July 2021 Photography
July 2021 Photography
The month of July had a slow start for this photographer, but I made sure to come back with a vengeance at the end of the month. July started with my family’s annual camping trip for the 4th, but the amount of photography that I wanted to do during that week didn’t happen due to some uninspiring skies and also some crippling allergies. Once that wore off, I got right back into it!
Here are the photography highlights for July!
The Beginnings of my Largest Project
For a few months I’ve been planning and researching for a project that popped into my head one day a while back. It’ll be a long time before the project is finished, but I figured I’ll work on it bit by bit and share progress images.
I started with filling in some of the piece with photos that I’ve already taken in the past, with what I’ve already photographed (post college), this project is currently 15% complete. With that first step in, here is the first tease of my project: A Michigan Mosaic.
This project will take me to new places have haven’t been before in the state, and I can’t wait to see where it’ll take me.
A Revisit to Mt. Pisgah and Lake Macatawa
After a few weeks of little photography activity, I decided to break the fast with a visit to a local site. I went early in the day to the Holland lakeshore to hike the trails of Mt. Pisgah. Earlier in the week I was learning some tricks with my camera tech and I figured out how to use my iPhone as a GPS tagger for my photos, so I was also testing out this feature during my hike. It was good I got there earlier in the day, because apparently it was the Pokémon Go Fest that day, so by the time I left, the beach and trails were swarming with people playing on their phones. Here are the shots I got before the scene got crowded.
Adventures in Berrien County
To end the month, I went down to Berrien County to mark another county off the Mosaic project. A drive down the lakeshore brought us first to Warren Dunes State Park. The beach was heavily populated on that very hot day, so we didn’t stay too long, just long enough to see the sights and capture a couple images to fill in a little more of the lakeshore on the mosaic.
After the quick visit to Warren Dunes, the next stop was the Galien River County Park. This was a neat park in the lower corner of the state that takes you through the woods out to a wetland area filled with Green Arrow Arum plants and fallen dead trees that make for interesting sights along the Galien River.
The last stop of the adventure was a location I had on my to-do list for a few months now. A short way outside of Buchanan is a campground that also contains the only cave in Michigan, named Bear Cave. Even though it is a small cave, there is plenty to see both in at out of the cave, and there is some fascinating history behind the cave as well. It played a part in the Underground Railroad and was also used as a hiding place after a bank robbery that inspired the silent film The Great Train Robbery. It’s a great place to check out if you’re looking for a quick day trip in the West Michigan area.
A Look Ahead to August
The next few weekends are full of photography events for me. I’ll be ending July with the first portrait job I’ve had since COVID shut the world down, then for the first two weekends of August I will be at art shows on the weekends. August 7th will be Holland Art in the Park, and it will be triumphant return as the event was canceled last year. Then the following weekend I will be at the Holland Town Center again. Maybe I’ll sneak in some quick photo outings here and there, but they won’t be full day adventures like I did with Berrien County this month.
Then after the two weekends of art shows, I will be going on my annual extended photography trip. This year, I will be going deep into the Upper Peninsula again, with the plan to focus on the counties along the Michigan-Wisconsin border. While there, I’ll also go a short way into Wisconsin for the first time to photograph in the Bayfield area and explore the Apostle Islands in Lake Superior.
With this trip, I will see some new places in a new (for me) state and knock a few more counties off from my mosaic project. Maybe I’ll also hit a few extra places on my to-do list for the project as well depending on the timing before I have to return to the normal routine. It’s going to be a great adventure this year!
As a last little tide-me-over, here’s a few more random shots that I took throughout July:
Bible Verse Photos for the Month
