Solomon’s Island, Gander RV

The RV named “The Black Cowboy”

I got the opportunity to travel to Solomon’s Island in the summer of 2021. It was an amazing experience that I am still grateful for. This experience allowed me to take my photography to a different level. We were surrounded by nature and isolated with some other families so there was lots of subjects to capture. Anytime where a photographer finds themselves in an environment where there are limited to no distractions is an opportunity to get better. There were no excuses to not take photos and this was a chance to dig deeper to discover who I was a photographer.

One thing I remember was appreciating how quiet it was. There wasn’t much to do and I loved that. It was a time to sit back and enjoy the stillness of nature. There are many times I feel that life consumes my attention and it can be difficult at times to enjoy the smaller things. I got to soak up the scenery by bike riding, walking on trials and I even picked some wild berries and raspberries. It’s one thing to visit a location, take pictures and leave. However, as a photographer I believe that there are situations where I need to fully immerse myself in an environment to become as creative as possible. I tied a deeper connection with the photos I captured and it made the process more memorable. Now when I look at these photos I can think back and feel the warm weather and hear the sounds of the trees swaying back and forth. I get to feel what I felt during this trip for a moment.

I don’t know when but I definitely want to go on another road trip somewhere and do something like this again. I think I could’ve got more photos and honestly taken better pictures, but I learned a lot. I’m upset I didn’t get any more images of the surrounding areas or even the berries I picked. It was my first time doing something like this and I got to learn from my mistakes. I want to use all of the knowledge I’ve gained since traveling here and apply it to another opportunity similar to this one.