Slideshow: 'The Year in Nature Photography 2016'; Marott Nature Preserve

As a journalist, my natural rhythm is to lay back at the end of the year and review the year just past. And, of course, the biggest developments in 2016 were essentially completing my equipment upgrade and signing two book contracts that will keep me committed to the woods for two more years, at least.

However, in my eyes, 2016 was the year I finally got down on Lynda.com and refined my video and audio editing skills. I've dabbled with them a bit here and there, and my students and I spend a month each semester producing short video projects. But for a number of reasons -- i.e. the hands-on is pretty tedious -- I've never really applied myself.

I doubt video will become a staple, but this year I produced three videos on the Natural Bloomington YouTube Channel -- a trail doc, a six-minute natural history slide show and, on New Years Eve, The Natural Bloomington Year in Nature Photography 2016. The natural history show was the early stage of a 20-minute show I presented at the Wylie House Museum on Oct. 20.

Marott Nature Preserve

After dropping my daughter Jessica off at the airport early on the 28th, I did venture to the north side of Indy to frigidly watch the sun rise over Williams Creek in the Marott Nature Preserve. The 84-acre site across the White River from Broad Ripple features some old second growth woods, but I was looking for river shots, and you have to ford Williams Creek to get to it inside the preserve.

There aren't a lot of great images in the woods this time of year, especially when the water is running. But I got a couple decent abstract reflections on the creek and a couple river shots from the Indianapolis Art Center's shore looking north on the preserve.

Happy 2017!

Photographs: Marott Nature Preserve