My 2019 Recap and Favorite Images
Last year I wrote a blog recapping 2018, along with some goals for 2019 and some imagery. This year I’ve decided to follow the current trend of showing my personal favorite images from the past year, along with some inside commentary on the images.
Some of these images you may have seen before, some you may have not. Where possible I’ve added some backstory information about the situation behind the image or what I did to get it. This will be somewhat chronological but where needed I’ve lumped a few things together. If this gets too wordy for you please feel free to just look at the pretty pictures. :)
February saw me out and about shooting quite a bit, with things getting off to a good start the first week of the month when I traveled to Hocking Hills to shoot with Bob Blum and Eric Wright. We had made plans for a long while, and had the day set to take off work to get there early. Mother Nature up-ended things by giving us some unexpected weather in the form of rain, ice, snow, and freezing fog. Never one to do the smart thing, I suggested that we carry on and go anyway.
There is some truth to the fact that some of the best images are taken during bad weather when no one else wants to get out there.
Lone Tree and Freezing Fog - Hocking County, Ohio. This was a COMPLETELY unplanned image as we happened upon this tree while en-route to Robinson Falls. I came over a crest and this tree appeared to our right. Trying not to kill us and get off the icy road, I managed to find a good spot to pull off and all three of us got the shot. I love the mood this image conveys. I didn’t have to do much to the image in post, other than remove a power line that cut right thru the background and through the middle of the tree. Obviously the utility companies have no regard for landscape photographers. :)
Robinson Falls - Hocking Hills, Ohio. Yes it was as cold as it looks in this image. A long shutter speed and polarizer helped to get the look I wanted in this multi-image stitched pano. This is a hidden waterfall that is not on accessible property unless you have a permit from ODNR.
Upper Falls - Old Man’s Cave Trail in Hocking Hills, Ohio. This shot was only possible with some high wading boots and a strong will (ie, stupidity) to stand in freezing cold water with my tripod to get the shot. This is probably one of the most shot waterfalls in the park so I was trying to get something different and interesting with this shot.
The next week saw some more bad weather in the form of snow and freezing fog at home on an early Saturday morning. I was able to get out and get several shots, This image was shot on film with an old 1968 Nikon F camera. I wanted the gritty look that 35mm 400 speed film gives. I had this shot planned for awhile. If you live in the area you may recognize these trees. They are in the field next to the tarmac at the National Museum of the USAF.
The very next morning the snow and ice began to melt and it was nearly 60 degrees. Welcome to Ohio. The saying is if you don’t like the weather just wait a day, and that’s fairly true. I spent a great deal of time this day down by the spilllway on the river near Deeds Point in Dayton.
Canada Geese in Flight - that’s the sun in the background diffused by a thick cloud cover about an hour after sunrise. The sun eventually burned off the clouds and we ended up with a completely sunny day. I love this shot because its more environmental than I normally shoot. Most of the time I am focusing on the bird and all of the details, this is more about the feeling of flight and Nature’s beauty.
Juvenile Bald Eagle - What this image doesn’t show is what was going on below him to attract his attention. A 20-something-year-old couple pulled up in their car and parked almost nearly below him, and then promptly opened the door of the car to let their little white dog out. The Eagle saw a quick meal opportunity and was considering his plan of attack as I snapped this image. Wanting to do the right thing, I stopped and yelled at the woman to grab her dog and put it on a leash. She promptly began yelling at me telling me she was fully aware of the leash rules and would get around to it, thinking that I was just a grumpy guy with a big camera. Once I pointed up at the Eagle and yelled at her that her dog was about to become a snack, she grabbed her dog. The Eagle then lost interest and flew off - I got some great shots of him in flight but this was my favorite from the encounter.
The end of February found me headed toward the Outer Banks for a photo workshop. I had big plans of taking a leisurely 2 days to drive there and shooting a few points of interest along the way. Again, Mother Nature had other plans and decided to bring about an ice storm on the mountains on the way there. My plans of shooting some other locales were dashed, but I was able to squeeze in a quick trip to Mattamuskeet Wildlife Preserve on the second day just before arriving at the workshop.
Mattamuskeet Trees - Long exposure on Fuji Acros medium format film on a Fuji GX617 panoramic camera. This clump of trees resides out in the middle of the lake and is one of the most picturesque group of trees I’ve ever seen. This was a super long exposure that smoothed out the water and the clouds. What this image doesn’t convey is just how hard the wind was blowing and how hard it was raining when I shot it.
One I finally arrived at the workshop the weather continued to be bad - to the point where several days we couldn’t get out and shoot at the places the organizers had planned to shoot. It’s not their fault, but it was a bit of a bummer. Out of the images I shot on the trip, the next shot was one of my favorites. It was just after sunrise and a storm was rolling in along with the tide coming in fast. I set up for a long exposure to shot what was left of a pier and fired off several shots. Below is my favorite; a several minute exposure that makes everything seem dreamy and calm, when in fact it really wasn’t at all. The image to the right is what it really looked like.
Into the Blue - a nearly 4 minute exposure.
