This was a big year.
I got engaged & married, watched (and celebrated) the Capitals win the Stanley Cup, and did a whole bunch of fun stuff in-between. These songs are a great representation of what I listened to throughout the year.
March has become April, the weather has continued to be rather grim here in DC, and my camera has not been nearly as active as I'd like it to be. This has led to a good bit of creative reflection on my last year behind the camera, and post that has been more than a little bit overdue.
A Reflection
By any metric, 2017 was my most fulfilling yet as a photographer. Among other things, I...
- Took photos in 9 different states (FL, GA, IL, MD, ME, NJ, SC, TX, and VA), as well as DC
- Stepped foot in, and pressed my cameras' shutters in 4 countries outside of the states(UK, Iceland, France, and Spain).
- Released for free, a good number of photos on Unsplash, with some very good results.
- Partnered with a couple of close friends to launch 202 Photos, a family-centric portrait & lifestyle photographic collective.
- Embarked on a major revamp of this website.
- Worked collaboratively on a DC-centric photography project.
What follows are a few of my favorite images from 2017. They each have some sort of story behind them, and I hope speak to my strengths as a photographer.
Bahía de La Concha
Taken from Monte Urgull in San Sebastián, Spain on October 9, 2017.
This photo was my favorite thing I captured in 2017, and it speaks to everything that I loved about San Sebastián. It was taken mid-day during a hike up Monte Urgull. The pastel colors evoke the calm, relaxing vibe of the city, and the beautiful, delicate nature of the cuisine. The rolling mountains that fade into the background make the city feel apart from time and space, as if it lives in another world. I implore anyone and everyone to visit the city, and experience a true gem.
Bay Bridge
Taken from Sandy Point Beach in Chesapeake Bay, MD on February 11.
Early in 2017, Sandy Point beach was among the first photographic excursions of the year. We hoped to capture a sunset, but the clouds didn't cooperate. Instead, the sky faded from day to dusk with an incredible gradient of blue and purple. I pulled myself from my comfort zone to deploy a tripod for a longer exposure, and was lucky to find, that not only was I able to capture the details of the bridge, the beautiful colors of the sky, but also the twinkling reflection of one of the bridge's lights on the bay.
Photographer & Horse
Taken in Rangarvallasysla, Iceland on February 19.
Iceland was a beautiful country to have a camera in. It is unlike just about anywhere else in the world, and it's no wonder that so many photographers flock here every year. This image was particularly special, as it came after a long day of being chased by fog and drizzle. As our group made its way back across the Southern coast to Reykjavík, we decided to make a pit stop to photograph some of the beautiful Icelandic horses or "puppies" as Erica (pictured) called them. The combination of the contrasting subjects one either side of the frame, as well as the intersecting lines of the environment brought a certain visual interest to the scene that I was looking for, and the day's weather gave me a color palette and mood that spoke to our experience.
Alice Smith & Citizen Cope
Taken from the Kogod Courtyard at the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, DC on June 17.
I've always admired photographers that were able to capture emotion and atmosphere at live events. I've not had the opportunity to practice in these types of environments that I'd like, but a free concert in the National Portrait Gallery's Kogod Courtyard gave me the perfect opportunity. I snapped quite a few images of both Alice Smith, and the headliner, Citizen Cope, but this image of the two spoke to the emotions that they share. The joy of two people that love to perform, performing with the one that they love was infectious. I think this moment, a shared looked stolen between verses, captures these two performers in the perfect moment.
Bass Harbor Light
Taken in Bass Harbor, ME on August 3.
This image was pulled from my Mainecation story, and speaks not only to moment it was captured itself, but to the process of finding this image within the capture. The evening in question, we had hoped to watch the sunset over the water near the Bass Harbor Light. When we arrived, we found, both a tide that was uncooperative, but also a larger crowd of fell sunset-enjoyers had joined us. I made snapped a few images, but decided to mostly just enjoy the moment, and ignore that we had not quite gotten what we hoped for photographically. Once home, I found, that rather than an underexposed, worthless image, I instead had captured a gorgeously dramatic pink sky contrasted with a dark, dramatic foreground surrounding the Bass Harbor Light. I was amazed at the detail I was able to pull out what I thought was a ruined image.
Eclipse
Taken from my back patio in Alexandria, VA on August 21.
On August 21st, in the the United States, we were treated to a rare treat: an eclipse! I had not planned on taking any photographs of the event, as DC was only going to about 81% of the way to totality. On the fateful day, however, I decided last minute to fashion an extra pair of eclipse glasses into a makeshift camera filter. I had no expectation of getting a usable photo, but decide to take a photo every 10 minutes or so leading up to the eclipse. I could not have been happier to discuss that my amateurish rig worked, and worked about as well as I might've hoped. The series gave me the opportunity to experiment with creating the composite series that you see above.
Holiday on Bond
Taken from Bond Street in London, England on December 12.
My final selection from 2018 is from a December evening in London. It was my first time visiting the city during the festive season, and this image was a perfect encapsulation of the evening. While I could point to the iconic doubledecker buses, the busy shoppers on the sidewalks, or the brightly lit storefronts, instead I'll never forget the lighting displays. A challenge to photograph, and a beauty to see, these lights were everywhere. This particular composition stuck with me, as the lit globes appear over the foreground, and eventually converge into a sea of light in the background.
