52 Week Photography Project — December
Fog and dog and a very large moon while I launch lights into the sky
It is almost the end of the year! I wanted to submit sooner, but unscheduled travel coupled with a bout with COVID interrupted that plan. That crimped my desire to create images specifically for this month’s challenge.
The two originals for this month, double exposure and self-portrait, are specific to this challenge. They forced me to leave my comfort zone and create an image rather than record it.
The other two images are more typical of my photography style. One is an observation of the human condition. The other one is for the dogs.
Hope you enjoy, and let’s get started.
49 — Under the Weather
In northern Poland along the Baltic coast, we are always under the weather. Rain, snow, high winds, it seems like we never get a break.
One thing we normally don’t get is fog. Yet there are days when it rolls in, softly flowing through the northern forest of birch, elms and silent oaks.
At that point, you’re not only under the weather, you’re in it.
On this day, my wife and I were doing our weekly round-trip walk between the little village of Orzechowo (polish word for “nut”) and Poddąbie (polish for “under the oak”).
It was fog from start to finish.
We were not the only ones out. These three young women passed us while we sat on a trail side bench. I took just one photo as they moved away.
I got this image. It tells a story. Young women shoulder to shoulder, lives intertwined by friendship, moving in unison. They are unbothered by the fog and a path leading to unknown days.
Under the weather, in the weather, there is always that one moment for the shot.
Will you be ready?
50 — Home Alone
Home alone for many is the chance to relax, catch up on chores, bang out a few lines for the next Medium article. Alone time for humans can be good.
But for our furry friends, not so much.
It starts with a human voice murmuring something like we will be back soon.
Back soon? Our furry friend wonders if we know that time is different in dog years?
Empty dog dish, empty rooms, all turn the minutes into hours.
But for this furry guy, all is not lost. He has found a source of entertainment.
His owner was kind enough to leave a balcony door open. So he gets to talk, bark, at all that passes below. It gets even better when a dog is the passerby.
All great fun, and lots of barking. For this dog, there is a joy at being home alone.
51 — Double Exposure
Did I say the weather is miserable in Poland?
Out of the six years I have lived there, I might have seen four full moons and photographed two. Clouds hid all the rest.
In Spain, where we live part time, the full moon shows its face almost every month. It begs to be photographed hanging over the nearby Mediterranean.
That makes for an easy capture with my 400mm lens.
But what do I do with the image? The back ground is rather dull and uninteresting.
Back in Poland, winter has made its way across the stormy Baltic Sea. Clouds hang low, but the Polish chase away the gloom with festive lights.
But alas, no moon to be seen.
So a double exposure is the key to this image. A Spanish moon combined with Polish holiday lights. Makes for an interesting image, though my wife thinks it looks silly.
But then again, she is Polish and knows better.
52 — Self Portrait
This one was a head scratcher. I wanted to do something different, something that expanded my skills as a photographer.
Night photography is always a challenge. Creating a self portrait night photo is an enormous challenge.
This image combines my interest in drones and desire to manage light at night, as well as experimenting beyond my normal journalistic photography style.
It took some work. Getting the camera set on the right exposure, managing the drone’s flight path, and not tripping over the tripod in the dark. All a challenge.
Fortunately, my drone has a long flight time and did not mind hovering off to the side while I wrestled with the camera. After a dozen attempts, I got this shot.
It’s not bad for a first try. Best of all, I did not knock the camera over.
Thank you for reading.
