It’s strange how time can get away from you.

By Bigs

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Time is strange. One day you’re 22 years old graduating college (victory lap), and the next you’re 26 realizing that the freedom you had then still exists now, even if it is harder, or more costly, to achieve. However, the freedom at 26 also comes with more means, as well as a stronger sense of self and at least a little more wisdom.

As I am in this newfound freedom again now, I find my brain remembering the joys of my life I had in that 22 year old freedom, and am excited by the prospect of revisiting them, especially photography.

I first got my camera, a Nikon D7500, back in high school and used it constantly. I would go downtown with my best friends to abandoned buildings (much to the chagrin of Nubbs) and take pictures in the fractured lowlight and dim hallways. I took it on trips to national parks like Zion and Acadia. I took it to Canada and got pictures of the Trent Hills and the Art Gallery of Ontario. I have portraits of people from my past, as well as the people of my present, frozen in time then and there. Then, I stopped.

The camera went cold. The shutter no longer flicked close and opened at the speed I set it to. The aperture no longer changed based on the lighting I had. However, like I said before, that passion is reigniting. I can see the rule of thirds in the sunsets. We have a potential snow coming this weekend, and I would love to capture it if it does given we don’t get much where Nubbs and I live!

Now, in the spirit of keeping the early trends of this young website alive, let’s get into another…

BIG’S TRIO OF TREASURES

This will be another “nono”, or 3 sets of 3, so maybe I should just change the name, but no matter. Let’s break it down. The three categories will be:

• Landscapes
• Urban
• People (the pic just has to have a person in it, sue me)

Let’s get into it!

Landscapes

This picture was taken in Grand Canyon NP in 2017, the summer before I started my senior year in high school. My friend there and I had stayed up all night to catch this 4 something AM sunrise, sitting outside of our on site hotel room on the balcony talking about his (former, at this point) girlfriend. It is a memory that will stick with me for the rest of my life. Also, this will not be the last photo from this trip in the trio.

The trip my family and I (plus Matthew, who is in a ton of these pictures) took through Arizona and up into Utah was lifechanging. The story behind this photo is one for another day, but needless to say, this one was tough to get.

Matthew and I were backcountry camping in Arches National Park, and we had waited until well after midnight for the residual sunlight to finally die out. This shot through Broken Arch at our galaxy never ceases to blow me away.

This is my favorite photo of all time. The subject is Matthew, set up in our tent in the middle of nowhere in Arches National Park. This is the same night as the former shot, just hours earlier. It was probably around 9:30 PM when this photo was taken.

The reason I love it so much is two-fold. Firstly, the colors contract so well with the silhouette. Secondly, it feels so spacious, while also feeling small. The expanse seemingly went on forever, but our world was right there, right in front of the camera.

Urban

This silhouette is the same as the first one, and the second one, but it’s my best friend after all, so who cares. This is one of my favorite photos because the silhouette is of a photographer shooting the same visual I am, but it’s framed like an out of body experience. Think of it like this: I am him, but removed from him taking the picture, which then includes him. Strange, isn’t it?

This picture was taken from the observation deck at the Space Needle in Toronto. The way the red and blue contrast each other, the picture looks rich and velvety in a way. I have loved this photo for a long time, and it has been a background for a multitude of computers I have used since then.

This is a picture of a hand. Yes. However, the story behind it is what’s cool. Before it was bulldozed and the lot made a soulless apartment building, the American Life Insurance building stood abandoned for ages.

Well, my friends and I loved to get into abandoned places in High School. American Life was a go to. Of all the pictures I got in that building, this is my favorite. It is spooky, unnerving, and semi-claustrophobic. Lovely.

People

This is my friend Matthew’s little brother, David. He is a really good soccer player. That is irrelevant.

This picture was taken in the Trent Hills of Ontario, Canada. This same morning, I woke up with my one person tent FULL of mosquitos, and the outside of my tent so thick with them, I thought the end of the world may be near. Regardless, I got this picture with the sunrise just peaking around David, and the soft light sets the feel of the photo perfectly.

I am unsure why I love this photo so much, to be honest. In the photo, my cousin, Bella, is driving her old Buick Regal handed down by her late grandmother, and I am in the passengers seat fooling with my hat. I had set the camera up on a timer in the back of the car, and had it take a flurry of photos. This one stuck out. It feels very human, very raw, and very much like my cousin and I. We grew up close, stayed close, and this just embodies that.

This one is honestly just downright cool. The vibe of it feels cool.

Anyway, that is the trio of treasures, with 3 in each! I hope you enjoy them, and I hope to be getting back into photography sooner than later. It really is a great release, and I hope this could encourage to reignite a fire in yourself as well, dear reader.

Deuces, peace, and get out there.

Bigs out.