During a bout of spring cleaning, I placed my scale mode 963D next to a scale model U4000 on my bookshelf, positioning it only in a feigned loading position but otherwise not paying much attention to the arrangement on the shelf or what else was on the shelf. When I looked more carefully at the placement, however, I realized that it captured nearly every interest or hobby I have.

As I’ve lost time to follow the construction equipment industry closely, other interests have popped up in its stead — hiking, photography, a passion for mountains. Somehow, representations of those elements all made it onto one shelf. The only symbol missing from this shelf is commercial aviation, an itch I began to scratch not too long after I took this photograph.

With a lack of mountains, construction equipment, and planes in my daily life, I’ve begun to rely more on photography to take my mind off work and the grind. I’m no good at portraits (and rarely get to shoot mountainous landscapes out here), but the “click” of a shutter is to me a soothing sound regardless of subject. On my way to meet friends one evening, I noticed the clouds shaping up for what seemed like it could be a decent sunset. I told my friends I’d be late and headed to the Ravenel Bridge — and joined several other photographers who seemed to have the same inclination.

The sunset itself didn’t turn out to be all that spectacular, obscured by low clouds on the horizon, but it made me ponder my interests and my photography. After all, I can’t shoot the Ravenel every time I want to put a viewfiender to my eye, and I no longer have the access to heavy equipment that I did back in college — so what else is there to photograph on a whim?