Time (A look back at 2023)

January 6, 2024

Time – It’s an interesting thing. We often say how precious it is, how quickly it goes by and how little of it there seemingly is.

In 2023, my time was purely focused on family. In March, my wife and I welcomed our first son to the world. The last 9 months have been the most precious time in our lives. We have cherished the big moments and all the little ones in-between. He’s growing up so quickly! We often joke “Slow down, son!” as we know these moments as a little one will feel like they’ve flown by with a blink of an eye.

From a nature/landscape perspective, 2023 had been the least productive year for me. Although there was a small part of me that missed being outside creating and enjoying the craft, my heart pointed me to where I wanted to be - home with family.

Over the months of September through December, I was lucky enough to spend bits of time in the changing color around town. Interestingly, even though they were in small chunks the time felt longer than what showed on my watch. All alone, I explored and enjoyed the slowly changing light on the landscape, firing the shutter when it felt right.

In the past, some of my images carried hidden undertones of anxiety and fear of missing “the shot”. Sometimes I would walk away (only realizing weeks or months later) that my RAW files were missing the most important data of all - a memory made with my own eyes of the wonderful moment I was so hyperfocused on photographing. These undertones were often amplified based on the amount of time and resource investment to get to the location. Over the years I have tried to be better about taking some time to stop shooting and simply enjoy the moment. I have also started to remove these images regardless of how “good” they are from a composition and aesthetic qualities. The hope is that my portfolio be filled with times of joy, positivity, natural beauty and moments experienced with special people in my life.

Different from past photography trips far from home, for the most part I didn’t feel hurried. I knew I could easily come back soon on another day. I was able to allow the creative process to take its natural course and not be so worried of the final outcome. Through continued experiences like this, I am starting to understand that exploring locally is one way that is helping me slowly remove the results driven pressure that I often place on myself. I am still a work-in-progress with a long way to go but I can at least see a slow shift which is a good thing.

The creative arts is supposed to be fun and fulfilling. It is a time to explore, make mistakes and a place of discovery. Photography has been my place of respite for the past 10+ years. It has been my safehaven to simply go and creatively be free.

I look back at these images and those times with happiness, not because of anything related to the final product, fitting into what is trending in the photographic space or the light qualities that morning. They were simply times of fun. I was able to enjoy the creative process in areas special to me. These images are mementos of some old friends as well as newly discovered locations potentially opening up new experiences and opportunities for years to come. These bits of time were well spent.

I do miss spending time in some of the beautiful areas farther from home. Those days will come soon again. When they do, my hopes are that I will have a better mindset to be able to enjoy that time in more kinder and meaningful ways.

Below are my images from September through December 2023. Thank you for taking time out to visit. Have a great 2024!