My Best Nature Scenes from 2022

A couple years ago, I started a new tradition for myself – compiling my favorite nature photos and video clips from the year before and setting them to a catchy piece of music. I take so many pictures all year long that I sometimes forget the special moments that caught my eye months before.

I added a lot of new photos to my nature gallery in 2022, many of them taken in my own backyard – my absolute favorite place to stalk wildlife. Looking back through all those snapshots of time spent in nature is a rewarding exercise in gratitude. But it is also an intensely fun way to geek out on the computer.

I like using Wondershare’s Filmora Video Editor to create and edit my nature montages. It’s a very robust program with a lot of cool features like key framing and motion tracking. I’ve really only scratched the surface of all it has to offer, which is reflected in my work. 😊 The finished piece may be about the pictures, but my creative process starts with the music.

I typically sample 60-70 different tracks on Adobe Stock before finding a piece of music that resonates with me. Sometimes I like a harder driving beat, other times I want a softer uplifting rhythm… I really don’t know what direction I want to go until I listen to the first song.

Once I’ve chosen all the pieces, the process of weaving the photos and music together begins. I spend hours splitting, syncing, adding effects and rendering files to create my videos. Truth be told, I love the whole process! I enjoy it as much as I do watching the finished version.

While I was putting the latest Best of video together, I asked myself why I even make them. They aren’t really marketing campaigns. I don’t earn any money with them. They never even get much traction with the public. It has to be more than just an exercise in gratitude, right? Am I doing it to prove something to myself? That I don’t need others to validate my photography to feel personally happy about it? Maybe… because that’s how I did feel when I finished the Best of 2022.

I know I’ll likely still get the occasional twinge of impostor syndrome from time to time, but these days I feel a lot less anxious about finishing a project and releasing it into the wild. Making art is a personal experience. It gives me the freedom to creatively express the feelings I can’t articulate. This is my art; I’m happy with it. If you like it too, that’s cool. If you don’t, that’s also cool.