This Week at the Lake – 52/52

Well, here we are. The final installment of this 52 week project. I’m going for a little bit of symbolism in the lead shot as I’m watching the sun set on this project. I also started the project with a sunrise, so I wanted to end with a sunset.

Radnor Lake is actually a pretty tough place to catch a sunset. There really are no good angles. I had three chances to get a shot of one this week, starting on Monday which was a complete rain out. My second chance came on Tuesday, so I parked at the east parking lot ad tried to capture it from Otter Creek Road:

This sunset was really amazing. And while I liked how this shot turns out, it doesn’t show most of the color that was there. The sun is actually setting off camera left, behind the hills. What you see at the end of the lake is actually the edge of it.

So my next opportunity came Thursday evening. I decided this time to shoot from the trail that directly faces the sunset. I wasn’t sure how I was going to compose it with all the trees, path, fence, etc. I decided to use the fence in the composition and to put myself in the photo. The result is the lead shot.

A couple others from the final week:

And that’s it for the week and the year! Thanks to everyone who viewed, commented, liked, or supported this effort. It’s been a lot of fun and I feel like I’ve come a long way as a photographer. Have a look at the first few weeks and see if you think I’ve improved. Constantly shooting will help you do that.

If you are a photographer and are thinking about a year long project, weather a 52 or a 365, I highly recommend it. Don’t make too many rules though! It has to be fun for you, it has to be something you want to do. I had to get up at 4:45 in the morning each time I wanted to get to the lake for a sunrise or for early morning shooting. Because of my wife’s work schedule and my son’s school schedule I was able to do this only about once a week, but I actually looked forward to that day. I never once viewed this project as a chore, or wished I hadn’t committed myself by starting this blog or posting on flickr.

Don’t think for a minute that now that this is over I’ll stop going to the lake! Radnor Lake is an amazing place (really early in the morning when there aren’t too many people there ) Abundant wildlife and beautiful views. There is ALWAYS something to shoot at Radnor. If you’ve never been, I highly recommend you check it out.

I have some other ideas in the works for other projects, Subscribe to this blog you will receive an email every time I post something new! Or, become a fan on Facebook.

All of the “This Week at the Lake” photos are available for purchase as fine art prints and a portion of the proceeds will be donated to the Friends of Radnor Lake! Send me an email for more info (m_macgregor@comcast.net)

Thanks!