Documenting life and exploration on Guam has been the mission statement for my photography in 2022. While making images occupies only a tiny portion of my schedule every month, I have become quite serious about it. That means carrying a camera every day and on every trip, even if it’s just to the grocery store. You never know when a great subject or composition is going to appear!
While I concentrate primarily on landscapes and nature, I have also taken more pictures at Harvest Baptist Church recently. This is possible because, as of August, I only hold one full-time position in the ministry, having given up my role in Communications to focus on KHMG. With my official responsibilities reduced, I volunteer more often to shoot church and school events. Taking photos of this kind keeps my technical skills sharp and requires a different sort of creativity.
Perhaps I will share a few images from those adventures in 2023. For now, let’s talk about twelve of my favorites from 2022.
This year was different. Bird photographs made up the bulk of my 2021 portfolio, but not a single Pacific reef heron or White tern made it this year. I think that’s because I made time for longer sessions in the jungle. Last year, I had a larger number of short sessions, usually on nearby beaches and shorelines. If 2021 was my “year of the bird,” perhaps 2022 can be called my “year of the tree!”
More than half of these images feature trees. I love trees. The challenge photographing trees on Guam is the visual disorder of the jungle. Constant tropical growth and overgrowth contributes to messy foregrounds, cluttered backgrounds, and just too much green chaos in every frame. But I’m working on making that confusion more visually pleasing, using light, shadow, and composition.
I hope you enjoy my 2022 collection. Merry Christmas and happy new year!
