These photos, all taken by me in 2024, are my favorites, for the reasons indicated. They were taken using my iPhone 15 Pro Max and appear elsewhere in this blog at: Photographs, My Retirement Activities, Solo Road Trip: 16 days, 7,226 miles, in a Tesla with 2 Dogs, The Joys of Cycling the Somerville Community Path / Minuteman Bikeway. If you want to see a larger image of a photo, click on it.
Grand Canyon Sunrise:
This is a photo taken during my cross-country drive. I’ve included this photo because I love the rays of light and shadows cast by the mountains.
Minuteman Bikeway:
I cycle the Minuteman Bikeway thrice weekly: Somerville->Cambridge->Arlington->Lexington->Bedford and back, assuming it is at least 40° and it’s not raining. It is a leisurely 2 hour, 22 mile ride on a car-free rail trail. Cycling on this trail is my form of mediation. As you can see in the below photos (and many, many others), I am obsessed with its tree canopy which I find rejuvenating.
London pedestrian “walk” signs:
During our trip to London, while walking around Trafalgar Square, we saw these pedestrian walk signs. We did not see them anywhere else in London and we walked 9 miles every day.
I like this amalgamation of photos as it gives me hope that despite our diversity, just maybe, we can learn to live together while respecting our differences.
Texas windmills:
This photo was taken through the windshield of my car while driving back home from Grand Canyon National Park. At this point in the trip, days 13-16, I was making a beeline home, driving 700 miles/14 hours per day.
I like this photo because it mixes the old and the new.
Flowers in an urban community:
During a walk in my neighborhood, I took photos of the flowers in pots and gardens. I included this photo as it objectively demonstrates the effort people will invest to bring a touch of nature into their urban environment. One of the flowers is metal, but all the others are real.
Rocket and Mason:
I took this photo of my dogs when I was in the Grand Teton National Park, again, on my cross country sojourn. I like it as it could be a photo in a dog calendar.
Lightning storm in Grand Tetons National Park:
I suspect you have not seen a photograph like this. When I was sitting in the Grand Tetons National Park dining room at about 9 PM, a lightning storm began, off in the distance, behind the mountains. I put my iPhone into video mode, leaned it up against the dining room window, and let it run for 30 minutes. Subsequently, I slowly scrolled through the video attempting to locate the 1/10 of a second lightning flashes and then took screenshots from the video. While the resolution is not great, it’s certainly good enough.
Bird in the mist of Niagara Falls:
This photo was taken on the first day of my cross-country sojourn. Note the soaring bird in the lower, left center portion of the photo, surrounded by the mist of Niagara Falls and the flowing river.
I like the photo because it is an objective demonstration that nature will attempt to take advantage of every ecologic niche.
Total solar eclipse:
Gail and I drove to the Vermont-Canada border to experience the April 8, 2024 total solar eclipse. Neither of us had ever seen a total solar eclipse.
Originally, I had intended to “live in the moment” during the eclipse and I put away my iPhone. As soon as I saw the “dueling dawns” (lower left image) at 39 seconds into the eclipse – a totally unexpected phenomenon, I decided to stop living in the moment, picked up my camera, and began photographing the eclipse. I am so glad!
Although the total length of the eclipse was brief, and the drives to and from the venue were long, it was totally worth the effort.
Everyone should experience a total solar eclipse at least once in their lifetime.
Aurora Borealis:
This is another “once in a lifetime event” which are totally worth the effort.
We were vacationing in Maine with some friends when it was reported that there might be a significant aurora borealis in northern New England.
I am so glad I chose to brave the wind and cold and walk down to the seashore, when my warm bed was so inviting. It was magical.
Self-portraits:
I am always looking for a way to create a self-portrait in a novel manner. I think these met my bar.
Hayward Zwerling
26 December 2024