2017

It’s just about time to close out the year. 2017 has taken me across more than 3,000 miles to an solar eclipse, two national parks, five hikes at Devil’s Den and other sights new and old. I hope I always remember daylight falling behind the moon as my manic excitement reached ever higher in the middle of Nebraska back in August. Not a bad year for photos.

(From Through the Wall, taken Aug. 23)

(The center of the world, Aug. 22)

(The eclipse, Aug. 21)

(Nebraska, Aug. 19)

The year was eventful in other ways simply as a guy who takes pictures and wants to share them. I made a Facebook page, went to one of Fayetteville’s First Thursdays and took a shot at doing some family portraits this fall. I dream about doing what I do on this blog for a career and creating photo books and traveling the world, and I agonize with insecurities about whether I’m actually any good. Maybe I’ll get a little further with all of those things next year, too.

(In the wind, Sept. 16)

(Devil’s Den in white, Jan. 7)

(The forest floor, June 19)

(Mushrooming III, May 29)

As it happens, this post is #200 since I officially made this WordPress into a photo blog a little more than four years ago. This place been a lot of things for me: a photo diary for friends, family and exploring my home; a travel blog; an extension of work; an experiment in storytelling and new ways to shoot. Basically all of my fear and joy in photography goes here. I’ve tried to learn and deliver at least a touch of art. Some of my shots, especially early on, are embarrassing, really, and I needed to learn a lot about editing down to the best images. Other early pictures aren’t bad. I’ll probably feel the same about my recent shots in another four years.

If there’s anyone from the earliest days who still visits, bless you. For everyone else, thanks for joining me. I look forward to another year.

(The Hawksbill, Dec. 3)

(Twin Cities, Aug. 26)

(Fools’ parade, Feb. 25)

(One day, two cities, June 24)

(June in February, Feb. 11)

(Fall’s first days, Sept. 24)

(Belly of the beast, March 9)

If you’d like to see my past year-in-review posts, they’re just a click away: 2014, 2015 and 2016.

Dan

Arkansas art art walk Fayetteville First Thursday fungi minigolf mushrooms Ozarks photography photos putt putt seasons spring summer the south weather

Summertime

It’s technically not summer yet, but we’re not wasting any time. June’s bringing the heat, the mosquitoes and the humidity thick enough to see clouds’ shadows in the air even at midday.

Humid evenings are part of my definition of summer, because so many memories are tied to walking around in them: walking around neighborhoods with my dad during the Fourth of July, walking home from a run, walking back to the dorm from college band camp. The summer solstice is the 21st, but humid evenings mark the season enough for me.

I took my camera to Fayetteville’s First Thursday, a combo art walk and festival at the square. The light was dying at the time. I’ve shot so many photos there, I started to wonder if I’d make anything new and worth sharing. Stupid thing to think, really — the question is catching the new things, not whether they’ll be there in the first place. I relaxed and let some images reveal themselves. They might still be mediocre, but I hope I caught a spark here and there.

Other than that, I have a few shots of the local wildlife of my apartment complex, including an odd little display from another orchard orb weaver. You know I couldn’t resist when I saw a ring of 6-inch-wide mushrooms.

Thanks for looking,

Dan

Arkansas Fayetteville home looking back nature photography photos seasons street the year in review

One Year Later

North Betty Jo Drive, January

Well, it’s been exactly one year since I moved here, started writing for the Northwest Arkansas Times and began learning about this place through a camera lens. It’s time, of course, for the cheesy look back on what a year here has brought.

Dickson Street Mardi Gras

North College Avenue, March

Fayetteville Square Farmers Market, April

I’ve definitely gotten better as time has gone on; I’ve gone to new places, found better settings, become more comfortable getting close to people, and am more confident about finding an image no matter where I am. The original idea of this blog was to keep improving even while I’m not making a living with this stuff, and I think that’s going all right.

Devil’s Den State Park, April

Washington County Courthouse, May

World Treasures, North Block Street, May

More importantly, plenty has happened here in Fayetteville since then, with Mardi Gras and Pride parades, a brief period of same-sex marriage in this county, holidays and fairs and life in general. Even if I don’t capture them well, the people, lives and places in these images are real and worth respecting and remembering. There’s art everywhere, and I just try to catch it.

Kings River Country Store, May

Jefferson Lines Station, June

Fayetteville Pride, June

Ozark National Forest, July

This year is also the first I’ve thought about selling prints of some of these photos. No pressure, but if you’re interested, I’ve got a mostly up-to-date Redbubble page set up here. They print, frame and ship. I’ll also make the plug that while newspaper writing is my primary career at this point, if you want photos of an event taken with a photojournalist’s eye for emotion and detail, I’d be glad to see what I can do.

Lewis Fields, July

Washington County Fair, August

Glam Beauty Bar, August

Razorback Football Stadium, September

It’s been a good year here, with plenty of interesting and good people, plenty to write about at work and plenty to photograph. I’m not sure where I’ll end up, but this place is one of my homes now.

Bikes, Blues & BBQ, September

Wilson Park, October

Winslow, October

Partial solar eclipse, October

Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, October

As always, thanks for looking.

Dan

change flowers football light photography photos politics seasons soccer sports summer sunset weather

Summer’s End

Fall begins Tuesday and highs in the 90s have vanished from the forecast. With summer’s end come fall sports, politics, shorter days and more pants. I tried getting a sample of these changes this week.

I’ll start with the boys surfing cardboard, above. The Razorbacks once again trounced their opponent, and a celebration for parents and families meant a bit more activity around the student union, including some singing along to classic rock covers:

Also on Saturday, the opponents of Fayetteville’s anti-discrimination ordinance turned in more than enough petitions to bring the ordinance to a public vote. The law protects lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people from being fired, evicted or turned away from a business because of their identity, along with a few other groups. (I took some photos outside the City Council’s vote on the law here.)

The opponents question whether such discrimination is a problem and say the law takes away from business owners’ rights. If enough of those signatures are verified in the next week or two, the vote would probably come in December or January.

These next several weeks will bring plenty more politics for us to cover, so wish us luck.

All right, that’s enough news for this post. The rest I’ll devote to summer’s fading light.

The Bikes, Blues & BBQ Motorcycle Rally begins Wednesday and looks to bring a few hundred thousand people to the region. Surely I’ll get at least a couple of photos from the crowd for next time, right?

Thanks for looking!

Dan

Viewfinder

A photo blog by Dan Holtmeyer

seasons

2017

Summertime

One Year Later

Summer’s End