PERSONAL UPDATES
EXPEDITION 2024
2023 IS OVER, AND IT WAS ONE HELL OF A YEAR FOR ME. I VISITED 12 COUNTRIES & HAD FUN EXPLORING A NEW PHOTOGRAPHY MEDIUM FOR ME, FILM PHOTOGRAPHY.
Like many people, I usually spend the new year looking back on what goals I achieved or even the ones I didn’t. 2023 started off as one of the hardest times of my life, feeling like everything was constantly falling down around me, but it ended up being one of the most jam-packed years of exploration & adventure ever. For 2024 I want to really push myself out of my comfort zone and experiment with as many things as possible. This is Expedition 2024.
Zeb Zakovics
Author
Life Is A Journey, Make It An Expedition
Why is the theme for this year Expedition 2024? Life is about exploring, finding new places and seeing the world before our time to do so is over, the world isn’t coming to you. For 2024 I’m going to be exploring new countries, continents & places I’ve never been before, capturing meaningful moments on camera all the way. When you look back on what you did throughout 2023, what were you planning on doing that you never got round to? Taking a road trip? Visiting a friend far away? Travelling to another country on the other side of the world? Whatever it might be it’s not too late to go, just because it’s now 2024 doesn’t mean you failed.
I’ve recently acquired a pocket notebook, a field notes style book, to document goals, journeys, trips, life moments and everything in-between. I don’t know how I’m going to start it, or what I’m going to write first to be perfectly honest, but the point is that I’m giving it a go. Bringing it back to analog, pen & paper rather than a note in my phone will hopefully help my mental clarity and help me focus on making the most of my time this year.
Twice Around & Back Again
50,209 miles. That’s how far I travelled for the whole of 2023 for both work and pleasure, that’s twice around the world, which is mad considering that this year I stayed completely in Europe. I travelled to 12 countries, 240 towns/cities & 739 recognised locations, some mad statistics for me as I’ve never travelled that much in a 12-month timespan in my life.
It’s been a journey of discovery and love for different cultures around Europe, being so easily in reach of one another with 2 – 4 hour flights almost anywhere. I’ve captured images from all of these countries on both 35mm film and my digital Sony A7III but still feel like the majority of my images are never personal enough. There’s beauty in the spontaneous moments in life with friends and family that are much harder to capture, so for 2024 I aim to capture more personal moments in my life I can look back on for years to come.
Continuing With 35mm Film
In mid 2023 I bought my first 35mm film camera, the Canon AE-1 to dip my toe as a beginner into the world of film photography and see if it had a different feeling opposed to digital photography. It’s something I have subsequently fallen in love with and adore the effects and craftsmanship that goes into capturing film photos. 2024 is no different, in fact, I’m turning it up to eleven and focusing on capturing as many moments as possible on film. For this I have bolstered my camera line-up to accommodate the need for faster-impromptu captures on the go.
The newest cameras in my collection are 3 point-and-shoots, a Nikon L35AD2 with currently a non-working flash, a Nikon Lite Touch Zoom 70W & Canon Sure Shot Supreme. For my first runs with these cameras in 2024 I will be taking them up into the snowy mountains of Tignes in France to capture moments snowboarding in February. I will probably run a few test rolls to double check the cameras are up to the challenge, but I’m primarily looking at shooting Kodak Vision3 250D, Fuji Eterna 250D & for the first time ever, some fresh stock of Kodak Gold 200.
Start Documenting Life
I’m going to make 2024 the year I start documenting my life and personal experiences. So much of the time I’m the one behind the lens and afraid to show my face, get involved in something, create a video with myself in it. The only thing we truly own is moments in time, we can’t take any of our possessions with us when we die, so it’s up to us to stay healthy, keep exploring, continue learning, leaving our comfort zones for something unknown. Make 2024 that year for you too. Have fun on your own expedition.