Summer 2023: Introduction

Hi, my name is Amy, and I live in Fairbanks. I’m taking this class because it’s been a very long time since I’ve taken photographs with anything other than a phone, and in that time I’ve forgotten everything I used to know about photography (down to taking off the lens cap!). Way back when, I loved to take manual photos (with actual film, even!). Last year I had the opportunity to visit the bear viewing platforms at Brooks Camp, and some actual photographers (e.g. people with expensive-looking cameras with a bag full of lenses) asked me to take their photo. It had been so long since I took a photo with a camera instead of a phone that I totally forgot how to use the viewfinder and took a photo of the platform railing instead of these lovely patient people. (They assured me that it was the nicest photo of a railing that they had seen in a long time, haha.) So okay, it’s time to knock off the rust.

A few other things about me: I love creative writing and I’ve been dabbling in ink sketching/watercolors. I love being outside, including camping, hiking, and paddling. These photos are not mine. I included two because they are both from the same person on the same trip. I have some family in North Carolina and I’ve been looking up state parks where I can camp when I visit family, and that’s how I came across this website. by Roads End Naturalist (I can’t find his actual name). For the picture of the trees, I love the symmetry of the reflection mixed with the crookedness of the tree lines. For the birds, I think this is an unusual composition. It doesn’t attempt to have a focal point or use white space, and at first glance it looks almost like abstract fuzz. The birds are mostly white, but there is some patterning, almost striping with the background contrast, and the more I look at it, the more I get a feeling of abundance, of birds everywhere.