"The Beauty Beside the Road"

This image, taken around 6 or 7 years ago, captures a serene and almost magical moment in time—a quiet grove of pecan trees bathing in golden light, their canopy casting dappled shadows over an old wooden cabin. It’s one of those scenes that you might miss if you simply drive by. But with a photographer’s eye, you see more than just trees and an old building—you see composition, color, emotion, and story.
Today, this very spot looks nothing like it once did. The cabin has collapsed, the grass and weeds have overtaken the landscape, and the once-stately pecan trees are now scarred with broken limbs. The beauty of that moment is gone—except in this photograph. That’s the power of photography. It preserves a place not just as it was, but as it felt.
Moments like this remind us why it’s so important to take the shot when your gut tells you to. Photography isn’t just about documenting—it’s about elevating the everyday. And when people see this image hanging in a gallery and ask, “Where was this taken?”—and you answer, “Right here in your hometown”—they realize what they’ve been overlooking. That’s what photographers do: we help people see. --DS