Good photos, bad photos (American West 2023 roundup)

In September, 2023 I spent nearly two weeks photographing landscapes in Arizona, New Mexico and Utah. It was, by all accounts, one of my most successful landscape photography trips. Not simply because I returned home with a number of images I'm genuinely happy with (something I occasionally allow myself to feel), but because the trip itself went super smooth. No lost or damaged camera gear, breakdowns, injuries, inclement weather, or any other major issue.

Since returning home, I've spent the last few weeks sorting through hundreds of images, editing, re-editing, then editing again. I went back and forth on some images countless times; struggling to shape and mold their lifeless, gray, raw pixels into the photographs I could see in my mind's eye.

When that phase was finished, I started making prints. I see this as the moment when the proverbial "rubber hits the road", for printing helps expose underlying issues with tonality, contrast, micro-contrast, and sharpness. It was also a chance to live with an image as a tangible, physical object in the real world, which can reveal all manner of things.

I eventually landed on a handful of keepers, which I shared in this video (also embedded below). I also took this opportunity to share one location where things didn't go as well as hoped, and what I learned from that experience.

By the way, I've also published these images to a new portfolio website created using Squarespace, the sponsor of this video. If you need of a website for your own photography, small business, side hustle, or whatever your new thing is, head over to https://squarespace.com/dominey to sign-up for a free trial, then use promo code DOMINEY to save 10% off your first website or domain.