365 days of Steemit

Hey Steemies!

Today marks my first steemitversary...Yes it's been a year already, time flies when your having fun! Today I have for you a collection of some of my favorite moments or photos I have taken for you over the last year and how Steemit impacted my life. I warn you, they are not in order of importance or date, my brain is all over the place, so is my content sometimes. 😆

How did I get started on steemit? I like a few steam games and I was looking for their website and misspelled it by mistake because I'm french. I saw Steemit and was like...Hey what's this? After checking things out I decided I wanted in on this. I thought to myself...When was the last time I did any writting? The answer to that is probably in high school, I'm am now 34...been a while. 😬 On the other hand, I wanted to share my photography with others outside my facebook page and start getting out there. I've always been shy about my photos since I don't retouch them like many do these days.

Taken in my October trip to Canmore Alberta, Driving up a sketchy road carved in avalanche debris on a mountain. We got a taste of what commitment was about, no way to get off the road untill you reach the end, when looking outside the truck window, we couldn't even see the ground or the edge, just the stunning heart stopping view of the town of Canmore from aproximatly 6000 feet.

I started off just posting my photos and entering various challenges since I was often the only up-vote on my post for a few months, I suppose they were confidence building experiences. Maybe I hadn't been around long enough for anyone to know who the hell I am, maybe it was just bad? either way, It wasn't working for me and I had to find another way. Turns out the people of Steemit like to read and things got better from there! It was depressing at times to write for 3 hours totally outside my comfort zone for a handful of up-votes. If you are just starting out and going thru this, it eventually gets better as you grow. Like the wise @handofzara used to tell me, penny by penny! So true. Regardless of wanting to ditch the idea of blogging, maybe it wasn't my thing, I adopted a new mindset, yes it would be nice to make a little side cash but at the end of the day, new experiences are an opportunity for growth.

The first time I used my new macro lens I got last August, I was practicing on the butterfly and a bee decided to photobomb. Lets say Bee-bomb was a happy accident.

Now with the new mindset, I continued my journey but instead of trying to come up with something to say everyday(I have to admit it was draining and made Steemit appear like a daily chore) I decided to just post when I have something to say. I supposed that way I can detach myself from the outcome of my posts if it becomes another cricketfest, now it's more about sharing the moments that marks my memory or the story behind my images the way I experienced them to whom ever willing to take a look. Hey! If I ever get senile or suffer from memory loss, some of my favorite memories will be forever recorded on the blockchain like my brain's external hard-drive.

Speaking of experiences, the Buffalo who came charging at me at Elk Island, turns out a guy got gored in the same area a few hours earlier. I guess I was the lucky one! Go looking for trouble and sometimes trouble finds you.

Obviously I'm still not a Steemit star nor will I ever be but in the meantime I'm having fun exploring what my beautiful province has to offer both cultural and natural aspects of my surroundings and gaining/learning new skills ( by that I mean blogging) For a few years, I stopped taking pictures, at least not very often, because they were just a bunch of images on a screen that never got passed my Facebook account. Almost like photography had lost it's meaning, my interest was fading. Steemit brought it back to life. I have to admit, working the shutdown life in the oil and energy industry, there is no life when we go to work especially in a northern work camp, it's easy to become so disconnected from our true selves sometimes you kinda forget how to live life.

Ok , not taken within the last year but one of my favorite concert picture, when @silvergingerman and I go to concerts, we share his iphone for pictures so we both claim ownership of our concert pics. This one is from the last of 3 times I went to see Iron Maiden. Since I've seen the show so many times, I could plan when the crazy pyro would be during "Number of the beast", we eventually made it all the way to the front. 😝

Steemit has also helped me make personal realizations. At work, every few months I'm getting to know new people, just the name of the game. Of course the conversation goes like, What do you do for fun? Since I don't drink or go to bars, I can't go anywhere around stray food because of my severe soybean allergy, I can't eat out and enjoy the latest gourmet restaurant or festival...my answer was always like: Well I like reading, photography, hiking, going to concerts. I couldn't help but think BOOOORRRING! As my memories flash on my screen and remember the story or events that led me to each picture and write about my experiences, it's helped recognize that maybe I'm not into what most folks my age tend to like but my life is far from boring. Between concerts, road-trips and wildlife encounters and everything else in between, I have accumulated a wealth of knowledge about the places I visit or the animals I immortalize in my images and many wild experiences to talk about.

Taken in Cochrane Alberta at the Yamnuska Wolf
Sanctuary, where I got locked in a pen with a pack
of wolfs and even got to touch this guy, Zeus 😍

Since being on Steemit, I have learned to elaborate on those hobbies of mine in the work conversations and now it doesn't sound as nerdy as it once did. Maybe it's just my own perception, who knows. The overall growth experience from Steemit has gone beyond my photography and extended to different parts of my life and self discovery than I could ever imagine, as a bonus writing in english is getting easier. My posts may be hit and miss on $$ value but the experience and the pandora's box it opened up in my life journey is priceless and I certainly look forward to what the next Steemit year has in store for me. I never realized how therapeutic writing could be!

Taken last summer during a monster thunderstorm. I was in Edmonton's downtown when the storm just showed up out of nowhere, I am petrified of lightning because they seem to like me but I loved the dramatic effect the wind and water had on the flowers, I stuck around a while regardless.

I'm not sure what this summer has in store for me, I'm not a planner. I delayed my exam a few weeks but I plan on taking another road-trip to the Rockies right after my test along with a few random camping trips and day trips, something to be excited about. I still have too many destinations to narrow it down to where I want to go yet, so much land for me to explore! I want to visit more things around my city as well, every corner of the downtown area are always so full of life in the summer both day and night filled with different festivals every week. Time to make more memories to reflect on in 365 days or my second steemitversary!

Sunset over the Endless Chain, along the Icefield Parkway linking Jasper to the Columbia Icefields.

During our "All things Canadian" New Year getaway, taken during the super moon when it was 30% brighter than normal.

Athabasca Falls, Alberta, one of my favorite place to be.

All images except the concert picture were taken with Nikon D7000 with various Nikkor and sigma lenses.

Cheers!! X🐞X