After a rather eventful February, the Spring came in like a lion in Ohio and I was back to my norm of shooting insects and birds. I have several favs from the entire year in both categories so it was hard to narrow in.
Opilliones or “Daddy Longlegs”. Not really a spider at all, and also not harmful to humans. I shot this image while hiking at Caesar Creek State Park. This is a multi-image stack to get most of his head in focus.
Two-spotted Bumble Bee - shot in my front yard in Bellbrook, Ohio.
Osprey - After several attempts at getting some good Osprey shots this year my persistence paid off. In one week’s time this particular Osprey visited Spring Lakes in Bellbrook twice while I was there shooting during my lunch hour. This was one of my favorite images with him staring right at me with the late September foliage in the background.
Great Egret - Again another shot that isn’t my norm for birds. I’m normally trying to get as close as possible and catching them in flight or eating. I love the depth of field in this shot and how elegant he looks perched among the dead trees. Caesar Creek, Ohio
In 2019 I shot 4 musicals, all starting with Legally Blonde, the Musical in June. After that I shot Music Man Jr, Wedding Singer, and Frozen Jr.
Shooting musicals and theater is something I really enjoy, and have been putting in a lot of time over the past several years at perfecting my shooting skills and editing style for these events. Most of the time they are mutually beneficial as even though I’m doing the work pro bono, the arrangement benefits both parties; I continue to grow my portfolio and get exposure in the hopes of parlaying this into a paying role with larger groups in Dayton and the surrounding areas, while they in turn get great images that are turned around and back to them in a short amount of time.
Legally Blonde
Legally Blonde
Music Man Jr
Music Man Jr
Wedding Singer
Wedding Singer
Frozen Jr
Frozen Jr
That being said, I’m not certain how many musicals I will be shooting in 2020.
Shooting each event takes generally 30+ hours of time; research beforehand to note important shots, travel to and from the shoot, shooting the event including my time and my second shooters time, editing time, and uploading finished images.
While I’m not getting paid, and am trying to build a portfolio like I mentioned above, I do expect some sort of exposure and the shots to be posted on social media with proper credit and tagging. The last two events I shot saw nearly none of the images used on social media by the groups I shot for, with little exposure for me, and in one of the cases more shots were posted by them that were taken a mom of one of the kids that shot the event. If that’s the level of shots they are OK with and want to post on their page, then there’s no need for me to spend all of that time delivering professional results. I know that sounds harsh, maybe, but the reality is that I can spend that time elsewhere with family or working on other photography endeavors.
Hopefully things change in 2020 and there can be some better mutually beneficial agreements reached. More on that to come I guess.
Also in 2019 I continued to donate my shooting time to two other great causes: The ALS Walk and the Families of Addicts Rally. Both of these can be emotionally draining but also rewarding.
Team Steve-O - the 2019 Dayton ALS Walk
Hitting the Dance Floor at the FOA Rally for Recovery at Courthouse Square in Dayton.
Sometimes you never know when a proposal might happen, this time one did at the FOA Rally.
Vacations - Renee and I manage to take a few vacations in 2019 and I did bring along my camera. Of course. :)..
Illuminated Path at CVNP in May 2019. This grove of trees was planted by a troop of Girl Scouts in the 1960’s and one of them recognized it on my Instagram feed and posted about it. Small world it is.
The Ohio Turnpike in CVNP. The morning light in the fog was really this dramatic. Mamiya 645 Pro TL on Ektar film. October 2019.
Station Road Bridge in CVNP. Mamiya 645 Pro TL on Ektar film. October 2019
Renee in Seattle - Puget Sound. I love how this image has two of Renee’s favorite things in it; water and moody weather.
Puget Sound at Sunset - multiple image pano taken on Thanksgiving Day 2019.
Seattle - multiple image pano taken on Thanksgiving Day 2019
My last two favorite images were taken in the last week of 2019.
Renee in the Osage Orange Tunnel on a foggy Christmas Eve morning - 12/24/2019. Shot on Tri-X 400 speed film pushed to 1600 on my Hasselblad 500C.
Cincinnati in the Blue Hour - Mamiya RB67 Pro SD on Kodak Ektar film. This is one of my favorites for 2 reasons - first, I’ve never shot this scene in the blue hour and got an image I liked until now, and second, it was the end of a great day of shooting in Cincinnati with Doug and Eric.
That’s it!
Not so much an exhaustive recap of the year and instead just some of my favorite images with random commentary and rambling. :)
For 2020 I plan on shooting still more film, and focusing on improving the quality of my work. I’m not certain if I will take another photography workshop, but if I don’t, I plan on at least taking some time to get out to shoot in a new location somewhere. Going somewhere new to shoot can work wonders for your photography and enthusiasm.
What do you have planned for 2020?
Jeremy
PS: I’ve skipped over some of the tragedies that happened this year here in Dayton, along with some family tragedies, on purpose. 2019 just plain sucked in that regard. I just can’t talk about it anymore. Let’s hope 2020 is full of health and happiness for all.
