Another Year
Goodbye 2023. Hello, 2024. Once again, seemingly more quickly than ever, it is New Year's Eve. Time flies when you are having fun. Tonight, with my heart full of hopes and optimism for the new year, I want to reflect on the year that was. There is always room for improvement, but, as a whole, 2023 was good. 2024 is shaping up to be even better.
This year was busier than ever. I honestly do not know where the time went. Working hard to expand the education opportunities at Hunt's Photo, 2023 included more workshops and travel than any other year. The schedule featured a wonderful mix of familiar locations with a few exciting new ones. Once again, we traveled locally, nationally, and internationally to learn, share, and create. As always, we worked hard and had fun doing so.
When planning workshops, I try to be conscientious about the scope of every trip. And every person who may travel and photograph with me. Hoping to attract new customers and appeal to repeat customers, I design and lead workshops that cover nature, wildlife, people, and culture. Some are in remote locations. Others are in busy metropolitan centers. By design, some trips are shorter in duration with easier travel logistics. Others are more extensive and require a great deal of planning. Some cost less. Others can be expensive. As exciting as the workshops are, it is the planning that is truly exciting. Whether it is a familiar place or a new place, I am excited to plan for it. Whether it is a beginning photographer or a highly experienced one, I am excited to share photography with them.
In January, we started 2023 with a journey to Yellowstone National Park for a winter workshop highlighting wildlife and the landscape. In mid-December, we finished the year in New Hampshire exploring waterfalls, streams, and signs of winter. In between, we journeyed to rural Vermont for barns, the coast of Maine for lighthouses, Florida for birds, back to the coast of Maine for steam trains, the Great Smoky Mountains of Tennessee for nature, Sicily for culture, Brooklyn NY for city life, Solon Maine for nature, Baxter State Park Maine for moose and nature, Alaska for grizzly bears, Lubec Maine for puffins, the Faroe Islands for landscapes, Tanzania and Zanzibar for wildlife and culture, Solon Maine again for autumn colors, the Scottish Highlands for dramatic landscapes, and New Mexico for migrating birds. We were very busy!
So, as I close the curtains on 2023 and think of all that we saw and did, I am humbled and inspired. More importantly, I want to thank everyone who made it possible. First, I cannot do any of this without the support of Hunt's Photo. I thank them profusely. More significantly, I cannot do this without those who join me for these adventures. They help me make my dreams come true. During the creative year, on the photo walks, classes, and adventures, I met some wonderful new people who inspired me to work harder at what I do. Throughout every class, I was fortunate to spend time with other wonderful human beings that I have known for years now. I am proud to call them friends. Those two very important parts, the people, make all the time spent planning and working worthwhile. Thank you.
Photography is a brilliant, enlightening bridge to the world. Through my lenses, I have seen, and see, more than I ever imagined I would. Because of photography, I see everything differently. Because of photography, I feel differently about everything I see. Including myself.
Happy New Year Everyone
Photograph What You Feel
Below is an image from each workshop in 2023
