The middle of the month means another look back to some of the images I took in 2014. This month, we go back to three images from July 2014: an image that took me several years to appreciate, one that has always been a favorite of mine, and one in which the subject was in plain sight but few people seemed to really notice.
The first image was in a location you wouldn’t expect – in front of a large office building on a very busy street. Thousands of people have driven by this spot every single day, yet I have never seen another photograph of it. Perhaps that’s because seeing it every day has made it ordinary. I know I’ve fallen into that trap. It’s usually only through happenstance, such as light hitting something in just a certain way, that I have found some amazing local opportunities. But, sadly, for every opportunity I’ve discovered, there are an untold number of possibilities I have missed.
I have just over 10,000 photographs that I’ve captured over the years that will likely never see the light of day. From time to time, I tell myself I should probably clean them out, but I never do. Why? Because I like to go through them from time to time to remind myself that my photography actually has progressed over the years. I find that a bit reassuring when I start having doubts. Additionally, I will occasionally come across one that has potential that I didn’t recognize when I originally took all those years ago. A diamond in the rough, so to speak. This image is one of those.
I was on my way somewhere else the morning I photographed this image. I don’t remember now where I was headed, but I had left the house a bit later than I had planned, so I decided to stop at Lake Maumelle in central Arkansas as I drove by to see if I could get any sunrise pictures. I was somewhat disappointed with this image when I photographed it in July 2014, so I moved on and quickly forgot about it, but I never deleted it. A couple of years ago, as I was perusing my image library (again), it caught my eye. Cropping it to a square format and converting it to a black and white image created a more minimalist, high-key image that I rather like.
Just minutes later, literally standing in the same spot, I turned around to find the sun had risen above the horizon and was shining through a gap in the cloud bank. I quickly repositioned the camera and lined up this composition, which I consider one of my favorite images of all time.
Well, that’s my look back to July 2014. If you enjoyed this short trip down Memory Lane, leave a comment and consider subscribing so you never miss a post.