Back in Ulster County

Perrine’s Bridge, Rifton, New York

I shot this photo of Perrine’s Bridge today, as is tradition when returning to Ulster County.  (And I didn’t fall in the river or get poison sumac!)  It was quite a challenge to get a really nice photo, considering all of the greenery, so I figured I might as well include some of the greenery in the photo.

It’s my first time back here in over 7 months, after 1800+ miles of driving in 3 days.  I guess this means my longest road trip ever is over, and I’ve now driven across the United States 9 times in roughly 6 years.

It was almost a year ago that I decided to take this road trip, after doing lots and lots of events selling prints for a few years.  I wanted to rediscover what makes me tick, and I am still working on that.  I was less motivated to take photos than I expected for the last couple of months.  I feel like ever since I got done visiting Alaska, my 50th state visited, that there was a bit of a “Now what do I do?” feeling.  I have by no means seen ALL that I can see in the United States, even though I’ve visited part of each state.  But the motivation has still been lacking because I feel like I’ve seen and photographed so much of the country in these 6 years.

Thank you to everyone out there who has followed along on the trip, sent nice messages, and made encouraging comments.  And a big public thank you to everyone who opened their homes and lives to me.  It’s amazing how I was able to get around for nearly 7 months while having to pay for so few hotel rooms.  I think I’ve only spent 16 nights in hotel rooms all year.  And I never even had to go to a laundromat because I was always doing laundry at the houses of my kind hosts.  That’s crazy.

I really enjoyed making new friends and seeing old friends, all over the country.  It’s such a special part of how I’ve chosen to live my life.

I have lots to look forward to here in Ulster County.  I will be here for roughly a week this time around, before going to my parents’  farm for in Delaware a while.  But I will be here for much of the time between now and the end of the year.  As I’ve recently noted, I am planning a bit of a shift in the type of photography that I will be doing.  I’m not ready to talk about details yet.  I don’t mean to be a tease, but I want to get my act together before discussing.  If you think I’m doing events, portraits, weddings, etc, no, that’s not it at all!

As always, please stay tuned.