The best way to describe my year of photography in 2024? It was sporadic!
When at home I didn’t get out with my camera nearly as much as I did when we were traveling nor nearly as much as in previous years.
Prior to the Covid years I was very active with my camera. Since then, it seems as though the number of images I make annually has been declining. I just have not had the motivation to get out with my camera.
As I have reviewed the year I wondered why this has occurred. Certainly, the puppy that joined our family in December of 2020 has taken a huge chunk of my time. Tucker has become my sidekick and for the most part, ‘rides shotgun’ with me wherever I travel close to home. I still love to get out in the fall to photograph the beautiful colours as leaves turn from green to shades of yellow, orange and red. Similarly, I love to photograph the changes winter’s snow brings to the landscape.
The story is very different when we travel away from Kelowna. We usually make 2 or 3 trips a year to visit friends and relatives in Victoria, Parksville and Qualicum Beach areas. There are so many photo opportunities on Vancouver Island. Last year, the most spectacular was the annual herring run that occurred just off the Qualicum Beach waterfront in March. It was a wild congregation of birds, sea lions and fishermen all aiming to catch their share of the millions of fish that had gathered there. It was an amazing 48 hours.
In September, we flew to Europe to partake in a river cruise along the Rhine and Moselle rivers from Basil to Amsterdam. It was our third European adventure and provided so many interesting photo opportunities. From the scenery along the rivers to the narrow streets and majestic cathedrals in towns and villages, amazing photo opportunities were everywhere.
I have long embraced the opportunity to print, display and share my work. This past year I was able to show my images in three different art venues. In the spring, three of my pieces were accepted for display in the Peachland ‘Captured Images’ photo exhibition. Over the summer with four of my photography colleagues, I displayed my work at Kelowna’s Rotary Centre for the Arts. In the fall I displayed 10 of my pieces at Lake Country’s annual Artwalk. It was the eleventh year I had entered this wonderful exhibition of art. I was delighted that five of my pieces found new homes.
The bottom line seems to be that my approach to photography has somewhat changed. It is more directed to when I travel. I’ve realized that I don’t need to be out and about with my camera all the time. I thoroughly enjoy sharing my work and so appreciate connections I’ve made with like minded people in our community whether at a gallery, event or through my blog and facebook page.
All of the images below were displayed at Lake Country’s Artwalk 2024. Several were displayed at Peachland’s 2024 Captured images and at the Rotary Centre for the Arts along with the work of my friends in the Thursday Morning Shooters photography group.
Since the Covid years my articles have been edited by my wife, Ellen. After spending much time writing an article I find that I become ‘blind’ to simple grammatical, punctuation and content errors. She does a wonderful job of correcting and making sense of my scribbles.
