2022, Favourites From A Photographer
I must admit to feeling resistance to look back on what has been. This could either be a story of woe of how one finger, one hand put a stop to my plans and put my life on hold for more than 6 months, or this could be the story of dawn after dusk. I have neither the intention nor the inclination to dwell on what could have been, on the things that I had planned to do which did not materialize.
I don't want to burden this moment with past happenings. I have moved on. Life is wonderful at the moment. Inspiration lures me to my keyboard, to pen and paper, lets me write word after word, sentence after sentence. It drives me to go into nature, urges me to grab my camera and create. Who is to say that what might be called bad luck is not the source of my current flow of inspiration?
Reluctantly scrolling through my Lightroom catalog I see the big gaps...months and months without any photographs made and then some months in which I only used my small camera, with its fixed 28mm lens. I see failure, upon failure upon failure, because I might have given myself permission to photograph anything, the forests called, like they always do, without any regard to me now using just one wide angle prime lens. Regarding these attempts as failures though does not do them justice. They were simply trials that did not work out that well. If you don't ever fail, you don't risk enough. I like to take risks in my work, often.... and I don't mind failing.
One moment in September it clicked. The day that I was finally photographing with my heavyweight camera again, I put it back into my backpack and got out the small camera. It clicked, it worked, it was an epiphany. From that day I have one photograph made with the 75mm lens and tens of images made with that tiny 28mm lens.
Taleteller
The first image of that September morning made with the 75mm lens
Who is to say what classifies as failure or so called bad luck? I live for the epiphanies, for the moments of blissful discovery, for growth.. There are months without something to show for it in my Lightroom catalog, which I had not expected at all, but what was added after that day in September indicates the way up. So was 2022 all the months that were left empty, or was it actually the full months that followed? I prefer to think that it was a path and that I really like where the path has taken me.
Choosing my best nine, best ten or most favourite images is not as easy as you would think, so I chose the photographs that are the most meaningful to me. I am not about to show just a polished up selection of what I want the outside world to think about my work. I make photographs that hopefully please myself and by sharing these I share the meeting of the nature of my soul with the soul of nature. Life being what we have in common.
I don't know what the next year will bring, I don't know what tomorrow brings either. I just know that at this moment I am happy where I am. I have learned to not get attached to plans. I make them and work towards carrying them out, but I don't squeeze the value out of the now, just because I have somewhere to go. Hopefully there will be new (e)Books in the beginning of 2023. I am working on it, it has been planned. Let's see if life cooperates...
Wishing you all the best for the New Year, whatever the best may be...
Fandango
Fading
The Two Of Us
Prime of Life
Dreamer
Chronicle Of Time
Supremacy
Bewitched
Winter Mist
Virtuoso
Uprooted Existence
Shrouded
Heart Of The Forest
Traces
Legacy
United
The Light That Kissed The Sky
Mr. Sandman
Chasing Rainbows
Romantic View
Taleteller
Filigree
No series of photographs would be complete without my two beloved and loyal companions. This is not an edited image, just a snapshot after a long hike on a hot day...with pure bliss radiating off Kayla's little face.
As always I would like to express my gratitude for your interest in my photography and writing. I highly appreciate it. I aim to keep writing these essays without sponsorships from third parties to keep my integrity, but of course writing them takes a lot of time and effort and if you feel compelled to support my work, please consider buying a print or my eBook The Magic of Forest Photography. Prints are now available for many more countries in the EU. If you would like to buy a print and can't find the image in my print shop, please let me know and I'll try to make it available.
