I decided to investigate, and this is what I found. This time last year I had 76 candidates for my top 5 and this year I had 29. It stood out to me that most of the candidates were from my travels, with very few from here in the Smokies. This used to be a bad habit of mine, but one that I managed to break during COVID. I did shoot about 2,000 fewer images than in 2023 and 2022, which was a surprise given I shot 5300 images on the trip to Minnesota to photograph bears with a couple of friends, but a consistent number to 2021 and still more than 2020 and previous years (the number of images I shoot per year has been steadily increasing in the last decade, with the exception of 2020 and this year). So it appears my problem wasn’t a volume issue, it just seems I was overall less inspired by what I was creating. 

 

I dug further and found that I shot almost nothing in March, June, and July – and that’s when it hit me.

 

Since the COVID years, I have found myself reminding folks that our overall wellbeing plays into our ability to create.  Essentially, if you’ve got stuff on your mind – weighty stuff – it can be really hard to do art and have an imaginative eye.  That’s the exact lesson I was learning for myself here.

 

For long-time readers of the blog, and specifically of my Five Favorites posts, you may have noticed a missing feature this year: the funny Christmas photo with me, Holly, and our beloved cat, Charlie. Charlie passed away back in March, and after an appropriate time of mourning, we got two kittens in late May.  March, June, and July.  It seems I had no capacity to create in March, and then we were busy chasing two adorable little kittens through the summer, and overall my excitement for my art was a bit blunted throughout the year, until I found inspiration again in August, photographing with friends in Minnesota. 

 

On a much happier note, Holly and I did have a nice year this year, despite the loss of our fur baby.  We got to spend my birthday at Stonehenge – something I’ve wanted to see in person for years and years.  We also got to go back to Poland to spend some quality time with our friends there; what feels like our second home.  We visited Denmark for the first time, also to see friends, and I went to United Arab Emirates for the first time – two new countries!  Beyond the trips we got to spend what felt like a good amount of time with friends and family.  My niece Maria graduated college AND got married this year, which was amazing.  Late last year Holly roped in myself and two of our friends to attempting to hike all 900 miles of trails in the Smokies.  We’ve yet to hit the 100 mile mark, but we made progress and had a lot of fun spending time outdoors. Oh! And speaking of COVID, I managed to get it three times this year – my best year yet!  🙂

 

As we look to 2025, Holly and I hope you have a great year.  Regardless of circumstances, we hope you find joy in the new year.

 

On to the pictures!