fussing in the dark, and that put me on edge. So I sang all the way down and then stood in the river for an hour and talked all the way back up. As I was putting my camera in the car, I looked back and a grizzly was 50' or so behind me in the same spot I had just walked by. After debating between diving into the car or taking the picture I took the pictures. Sometimes you feel their presence because they are there. But most grizzly do not want to run into you. Bigfoot on the other hand..... is a better story I won't tell. Scott
p.1 #15 · Do you suddenly believe in Bigfoot.........
I can't believe no one has done a photoshop bigfoot and posted it yet.
What worries me? When I don't see any thing but can hear a bear snapping it's teeth.
p.1 #16 · Do you suddenly believe in Bigfoot.........
I'm pretty sure I've been seen by Mountain Lions, given that I live in California and hike here alone alot. The only time I've been privileged to see one is from my vehicle, crossing a dry creekbed. By the time I got my camera out, he was gone.
I know there are risks, I accept them. And fear is the story you tell yourself.
