Another Pandemic Year in Review (2021)

It's hard to believe that we are entering our fourth year as full-time residents here in Nova Scotia. As i watch January quickly slip away i thought it might be time to post a Year in Review for 2021 before we get too far into the new year. 

We've had another year coping and adjusting to this new pandemic paradigm. While that may have put a crimp in my over all photographic career path it meant nothing at all for my continued passion with documenting the beautiful surroundings here on the South Shore. Fortunately we need not social distance from Mother Nature. 

While i didn't have nearly enough paying gigs this past year that only left more time for my personal projects focussed on my local beaches and woodlands. These environments never get old for me, mostly because they are constantly in a state of flux, changing their faces from moment to moment. So every outing, even to the most familiar locations, is a fresh experience, providing new and interesting subjects to explore.  

Here are my favorites from the year. Mostly landscapes as this ongoing pandemic still places so many obstacles to human interaction. I really miss photographing people, but the local beaches do provide some solace and i know that eventually we will get back to more public interaction. Mostly i will simply present the images, but a few i will comment on in order to provide some context. Enjoy and please feel free to comment. 

(please click on images for an enlarged gallery view)

In early February i caught wind that a boat had sunk in Lunenburg Harbour. Though i was not at the time attached to any news media group, my photojournalist instincts kicked in nonetheless and i sought access to get some up-close images of the event, just for my own sake. After all, a boat doesn't sink in the harbour ever day. 

I continue to be fascinated by the lines and patterns left behind by the rising and fall of tides. These were all from a single day's outing to Cherry Hill Beach. I find this is the type of images that work best as a group in essay form.  

Yellow Tide. No, this is not a nasty toxic spill, or some joker trying to get rid of old cans of yellow paint. This is a completely natural phenomenon created by spring pollen riding the tides along the shore. I have seen this in previous years to a lesser extent, but this year made quite a show of it. 

I generally post a separate blog post on the spring and summer blooms that grace my backyard every year, but i have greatly underused this page this year. I can only take credit for the photographs though. Some previous occupant of this land was gracious enough to plant an extraordinary variety of flowering plants which flower as various times throughout the year. 

Even in the midst of a pandemic it is difficult to resist the call of music. When the lilting licks of dueling fiddles wandered across the road, like the scent of good home cooking on the warm summer evening air, i could not resist investigating to see what my neighbors were up to. I have to say that poor little Henry, with his head trapped in the "cone of shame" from a recent vet visit, added a fun little musical coincidence to this image by referencing the RCA dog. 

Every now and then one just must make their way into town. These are all from Lunenburg. 

Even in a pandemic you will not keep people from gathering at beaches, especially in the summertime. We have certainly been on a bit of a rollercoaster ride through the different waves and variants. Just when it seems we might be about to return to some sense of normalcy we face another potential lockdown. Fortunately to is easy to maintain social distance on South Shore beaches and enjoy the weather and water with a fair amount of safety.  

Fall colours were pretty vibrant this past year. These are all pretty close to home. The show along the Petite Rivière doesn't demand me to travel far to satisfy my need for autumn's fire. 

All Photos ©David Sorcher 2021

Thanks for looking! I hope everyone has a safe, healthy and productive 2022!