Best days of 2021
‘Tis the season to look back on the last 364 days and reflect on what was. I feel like I really did make some progress in my photography this year and have some shots that I’m really quite happy with.
One of the things that I really like about photography, and that is especially important for me, is that it provides me an impetus to get up and out the door and to experience things that I never would otherwise.
Some of you reading this will know that I used to be a very serious runner and was out the door and running most days of the week no later than 5:30, and often on trails. This afforded me plenty of opportunities to see incredible things and create plenty of great memories. It wasn’t until a hip injury forced a retirement from running that I realized just how important those hours outside - by myself, alone with my thoughts - really were. Enter photography, which serves much the same purpose.
I’m fortunate to live very close to some great spots to explore outside but it is nice to get out and see new places. In thinking back on 2021 two mornings spent far from my normal go-to locations particularly stand out as special ones for photography. I don’t think I came away from either with any great shots, but the experience and sheer beauty of both made them the best of 2021 in my mind.
The first occurred at the Bois Brule Beach along the southern shores of Lake Superior during our summer vacation in northern Wisconsin. This sand beach has formed where the Brule River meets Lake Superior and you get the nice calm waters of the river meeting the breaking waves of the lake. We had spent a little time there as a family one of the first mornings of our trip and I knew it was a place I would want to return, and so one morning I got myself up bright and early and drove the 30 minutes to the beach to be there for sunrise. I, of course, had the place to myself, which was good because I must have looked crazy running around trying to capture as many pictures as I could as the sky colors changed by the second. It was absolutely one of the prettiest sunrises I saw all year. Maybe that statement is influenced by the fact that I absolutely LOVE Lake Superior, however. In hindsight I’m satisfied with the photos I ended up with from the morning, but the beauty that lives in my memory is not necessarily reflected in the final output.
The second favorite photo opportunity was a fall day trip up around Decorah, Iowa. I had one spot in particular in mind northeast of Decorah that I wanted to shoot at sunrise and as I got closer I realized that conditions could not be better. (Okay, that’s not really true, but they were pretty dang good.) A little fall color remained on the trees and the Upper Iowa River valley had just a bit of low hanging fog. Perfectly clear skies weren’t necessarily ideal, but they did mean that the sun was going to light up the leaves that were left and the fog. Again, I rattled off a good number of shots with none of them necessarily turning out great, but it was the EXPERIENCE of seeing one of Iowa’s prettiest spots at its absolute best that I will remember.
For 2022 I hope to get out even more and continue to improve. Planned family road trips well outside the Upper Midwest will hopefully afford some new (to me) photo opportunities, but more important will be the memories to be created.