Well, I hope he doesn’t kill me….but this is my Dad. Last year, we took a little fishing trip in the Fall up to one of his top Lake fishing places, Delaney Buttes (Walden area). If you are “in the know” in the fishing world (here in Colorado anyway), you have probably heard of this place. Anyway, while I enjoyed the time with my Dad and fishing myself (which doesn’t happen as often as I would like!), I was really also interested in pushing some of my photojournalism skills a bit more, and trying to tell my Dad’s story and love for fishing a bit. (At one point he was like, “haven’t you taken enough photos yet!?” lol)
Now, I know all you Anglers out there are looking for the big ol’ fish in these photos too…but unfortunately, we had a REALLY dead couple of days on the water (check out the stillness on the lake in some of those shots!), and where my Dad usually pulls ginormous fish out of this water, we got nada. A few little guys…and that was it. So, of course he was mad we weren’t catching anything….and I was happily in the water, throwing out a line, and snapping photos…and sipping on the occasional Coors Light of course.
I am a Colorado Native, my Dad is as well, and grew up fishing the Poudre Canyon and pretty much every Lake and fishing area in Colorado that you can think of. I am pretty sure that my Grandpa was part of actually Paving the Poudre Canyon (he was a cement truck driver)…I’ll have to 100% confirm that….but something to that effect! So, to say that Fishing is a part of my Dad’s life is kinda the understatement of the world. Fishing is life for my Dad.
I feel like you need documentation of yourself doing the things you love. We take photos WITH the people we love, and during trips and holidays and all the “normal” photo occasions….but what about just being YOU- doing your hobbies, and the the thing that makes up such a big part of who you are? If your passion happens to be your career, you get lucky enough to put an emphasis on this, because in our Media driven society— you need “headshots”, and branding material. What if it’s not your career though? You need to have those stories to be passed on through the next generations in your family! When I am old and no longer able to do some of the hobbies and activities I have enjoyed my whole life…I hope to sit and look back through photos, and be able to tell my story to my grand Children and great grandchildren! The power of aging has really hit my hard lately too. I realize that I am not “old” yet by any means…but, passing onto another generation of my life now….has me a bit quelled up for sure. I mean, I’m probably in the early stages of my mid-life crisis…but it’s kinda crazy! The notion of time, and how we truly never get it back…has hit me hard lately. So, I am trying to live my best life- take in the moments with my family, take lots of photos, and appreciate what I have! I guess the whole point to his conversation is a bit of rambling…but also just appreciating the fact that I now have some photos of my Dad in his element….doing something that makes up such a huge part of who he is…and that is something I would forever regret if I never took the time to do this with him.
Photographically speaking, I hope to soon be doing more of this kind of work in general, so I always welcome practice and experience when I can get it! I was also playing with a bit different editing style in some of these too…it’s nice to have the option when it’s just personal work! ;)
So there you have it- my story to a few days fishing out on the Colorado Water! Thanks Dad! On to photographing the rest of my family……lol….
