Here are some of my favorite photos from the places I visited in 2024. I visited sixty-one national parks, national monuments, and state parks, traveling though thirty states and three Canadian Provinces. I was “on the road” for 284 days.
I should say I visited at least one other state, and I went there often, the state of wonder. Travel is a state of wonder. It involves the interactions of what I'll call various spaces, some of which are the landscape, weather, local culture, and people. The numerous aspects of Earth Science also play a huge role, particularly geology, atmospheric science, oceanography, and astronomy. I bring an Earth Science textbook with me.
What makes a good photograph? Being there. Being immersed in theses spaces physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. It is an experience of suspended time, sometimes lasting a mere second, other occasions much longer. The photo is a partial record of the experience. Other parts are my journal and memory.
Two other aspects of these experiences are exercise and reading. Bicycling and hiking contribute immensely to my interactions and awareness of the environment. Reading somehow integrates my heart and soul into each place. Reading does a combination of expanding one's perspective and tying things together. In addition to the Earth Science text, I have been read (or am reading) Rick Rubin's The Creative Act: A Way of Being, David Brooks' How to Know a Person: The Art of Seeing Others Deeply and Being Deeply Seen, Herman Hesse's Siddhartha, Frans De Waal's Our Inner Ape and Are We Smart Enought to Know How Smart Animals Are?, and Jack Heihardt's Black Elk Speaks.
It is not only me looking for photos, but also the photo looking for me.
One more thing. Travel is a lot of fun. I'm looking forward to an exciting year of travel, being there, in 2025.
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