The End Is Nigh - let's see your best 6 from 2014

[John 2]

Exactly. Looking forward to making more photos in the future shouldn't prevent us from enjoying photos made in the past. This is one reason I enjoy reviewing master photos made as far back as the invention of the photographic process.

Couldn't agree more Mike and lets not forget inspiration. I wouldn't have re-discovered mono and ventured into natural history but for what has impressed me here and a few weeks ago I posted that I had set my sights on some street photography in the coming year purely because I have enjoyed some of the captured moments posted on the forum.

[Manfred M]

Tough call. I have a lot to choose from, so narrowing things down to six is quite challanging. I think what is most important to me is that in 2014, I made a transition from being mostly a landscape / cityscape photographer and got more into shooting people. I started down this road late last year, but spent a lot of this year honing my technique.

I also continued looking at mini-projects and themes in my work. As always, much of my photography comes from when I'm out travelling. I was generally too busy when at home, with work and stuff around the house taking priority over my hobbies.

These images are in rough chronolgical order:

I started my "Blair Mill Project" in the fall of 2013. Here I was determined to take shot of an interesting site that was about a 6 hour drive from where we live. My daughter was attending school just a couple of km / miles from this site, so I knew I would be able to get to the site perhaps four or five times a year, so this made for very challanging shooting, as I was stuck with whatever weather conditions were happening at the time and also meant I would have to slip away for an hour or so to get the shots. My favourite is probably this winter shot, done during a snow storm. Hardly ideal conditions and as things turned out, it is my favourite shot of the series.





My first really solid attempt at street photography occurred during a photography workshop I attended for a week in San Pedro la Laguna, on Lake Atitlan, Guatamala. I have a lot of shots that I really like, but this is probably my favourite. I was influence by some of the work I saw in some galleries in Antigua, Guatemala and started working on a technique I refer to as "street portraiture", where I concentrate on the person, more so than the setting the person is interacting with. Here I too a shot of a young mother and her son sitting near the local market.







My wife and I celebrated one of those milestone anniversaries this year, so we went away for an extended weekend to the north shore of the St Lawrence River, to the Charlevoix region of Quebec. This is one of my favourite landscape shots from that trip; a view of the Pointe-au-Pic area of the town of La Malbaie, taken from a wonderful little boutique hotel with a great restaurant. If you ever head out that way, I highly recommend the "3 Carnards".






In May I did a short trip with my youngest daughter to Niagara Falls. I always wanted to do a night shoot, when the falls are all lit up by spotlights. Yes, there is a bit of photoshop work here, for sure, to bring out the illumination. This is one of my favourite shots from the trip.







Having recently two months exploring Bhutan, India and Nepal, I would be remiss in not including a couple of shots from that part of the world.

This unusual shot of the Tiger's Nest monastery has got to be my favourite landscape shot of the trip.







And my favourite shot with people is this rather unusual view of an Indian Railways employee sitting in the cab of a shunting engine that is pulling the train we are about to depart on into the New Delhi railway station.

[John 2]

A mighty fine set, John, that displays expertise across a wide variety of styles.

Thanks Mike / Grahame. I'm in good company. There are some stand out images. nos 4 and 5 from Phil (just a good eye), your 1, 3 and 4 for sheer quality, no. 4 from Chris is a perfect study, Trevor's eye for light but especially the hillside and Manfreds Tigers nest are all in the category of "I wish I had taken that". Hence "Inspiration".

[davidedric]

Great images. Way beyond me, so I am just going to sit back and admire.

Dave

[Mike Buckley]

This unusual shot of the Tiger's Nest monastery has got to be my favourite landscape shot of the trip.

I won't be surprised to learn a few years from now that it's your favorite landscape shot of many years. It's that good.

[Wayland]

Our trip to Iceland in the Spring of this year fills four of my slots. As a landscape worker I have never seen such a target rich environment.

It was the scale that made this picture for me. I'd sent Debs into the picture intending to photograph her walking towards the camera but as she stood there, looking up at the falls I knew I had a better picture.



Jökulsárlón is a must see location for Photographers visiting Iceland. The ice constantly shifts around and no two pictures are quite the same. As the waves pick up huge icebergs and throws them around you have to keep your eye on what's coming your way but that just adds to the excitement.



There was a powerful wind blowing spray high into the air, even as high as our position on the cliff tops but that created an atmospheric perspective that adds to this shot for me.



Nearing the end of our trip, this location was a surprise find. Smelly, steamy and everything a geothermal landscape should be in my opinion. Debs once again doing sterling service as a model after losing her glove down a volcanic hole due to a sudden gust of wind.



