On the Horizon
4/2021
As we emerge from the historic COVID-19 pandemic, we asked you to show us images that represent your hopes for the new year. Once again, we received over 450 wonderful submissions, and we want to congratulate the twelve photographers selected for this gallery. We hope that you enjoy the beautiful images and hopeful captions below. May the next year make up for the previous one! Thanks to everyone for participating, and make sure to enter our next challenge, using #spm_closetohome on Instagram through June 30, 2021.
Perfectly Imperfect
Image by: Rachael May
Being perfect is overrated. I came back to this snowflake so many times because it was missing a delicate little arm. Full hexagonal snowflakes fell all around, yet this guy grabbed my attention over and over. He was different. Different from the snowflakes falling all around and different from any macro snowflake I’d ever seen. This is what I see on my horizon this year when it comes to photography, letting my interests take front and center over creating images that look like someone else’s. Slowing down, wandering and finding little compositions that speak to me.
Luck Redux
Image by: Charles David Corbin
I'm not really a planner when it comes to photography. Most images just 'happen'. Sometimes (rarely) I'm in the right place at the right time. This year, I'm going to make more time for myself, hopefully increasing the odds of seeing scenes like this one more often. I probably won't be planning much more, but at least I'll be outside enjoying the view, and that's never a bad thing.
Melting Ice
Image by: Leanne Zeller
Water is a fascinating photographic subject in all its forms. Melting and freezing cycles in the spring produce some beautiful intimate scenes. Sometimes they are revealed only after capturing them with a macro lens. I discovered these interesting details in the melting ice on our pool cover. As the weather warms, I plan to explore the local lakes and other places where water can be found.
Make Your Own Tracks
Image by: Kristy Sharkey
The Palouse region is one of Washington State’s seven wonders and is known for its vast landscapes of rolling wheat farms. While its grandeur is something to behold (and photograph), this simpler scene and story spoke to me. In a year where I’ve had the same patterns and routine day in and day out, I’m very much looking forward to making some new tracks in the coming year! This scene gave me a bit more inspiration to go against the grain.
A Perfect Disturbance
Image by: Greg Suryn
As a chemist by training and a photographer by sight, I have always been drawn to crystals and abstract images. I started my photography journey with these scenes, and I've drifted back to them during this past year. Crystals tend to be uniform in their look, however a disturbance during crystallization can produce an anomaly. Just like the crystals, sometimes a disturbance to the flow of our photography can produce a change that gives a different beauty to our work going forward. I plan to keep photographing these small things, even as the grand landscapes become available to me again.
Grass Mountain Flora
Image by: Caili Wilk
We went looking for wildflowers and were treated with a smattering of blooms right as the sun hung low and the sky deepened. We were surprised to be alone up there, except for a hot air balloon which had floated by. But we each had the other to lean on and as the sky darkened, we adventured down the mountain, with the stars guiding us, following the sound of the stream. Hikes like this have became a source of renewal for me, among nature and with friends. I’m planning on many more sunset hikes this year and looking to find the small things to be grateful for - flowers, crickets, rocks and the warm breeze.
Sunset Haze
Image by: Davide Lombardi
I took this shot during one of the few hikes I was able to do this autumn. Before the pandemic I regularly went for afternoon hikes to the top of a mountain, where I waited for the magical show of the sun disappearing below the horizon, before heading back down with my trustworthy head lamp. I was a sunset hunter, I loved those few minutes of continuously changing colours, I loved the silence and tranquility, and I loved the special encounters with the fauna on my way back down. I miss all that, and I really hope that the Covid situation will improve in the next months, so that I’ll be able to regularly appreciate the magic of outdoor sunsets again.
Gold Through the Trees
Image by: Kristen Ryan Photography
As the new year begins, I look forward to continuing to find beauty at home and in my travels. 2020 had me finding beauty in new places and giving me new perspectives as I found light in the darkness. On this morning around the New Year, I noticed the golden sunrise light filtering through the trees and quickly grabbed my camera to capture this scene with intentional camera movement. This image makes me feel hopeful for the year to come.
Morning Serenity
Image by: Julie Boyd
Instead of spending the morning watching a clearing storm at Yosemite’s Tunnel View, I decided to avoid the crowds and walk along the valley floor: admiring the quiet of the Merced River, watching the mist ebb and flow along the cliffs, and capturing the golden light as it warmed the newly fallen snow. Releasing the expectations that I had to capture a certain shot, and slowing down to appreciate some of the more intimate scenes, relieved stress and pressure that often come with landscape photography. I’m looking forward to letting go of expectations more often, and just enjoying the simple experience of being in nature.
Steely Sea at Sunset
Image by: Sherri Cox
I love the solitude of an empty beach in the off-season. During one sunset, I wanted to catch the play of light on water in a way that emphasized the sense of seclusion and serenity I felt. I horizontally panned across the waves using a 0.5-second exposure to smooth the water and bring focus to the light, creating a peaceful abstract image. In the coming year, I look forward to more moments like this where I challenge myself to capture not only the beauty but the feeling of a place.
Iceflowers of Springtime
Image by: Julia Redl
Landscape photography means freedom for me. I look forward to being detached from time and space, to feel connected to nature while photographing, to merge with it and experience it intensely. It's like a meditation: discovering the small details, lines, structures, building blocks that combine to create the great experience of nature. While everyone is eagerly awaiting spring, they sometimes overlook the fact that winter offers endless beauty. I discovered these beautiful ice flowers in a very mundane frozen puddle.
Lost in the Maples
Image by: Brie Stockwell
Early November is peak fall here in central Texas. On an overnight trip to a unique state park we hadn't yet visited, my family and I had the best time soaking in the beauty of many fiery maples on a leisurely day hike. It was wonderful to take our time and enjoy nature and each other's company. Near the end of the hike, this gorgeous, backlit tree caught my eye and I knew I had to make an image of it! This year I am looking forward to exploring more new-to-me parks and seeing what other beauty Texas has to offer!