Tag: Polar Night

Exploring My Photography Portfolios: 2018-2024

I have finally collected the seven portfolio projects I completed for the Enchanted Lens Camera Club in Albuquerque. There is one for each year, beginning in 2018-19. They were scattered in various computer files where I had to search for them. I now have them in a Mixbook book. I am looking at them and pondering the variety of topics I chose and how well I executed each one. What will be my topic for the 2025-26 year? It is a difficult decision. What do I enjoy photographing? What do I want to convey, and what will help me grow?

Today, I am adding six projects to the blog, from newest to oldest. I did not include the 2024-25 portfolio, which has its own post. This will give me another way to find them. It allows me to share them with you.

I welcome your questions and responses. Some possibilities for 2026 include old buildings (such as businesses) in Albuquerque, as well as themes like people and books, people and food, and sacred places. What would you like to see next?

Lights of the Polar Night Portfolio, 2023-2024

Patterns in Nature, Portfolio, 2022-2023

Human Impact on Mother Earth, 2021-2022

The Eyes Have It, 2020-2021

Windows Transformed, 2019-2020

The Pilgrim’s Way, 2018-2019

There is also a video roughly based on “The Pilgrim’s Way.”

So far behind…

I’ve taken a look at my blog for the first time in a very long time. The past six months have been dominated by working on the JacanaPress.com blog featuring my husband Kent’s book. If you look there, you’ll find glimpses of what we’ve been up to, including six intense weeks of travel through Scandinavia in December.

“Why go in the winter?” I’ve been asked. Here is my reply:

Scandinavia is where my ancestors lived 150 years ago and for centuries before that.

Why in winter?  I had a checklist: (1) I wanted a challenge and a bit of an adventure, (2) I wanted to avoid crowds and the high prices of the summer season, (3) I wanted to see the aurora borealis, (4)  winter and snow bring back memories of my Upper Michigan childhood, (5) snow is beautiful, (6) I wanted to celebrate Christmas with relatives in Sweden and enjoy the Christmas lights and festivities, (7) our grandchildren were going to be elsewhere.

I loved the Polar Night when the day was four of five hours of twilight with the sun lurking below the horizon. I missed the sun, though, and on Santa Lucia Day, December 13, we crossed the Arctic Circle again heading south. I waited with anticipation aboard the ship (Hurtigruten’s Polarlys) for the sun to hit a high peak. My heart leaped up when I saw the first pink light hit the triangular peak I’d been watching. ”Thank you, God, thank you, Sun, for being there!” I was deeply moved. The Polar Night was beautiful, but what if I never saw the sun again?

We arrived home after our travels to face a pile of mail we still haven’t quite gotten through, repairs of things falling apart in the house (I think it missed us), preparing Kent’s lecture, “Escape to Sea: Dreams and Realities” for Oasis (it was well-received), and all the other busy activities that keep us from taking much-needed long walks.

First light after leaving the Polar Night
Return to the Light Decmber 13, 2023