I've known the River Lune that flows into Morecambe Bay here all my life but this was the first time I had ever seen this lighthouse.

Conditions were not great but somehow suited the mood. Had to evacuate this spot pretty sharpish as the tide turned though.



My favourite shot from a fruitful morning out with my brother Mark, also a photographer, and Debs with her sketchbook.

21 different shots good enough for my website all taken within 25 yards of each other.

[Black Pearl]

Difficult to chose but fun to trawl through LR and look at what I've shot this year.

Random and possibly not my very best shots but here are six that I like personally.

A swan giving me the evils on a day out in Skipton:


From an evening wander along the river at Durham:


My eldest contemplating the world going by on steam train ride through the Yorkshire dales:


My brother-in-laws's band on a shoot I did for them at an old railway yard:


A rock on the Beach at Staithes:


A sunrise on the Solway:


Many of these are opportunity shots from always having one or another camera with me, there's even an iPhone shot in there. I think thats how I enjoy photography the most these days, yes I like a day out specifically to take pictures but just having a camera and being able to record the things around me is what makes my hobby worthwhile.

[Mike Buckley]

Your images are terrific, Gary. Nice to see them again, as I remember most of them. The shot that you mention is from Jökulsárlón seems to be in the ocean on the opposite side of the highway from Jökulsárlón. I've been there three times in a period of about two days and never saw such a large iceberg in the ocean, only at Jökulsárlón.

I love the scale of your photo of Debs at the waterfall, which I'm sure is Skogafoss. I was able to do the same with my wife but was especially fortunate to be able to position her at the bottom of a rainbow.

[Mike Buckley]

Very nice set, Robin! I don't remember seeing the photo of the castle being reflected in the water and it's just magical with the ideal amount of distortion -- not too much and not too little. Love it!

[Black Pearl]

Thanks Mike - thats the iPhone shot

[Black Pearl]

Gary that ice shot is spectacular, an image to be proud of.

[Wayland]

Your images are terrific, Gary. Nice to see them again, as I remember most of them. The shot that you mention is from Jökulsárlón seems to be in the ocean on the opposite side of the highway from Jökulsárlón. I've been there three times in a period of about two days and never saw such a large iceberg in the ocean, only at Jökulsárlón.

I love the scale of your photo of Debs at the waterfall, which I'm sure is Skogafoss. I was able to do the same with my wife but was especially fortunate to be able to position her at the bottom of a rainbow.

Indeed, the best shots I got at Jökulsárlón were on the beach. I think the time of year that we went was perfect for that location. In the Winter the lagoon freezes and little ice makes it to the beach and in the Summer the bergs are smaller and melting faster.

While we were there we saw bergs as big as my van being tossed around by the surf and the biggest problem was trying to isolate the best ones for a good composition.



This is what the view along the foreshore looked like.

The waterfall is indeed Skogafoss. We had very poor light on the day we were there so not much chance of a rainbow for us.

[Simon Garrett]

Really super stuff here!

A few of mine:


Seemed dramatic but peaceful.



Lots of empty space round the edge - but to me that was the point: to isolate the figures within the frame. And each figure apparently doing something different.



"The day the music died". Saw an old rusting piano frame, and the dying daffodil just seemed to go with it.



The British Museum in London. Lots of shapes and angles wherever you look.



Lots of clutter all around, so shooting angle rather constrained (and even then a bit of cloning needed).



Taken in the brewery that makes the finest bitter in the world. Nothing more to say, really.

[dubaiphil]

I chose five. That's not because I'm allowing for the possibility of making another favorite by the end of the year (though that would be great if it happens!). Instead, it's because none of my other photos move me as much as these five.

Great set, Mike

[dubaiphil]

In no particular order:

A fantastic eclectic set, Chris. Baby birth photos have to be in there, but the two street shots are both great in their own way

[dubaiphil]

I suppose these are the six that resonate the most for me. Not necessarily the best because that's subjective.

Fantastic, John - #2 has to be my pick of these - beautiful, clean and composed well (frame within a frame)

[dubaiphil]

Great use of light on 1, 3 and 4, Trevor

[Stagecoach]

Our trip to Iceland in the Spring of this year fills four of my slots. As a landscape worker I have never seen such a target rich environment..

I remember most of those Gary, wonderful.

[Stagecoach]

Difficult to chose but fun to trawl through LR and look at what I've shot this year.

Very versatile set Robin.

[Stagecoach]

Really super stuff here!

A few of mine:

Another good mixture