2022 was a big year for me, photography-wise. In this post, I am going to recap some of my major photography moments and accomplishments this year.
This year, I joined Saratoga Arts for the first time, and participated in two exhibits. The first, shown above, was my own solo exhibit at Clifton Park-Halfmoon Public Library as part of the Art in Public Places program. I exhibited five photos showcasing Saratoga County and five featuring the retired thoroughbreds I help care for at Old Friends at Cabin Creek in Greenfield, NY. Click here to read more about the exhibit.
The second exhibit, shown below, was the annual Members’ Show, which is still going on through January 7. I am exhibiting an illustration I made depicting three of the residents at Old Friends at Cabin Creek. I am happy to say the print sold, and I am donating my profit to the farm.
In April I traveled to Arizona, where I took over 1000 photos. I started in Wickenburg, where I stayed at Rancho de los Caballeros and enjoyed photographing hundreds of horses and taking a trail ride, then I went through Prescott and visited the Sharlot Hall Museum, then spent some time in Sedona before ending up in Scottsdale area. Click here to read my previous Arizona posts.
In June, I made the big switch from DSLR to mirrorless. After years of waiting, I decided to sell my DSLR gear while it still had some value. While I still use some of my old DSLR lenses with an adapter, I no longer own a DSLR camera body. While I was perfectly happy with my DSLR system and only made the switch because I know DSLRs will be extinct in a few years, there are some benefits to mirrorless I am enjoying, which I will outline in a future post. Above is a “portrait” of my new gear (with the old gear I still use mixed in). Click here to read more about my gear. In a future post I will take you on a tour through each camera and lens!
In July, the Children’s Museum at Saratoga reopened at its new location inside the Lincoln Baths, within Saratoga Spa State Park. Prior to the museum’s reopening, I was contacted by designed Peter Hyde about using two of my photos as exhibit backdrops. Seeing my photos as 10-foot hight backdrops was incredibly thrilling. My photo of Broadway is part of the bus exhibit, and my photo of Saratoga Lake is part of the pond exhibit.
In July I went to Washington State, where I again took over 1000 photos. While I didn’t get to photograph any horses, the trip allowed me to experience, rainforests, lakes, and mountains with my new mirrorless equipment. Click here to read my first post about my trip to Washington.
During the summer I photographed the Saratoga Race Course meet for Saratoga Living Magazine, alongside my friend Alex Zhang. Getting to experience the thrills of racing from so many different vantage points was exhilarating. My proudest moment came when my friends’ (including Alex) filly Vallelujah (owned by East Ave. Racing Stable and Sisu Racing Stable) won an allowance race for trainer Robbie Davis with his daughter Jackie onboard. I was able to capture the winning moment from the infield (see spread below) and share in the partners’ joy in the winner’s circle as they celebrated both Val’s and Jackie’s first win at Saratoga. The moment was cited by some as one of the top moments of the 2022 meet. I am now a partner in East Ave. Racing Stable with a soon-to-be 2-year-old filly named Mary Union Ave, who is Val’s half sister. Below is my portion of the spread done in the magazine with Alex’s and my photos. Click here to read my posts about the track.
In October, I took a helicopter ride over Saratoga with my friend JoAnn, who owns Old Friends at Cabin Creek. I booked with Independent Helicopters, who I had used before to do a summer ride over Saratoga, and once again, they did not disappoint. This ride gave me nearly 400 photos to add to my portfolio, and we timed it perfectly so that the foliage was just about at peak. I didn’t think I could top my summer helicopter ride, but boy, did I. Click here to read my post about my helicopter ride.
2022 was also the year I visited several breeding farms in Saratoga. I made many trips to Mahoney Eden Manor, run by the ever so friendly Britt Wadsworth and Sean Mahoney. Britt and Sean were so gracious to let me come over at a moment’s notice to photograph the mares and foals if the lighting was just right or the weather was gorgeous. Click here to read my posts about my visits to Mahoney Eden Manor. I visited Old Tavern Farm twice, once in the summer as part of NYRA’s Breakfast and Breeding Farm Tour and then again in the fall. Click here to read my posts about Old Tavern Farm. I visited Sugar Plum Farm in early summer with my fellow Cabin Creek volunteers on a private tour. Click here to read my post about that visit.
As per usual, I spent a lot of time at Old Friends this year, and I took over 2000 photos while I was there. In the summer I began selling my photos and illustrations at the farm. We got two new horses this year, so that allowed for many photo opportunities. Click here to read my previous Old Friends at Cabin Creek Posts.
In the fall, I made a gallery wall in my hallway of photos I took of thoroughbreds at all stages of life. All of the photos were taken in the Saratoga area. In a future post, I will talk about each photo and why I chose it.
In November, I went to the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame to see my photo on display in the Photo Finish juried exhibition for the third year in a row. The photo I selected to submit this year was one I took last summer of jockey Ricardo Santana, Jr. celebrating his win of the Grade I Jockey Club Gold Cup at Saratoga onboard Max Player. I have donated the photo to be a silent auction item at the museum’s “Countdown to the Triple Crown” event in February. I will also be donating a commissioned digital illustration. If you win, I will draw your horse for you and give you an 8×10 print of the illustration!
My photo of downtown Glens Falls is currently seen on the cover of Capital Region Living Magazine, Saratoga Living’s sister magazine. Inside the issue, I and several other local photographers share our favorite winter photos.
I recently made this illustration which showcases most of my photography highlights from this year as well as a few others.
Still to come is my post featuring my 50 best photos from the year. It’s always a tradition that I wait until January 1 to publish the post, because my best photo may be yet to come in the next few days!
To see more of my photography be sure to follow me on Instagram and Facebook. To see more of my Saratoga illustrations, follow @togadoodles and @sddoodles on Instagram. All photos and illustrations in this post © Samantha Decker and may not be reused without permission.
Liked this post? Subscribe by email below to receive future posts!
One thought on “My Top Photography Moments and Accomplishments in 2022”
Comments are closed.
Very interesting and beautiful!