Anatomy of a Year - 2021
Most photographers can put together much more succinct lists than this; a” top-ten” or” top-twelve” is often the norm, and with social media sites, a “top-nine” is a new standard. I honestly don’t think I have anything more special to share, it’s just that I take a lot of photographs over the course of a year, and 2021 was no exception, even if it didn’t offer up all of the opportunities for travel I had initially hoped it would.
So, instead of presenting a “top” list I’d prefer to share the story of 2021 as photographs, along with a few words here for the themes they convey and the locations where they were set. 2021 started with exploring new locations, specifically the Sangre de Cristos from the vantage point of Westcliffe. This is an area that is full of uncompromising beauty, and with snow and high, bright clouds a set of black and white images captured this beauty for me. Steamboat Springs has been a common destination for winter and summer adventures, so with a mid-winter storm predicted it seemed an obvious next destination. This would of course include a stop at my favorite Aspen grove along the Colorado River. The Elk River and Sleeping Giant did not disappoint, dressed in the new fallen snow. A quick trip to Chicago for Spring Break was followed up by the beginning of the Milky Way season in the High Country. As the school year ended and summer obligations started to pile up, finding time to photograph some favorite spots seemed to take second place, but there were enough moments in between to find favorite overviews in places like Windy Ridge and Last Dollar Road. A first trip to Michigan ended in June with tours of my hometown and trips to the UP and family gathering, then the wildflowers of the San Juans welcomed me back to Colorado, with a few highlight images from the American Basin and Ophir. Sunflower fields mark the beginning of another school year. The yellow of the Aspens along Mt. Evans, Steamboat, and Grand Mesa followed all too soon, and celestial highlights ranging from a lunar eclipse to the Geminid Meteor shower brought the year to an end.
This year offered more opportunities than I expected it to. If you can leave a comment below, I’d like to know If there are items or images you’d like to see in the coming year. Lastly, thank you for following along on this journey. I look forward to sharing more of my world with you in 2022!
Follow the link here to find a small gallery of some of my favorites from 2021, and please enjoy!
Anatomy of a Year - 2021 - ISO 100 | F/8 | 1/320 sec. ~ Sony a7riii & Sony FE50G