I started the year in Iceland - spending the winter camping across the country and documenting its beauty
Well, we did it! We made it to the end of the year and the start of a new one. It’s been a wild one for me, as I’m sure it’s been for many of us.
I then crawled under Europe’s largest glacier
How’d we all do?
After which, I crawled into a lava cave, carved out by molten lava during an eruption hundreds of years ago.
It was a pretty busy year for me - I made two trips to the Arctic circle, one trip to the Antarctic circle, attended a wedding in Vietnam, saw Justice live, explored the Georgia swamps, and participated in 3 gallery events, one of which I won third place
I then paid a visit to my dearly departed friend; the Katla ice tunnel.
While I don’t place too much importance on the online side of things (I’m not a fan of using social media), I’ve somehow amassed over two thousand followers and subscribers across all my platforms. Perhaps it’s to my detriment, as I’m sure my numbers could be higher. I just can’t bring myself to “game” the algorithm, because I wouldn’t be attracting the type of viewers I want; which are amazing people like you, who truly care about my work and what I’m trying to do for the environment. That said, I do have some plans and methods I’ve come up with that I’m excited to bring to life.
After returning, I left not soon after for Indiana, where I got to experience and photograph the total solar eclipse with my friends
Again, thank you all for subscribing, reading, and following along with my endeavors.
Returning to Georgia, I explored more of the swamps and made friends with some alligators
Oh also, scattered throughout this page are some of my favorite images from the year. Hope you all like them as much as I did.
A beautiful, foggy morning on the prarie
Overall, I’m glad to say that I did pretty well on my goals, which were:
I then made some new friends, and joined them on a trip to Alaska, where we explored the tundra above the Arctic Circle
To only wear PFAS-free clothing while exploring the outdoors
Cancelling all subscription services (with some key exceptions)
Improving my photography
Learning videography
Understanding printing
Streamline my workflow (from photographing to editing to data storage)
Meeting and interacting with more of my creative peers
Recover from injuries and get back to climbing
Spend less time online
We were even treated to a stunning display of auroras
The ones I didn’t quite reach were:
Not to mention these glorious peaks
Learning video editing
Learning to properly sew/operate a sewing machine
Be fluent in Spanish
Getting a WFR certification
Learning underwater photography
Improving my astrophotography
Exploring the local outdoors more
Place 1st in a notable photo competition
Improve on 2023’s finances
After getting my first sneak peak of the wintertime in Alaska, I came to Antarctica for the trip of a lifetime
It’s quite a long list, but I don’t actually really subscribe to the whole “new year’s resolution” thing. I spend so much time alone in remote places for weeks, even months at a time. I hardly ever know what time, what day of the week, or what month of the year it is. I just know when the sun rises, when the sun sets, and what I’m attempting to photograph that day - my approach to time is pretty rudimentary to say the least.
The penguins were very happy to pose
Most of my goals are life-long, and don’t really have a timeframe other than “do as much as I can today.” Besides, new goals pop up all the time, and I’m too impatient of a person to wait until next year to start on them. That said, I do tend to overload my plate and often have misplaced priorities; something I’m working on.
I also managed to get one of those “bucket list” photos
What I’m most bummed about not learning this year is learning to sew or stitch, basically just working with textiles. Ever since I bought my first “camera bag” in 2017, I slowly became obsessed with finding the perfect camera bag for the outdoors, only to realize that I disliked every single one of them. I’ve tested, trialed, borrowed at least 2 models of bags from all the notable (and many unheard of before) companies to find something that would work for me.
A Weddell seal pup mid-molt rising from its slumber to observe the weird human with the giant lens
Unfortunately, my conclusion was to make my own. But - more on that, as well as my rant about camera bags, in the future.
I got to see an Adelie penguin try to pick a fight with this Weddell seal pup, to no great success
Improving my Spanish would have really helped in Argentina haha. My very broken Spanish usually resulted in many games of charades. But it’s not too bad, it’ll be at least a year before I can get myself back to South America, so I have plenty of time to learn. I can’t wait to be back in the area though, it’s simply too beautiful and boy do I love the food.
There were also lots of elephant seals!
As for the rest, I’m not too fussed about. I’ve got plenty of time, and most of them aren’t super relevant at this specific point of time. Though I like to be prepared!
Not to mention these utterly domineering snow-covered peaks.
Other than working on the goals I didn’t quite reach this year, I’ll be adding a few more onto my plate, such as developing and scanning more film, and some others I can’t quite say just yet haha. You’ll have to stick around to see the results.
And the many beautiful, gargantuan icebergs that form the Antarctic continent
Thank you all for hanging out on here with me through 2024, I really appreciate it. Hope everyone has a happy new year and a great 2025!
Way in the back is A76-C, one of three pieces that formed the largest iceberg in the world - A76.