Exploring Nature with My Dogs: A Photography Journey

It’s 29. In November, the sun is low on the horizon. I am a little tired, and my spirits are a little low today. I don´t know exactly what I’m going to do, but the sun is shining, our two dogs are longing to go outside, and my wife is going to church for a concert. I ask myself, “What am I going to do today?” Recognizing these feelings helps me feel more connected to myself, and I hope it encourages you to acknowledge your own mood without judgment. I want to turn my negative spirit into something positive, the opposite of negativity. So how do I do that?

I take myself by the neck, catch my bag, put my DSLR in, put my iPhone in my pocket, and put the dog’s poo bags. And then I am ready to go into the low-light November landscape. What will I catch today?

Out we go

Our two Golden Retrievers walk happily beside me, enjoying the peacefulness of the neighborhood park. I am a little bit concerned about the dog named Fanny, both are 11. years old, but in the last year, Fanny has moved more and more slowly. She has a problem with her hips and back. And she wants to sleep more now than she used to. But, well, we take it easy. And we stroll, soaking in the calm of the surroundings. The dogs are sniffing around, and I’m looking for photomotives. Getting outside with dogs and a camera always lifts my spirits and helps me feel more connected. I feel so much better now.

It’s therapy, looking around with a camera in hand

I look for what I get an impulse to photograph. I look around me and also check inside if something touches me. The first thing on this tour today was unexpected birds. Someone had thrown away some breadcrumbs, and there it was, birds. The dogs also wanted to eat. But I told them to sit, and they did. So I took my DSLR out of the bag, leaned my back against a wall, and was steady enough to capture birds.

Well, I was not happy with any pictures of the birds; they were also too far away, but I can show you one that I have edited in Lightroom.

But the first picture today was this one, a beautiful sky before sunrise.

On our phototrip in our nearby area, I looked around, and my eyes caught this old moss-covered tree, which made me appreciate nature’s resilience. I took several pictures, but ended up with this one. The sun was low, casting a yellow light over the green moss. It was so beautiful, and nature’s beauty deeply moved me. It’s like walking in a gallery with the sky as the roof.

At the end of our trip, we went down to the fjord and enjoyed the sunshine on our faces. It’s not every day that the sun shines so brightly, especially on the nearly last day of November. Here are three pictures of me (a self-portrait) with my dogs.