My year in pictures

December 31, 2023

I found this to be a very challenging year for me photographically. I feel like I didn’t take enough pictures, and I really didn’t take enough pictures that I like, and took even fewer pictures that inspire me to take more similar pictures. I also know that as I get better at this (which I hope I am) I am a harsher critic of my work.

Below are some of my favourites from the year. I would be hard pressed to explain what appeals to me about some of these pics, but these are the ones that still capture my eye.

I also did some portraits - some of myself, and some of others that I’m pleased with. The two portraits not of me were done for a local “Faces of Winkler” exhibit.

Despite this year’s photographic challenges I committed to this practice and have a bit of studio lighting equipment on order. I hope to do more with studio photography.

Picturing Winkler at night - Downtown

August 05, 2023

I got up at 4am this morning to explore some night time photography. Unfortunately, getting up at 4am is not much of a feat for me, as I often wake up around then. I’ve darn hardly any night photography and was curious how it might turn out.

Being out on the streets of Winkler at 4am on a Saturday is an introverts dream. I was out for more than an hour and saw maybe 5 cars and 1 person. I could plant my tripod anywhere I wanted to.

I thought I’d be converting most of these to black and white, but the colors are really intriguing.

Finally at 4 am people are paying attention to this sign.

The person at the right of the image is actually just a silhouette.

Even at night the library offers a welcoming space.

The nigh-time light is quite amazing to work with.

Winter Winkler stroll

February 04, 2023

The temperatures are above -20C. I have a new/used zoom lens. You miss all the photos you don’t take. So, I walked around a couple blocks and took a few shots.

Encouraging words & Photographer

January 20, 2023

Encouragement is a great thing.

I’ve had a few experiences of encouragement lately.

A friend and colleague asked me to take some photos of him as promo pieces for his burgeoning music career.
Kind words were offered in response to some photos with text I offered for a Visio Divina project.
A photographer/Instagramer from the UK said very kind things about me and my work on his regular Friday video.

Not surprisingly, I can be my harshest critic and routinely think I’m a hack and should just stop. Too often I find it easy to dismiss people’s compliments because they are just family or they are just trying to be nice. It’s quite the act of dismissal not to believe the words they say are true.

Occasionally, there are cracks in my armor and I can actually receive and celebrate these encouraging words. And sometimes I believe them.

I added the label “Photographer” to my Instagram account today. Of course, I feel like an fraud doing that, but perhaps by seeing that word there I will learn to accept that label.

Never underestimate the value of a few words of encouragement.

Photo Anxiety - Picturing Winkler

November 05, 2022

One of my many anxieties is worrying about if I’ll ever find something interesting to photograph again. This is dumb and annoying. It feels like the experience of staring at a blank page and thinking I’ll never find something to write or paint ever again. It’s actually less about finding something interesting to photograph than if I’ll be able to create an interesting photograph.

When I lived nature-filled woods of southern Michigan I was certain there were no more trees, branches, leaves for me to find any interest in.

Now that I live in the flat, bare, suburbia of Winkler I often sit inside certain that my surroundings have nothing to offer me and my camera.

At least the rural woods of Michigan had the advantage of not having any people around to notice me and my camera. In Winkler there are people everywhere, and they seem to like being outdoors. This means I also need to overcome the anxiety of people seeing me take pictures. Changing lenses and getting out my tripod so I can take a closeup of an interesting pattern in a sidewalk that people are using is just not something that I feel I can do. Photographer imposter syndrome is not unfamiliar to me.

And yet, sometimes I am able to tamp down some of those anxious voices, grit my teeth, and, with low expectations, head out with my camera.

No matter where I am, doing this has almost never let me down.

Here are a few such shots from my new (old) home of Winkler, Manitoba.