TITLE: The World at Our Feet

My partner and I were exploring the redwood forests of Northern California in June of 2025. We usually hike fast and cover a lot of ground. The redwood forests, however, are dense and, while beautiful to simply look at, conceal their most elegant compositions among their tangled branches and ground covers. We had to slow way down. We had to open our minds more than our eyes. We had to move into a state of heightened curiosity and receptivity in order to tease out the most compelling scenes that most other wanderers would stride right past. This image is one such scene. Alongside a well-traveled trail, right at my slow-stepping feet in a patch of shade rested this delightful collection of ferns and sorrels. As a few hikers walked past they looked at me a little curiously and asked what I was looking at. They seemed unimpressed and walked on. Lo and behold this became one of my favorite images of the trip and my absolute favorite black and white.

AUTHOR: Ellen Bennett (United States)

I was raised in the Sonoran Desert of Arizona and picked up a camera for the first time in high school. Throughout my lifetime I have been a river guide in the Grand Canyon, a photography guide in the Southwest United States and an expedition leader for a conservation-minded tour company that operates globally. Throughout all of the exciting and, at times, challenging shifts and detours that life presents photography has remained a constant through line that continues to guide my professional and recreational endeavors. The state of flow I experience while photographing helps me connect to that “something bigger” and that is exactly what I wish to share with others either through viewing my art or learning with me out in the field. I hope to own and operate my own photography guiding company that offers not just access to beautiful locations and technical tutorials but an opportunity to step into creative flow and have experiences unbounded by the constructs of space and time that we typically allow to define our lives.