Looking Ahead
I'm very proud of all my photographic output for the year, but I can't help but be greedy to do more. I'd like to challenge myself to find new subjects, new stories, and a unique perspective to photograph. As look ahead, some personal goals for 2018 will include things like...
- Learning how to use and control light from artificial sources to enhance my photography of people and objects/products.
- Take more photos of the mundane; the moments and bits of light that happen every day, and are worth capturing.
- Adding something new to my creative repertoire. I enjoy the "story" format for my travelogues, but I'd like for at least some of my photography to be a little less driven by linear story, and more by something abstract or intentional.
- Continue the hard work of improving my criticality over my own work, and only sharing those things that deserve to be shared.
These goals are pretty lofty, so I don't expect to get "all the way there" with them. I do hope though, that this time next year, I can write a similar post, with a similar happiness with my output, and a whole new set of areas to improve.
Darkroom is my go-to editing app on the iPhone 8 Plus. The newest update introduces some truly magical editing capabilites for Portrait Mode photos. In addition to new filters that use the depth information of a portrait mode photo, the update has also given us editing tools for independently controlling the brightness, saturation, and blur characteristics of the foreground and background. I couldn't recommend this app more highly.
On the left is a normal portrait mode photo I took of my dog, Lucy. On the right, the same shot, but with one of Darkroom's P400 Portrait filter applied (along with some tweaks to the background blur itself).
Again, on the left, a normal portrait mode photo I took of my breakfast one morning. On the right, that same shot, but with P100 (and various tweaks) applied.
This update is simply another in a long line of great updates to this application. I can't wait to see what's next.
Samuel Nute is a lifestyle, editorial, and travel photographer based in New England. He describes his work as:
My work creates cinematic and timeless scenes through the use of subtle, natural colors and clean composition. Often full of absence, my images leave just the essential to connect the viewer with the photograph.
I highly encourage you to check out all of his work, but I adore the travel images linked in the title of this post.
H/t to @joshuaginter's Fresh Links section on The Newsprint for the link.
A few years ago I began a personal, annual tradition of choosing 50 songs from the year that I felt spoke to me. I won't claim that these are the best, or necessarily all of my favorites, but, to me, they are 2017.
In addition to the playlist of songs, I'd like to call out a few of the albums that I particularly enjoyed this year:
- A Deeper Understanding by The War on Drugs (Apple Music / Spotify)
- Near To The Wild Heart Of Life by Japandroids (Apple Music / Spotify)
- Gone Now by Bleachers (Apple Music / Spotify)
- Lany by Lany (Apple Music / Spotify)
- Out In The Storm by Waxahatchee (Apple Music / Spotify)
When I sat down, and began the process of thinking through a website refresh, to be honest, I wasn't quite sure exactly what I wanted. As a general rule, I knew the following were important things to solve for:
The ability to show off images to give site visitors a good sense of what I can do, and the type of photographic work I excel at. This was easily accomplished with my images section.
Something that is definitively mine to write things when the mood strikes, to give the site some dynamism, and a reason for return visits. I've made this the homepage to this site. It seemed like the obvious, and ideal choice.
Beyond that, I just wanted to see where things went organically.
As I began creating content, I very quickly realized that a simple post on the homepage, that, depending on my posting frequency, might disappear into the archives rather quickly, was not the sufficient for all types of content that I'd like to share. My photography is at its best when I have a story to tell. Sometimes that's a longer trip that includes hundreds of shutter presses, hours in front Lightroom culling, and a definitive set of images that attempts to drag the viewer into my life for that period of time. Other times, a simple photo walk produces a few nice moments where the light is just right.
Stories & Vignettes
As of today, I'd like to officially announce the solve for these two problems, Stories and Vignettes.
Stories act a landing spot for longer form, more narrative-driven content. I unofficially launched this with Acadia National Park, recently, and have gotten some very good feedback. I look forward to adding stories for some of my previous travels, as well as journeys that I have yet to make.
Vignettes are as the word implies: short posts that use a combination of my words and my images to paint a picture and set a scene. My walk around the Tidal Basin was the first of such posts, and Chicago Commute is another. I look forward to experimenting with different types vignettes, and expect to have new ones often.
As my life evolves, so will this site. I look forward to the next swerve, and will look forward to meeting that challenge.
I've met some incredible (and hopefully life-long) friends that have given countless hours of their time and energy as members of the LLS team here in the DC area.
It's an incredible cause and great organization. I'll be joining the LLS Alumni team this year in Mina's place. Please consider making a donation to help support the research of blood cancer treatments. Your contributions can and will help save lives.
This domain has seen various incarnations, and had different purposes over the years, but previously it's been mostly a home for my professional design portfolio. I'd add a few projects, find a new job, let things go stale — rinse, repeat (reasons for this stagnation have varied — sometimes professional and sometimes, very personal).
Hello again
This year, I've begun to take what was an enthusiastic hobby, photography, a bit more seriously. Along with Brandon and Erica, 202 Photography has become a "thing". I've also taken a few solo gigs, and would like to continue doing so (feel free to contact me for a booking!). It seemed like it was time plant a flag, and call somewhere home.
I hope you enjoy what I have to offer. I won't promise frequent blog postings (they'll pop up occasionally), but I do have some ideas for content that will supplement my selected images. Hopefully you'll be seeing a bit more of that soon :)
Mark