Post THE 2013 Shot that means the most to you.

[Colin Southern]

Working With Glass:

The photo below was taken at a craft centre, in what were formerly the stables of a country mansion, which I visited during a holiday in Devon back in July. It shows a skilled glass blower, concentrating on rolling a lump of molten glass to make it spherical before blowing. The only lighting was the natural daylight coming through the open stable door behind her.

Its significance for me is that it was chosen by an independent judge as the winning monochrome print in the October competition at the Photography Club of which I am a member. I started this hobby and joined the club in 2011, and this was my first winning image.



Philip

Well done Philip. Glass blowing is something I've always admired. We've got a very talented business not too far from where I live -- I visited their gallery one day and they things they create are just amazing. Generally though, the cost both legs, an arm, and all gold fillings and other jewelry

[Colin Southern]

Well, I suppose this is the image that means the most to me. This was my very first picture taken with my first, brand new DSLR. I stood in line for two hours the night before to buy it on black Friday (not a fan of black Friday, but it was worth it this time). I was excited to create a blurry background and this is what I did for my first shot. I'm still learning a lot about photography, but I will always cherish this image! It's the beginning of my photography journey Because of a suggestion from another member, this little guy now rides around in my camera bag and will have his own set of images

Hi Hope,

Well done. It's Black Friday today - you didn't just get the camera today did you?

[hopeg]

No, the black Friday sales here started on November 29th, which I when I purchased my camera. This was taken the next morning.

[Colin Southern]

No, the black Friday sales here started on November 29th, which I when I purchased my camera. This was taken the next morning.

Wow - you folks sure take Black Friday seriously over there!

[tbob]

The shot that convinced me to process pictures to portray what I felt rather than what the camera "saw" at the time I shot the image. Up until this I was very ginger in my processing and reluctant to do much processing. With this image I went "Dammit this is not how it was" So it was: burn,dodge,saturate colour and whatever it took to get the feel I wanted. A huge jump in my ability to get an image with impact and the first image I ever had someone go "Wow that's amazing" when they saw it



This is what the camera saw

[Colin Southern]

The shot that convinced me to process pictures to portray what I felt rather than what the camera "saw" at the time I shot the image. Up until this I was very ginger in my processing and reluctant to do much processing. With this image I went "Dammit this is not how it was" So it was: burn,dodge,saturate colour and whatever it took to get the feel I wanted. A huge jump in my ability to get an image with impact and the first image I ever had someone go "Wow that's amazing" when they saw it



This is what the camera saw

Well done Bob. Quite some time ago (can't remember when it was) I just started making images I liked -- not concerned about others so much. Never looked back.

By the way, with dramatic clouds like you have, often getting aggressive with the clarity slider really gives them a bite (which can be masked off from the rest of the image if one wants).

[Polar01]

Trevor that is what it is all about, what you see in your mind or feel in your soul as for the rest they can do something maybe knit.

Cheers: Allan

[Snowy55]

I can relate to this a lot Colin. My father built the house I grew up in from timber he milled in his sawmill. This was in the 1950s in country Australia. He also build my grandparents home in the same town. Dad is still going strong at 93 years of age. Mum died 20 years ago. We moved to the city some time ago but I believe the house it still standing. It was in 2012 when we paid a visit. I will think about a photo of mine from 2013 but I doubt it will match yours for nostalgia value.

[Shadowman]

Some people don't like his work, but I feel he's a true master of his craft. Have you got his book "The Moment it Clicks"? I found it very inspiring -- I've taken many images since reading that book that I've liked a lot better.

I first came across this book a few years ago at my public library and have borrowed it frequently since then. I purchased a publication written by him called "Life Guide to Digital Photography" that I keep near me at all times.

[Shadowman]

Well, I suppose this is the image that means the most to me. This was my very first picture taken with my first, brand new DSLR. I stood in line for two hours the night before to buy it on black Friday (not a fan of black Friday, but it was worth it this time). I was excited to create a blurry background and this is what I did for my first shot. I'm still learning a lot about photography, but I will always cherish this image! It's the beginning of my photography journey Because of a suggestion from another member, this little guy now rides around in my camera bag and will have his own set of images

Not only did you tackle depth of field but you jumped right into still life photography. Have fun!

[Shadowman]

Wow - you folks sure take Black Friday seriously over there!

It's a spectator sport for photographers.

[Mike Buckley]

Unfortunately, all too often Black Friday is a contact sport. In those situations, the word, "black," takes on a very different meaning.

[Manfred M]

While not perhaps the most inspiring image, this is one of my favourites taken on my first really successful post-surgery outing. I had major surgery on my foot in August 2012 and was mobility restricted until well into 2013. I tried to get out with the camera several times, but had to break things off because of the associated swelling and pain.

I finally had a very successful outing where I could get out and walk and stand for several hours this past October (over 13 months post-surgery). The trip was really to get out and photograph the fall colours in the Algoma region (where Lake Huron and Lake Superior meet), in Canada. To me this was a major turning point as I knew I could get out and drive, walk, fly on a plane, lug the camera gear around, etc. again. The road ahead was open for me again.

The shot is of a railway bridge connecting the USA and Canada where it crosses the St Mary River, in Sault Ste Marie, Ontario.

[Mike Buckley]

I really like the spirit of this thread and look forward to everyone's contributions.

The year was so wonderful for me in so many ways that it was really difficult settling on just one image that means the most to me. I picked the one below because it symbolizes the single most enduring aspect of my life -- my relationship with my wife.

The photo was captured by her and post-processed by me, which in itself is a reminder that we are life partners in so many ways well beyond our enjoyment of making photos. It was taken during a safari on our trip to South Africa, which was our 30th anniversary vacation and the very best one we've taken in three decades of immeasurably rewarding travel.

Our guide had painstakingly maneuvered the vehicle so the sun would be in the absolutely perfect position that I wanted and I was thrilled with the photo that I got. Doing so positioned the sun differently as shown here from where my wife was sitting and I was even more excited to realize that she got an even better image.

It's especially fitting that I'm posting this product of our partnership today. We met on this date 32 years ago. It is her birthday. Tomorrow is mine. I don't know if it's required for the stars to be aligned to be able to meet our soul mate. I only know that if it is required, they were certainly aligned perfectly that day.

[conkerwood]

My wife and I live on the Queensland Coast Australia. Every year we have 17000 southern humpback whales swimming north along our coast and then south again a couple of months later. We are so lucky to be able to spend 6 months of the year going out once or twice a week to watch and photograph these amazing gentle creatures. We love them. And a couple of years ago we had reached the pinnacle of whale watching on our coast as we spend 5 hours Watching Migaloo, the only verified albino humpback whale in the world. But for all that there was one thing we had never seen, bubble net feeding. Bubble net feeding is where a pod of whales swim below a school of fish and blow bubbles to trap the fish and than at a signal from the lead whale the come charging to the surface, mouth open gulping in as many fish as they can. We had never seen this because the migrating humpbacks rarely feed while they are in our area. So this year we travelled through the Canadian Rockies and then took a cruise of the Inside Passage of Alaska. We hoped to see whales and bubble net feeding was a possibility but the odds were small because only 10% of Northern Humpbacks actually know how to do it. So we got to Juneaux, Alaska and we took a 60 mile boat trip in the expectation of maybe seeing a whale, when it happened. 45 minutes of bubble net feeding within a couple of hundred metres of the boat. And then this shot. If you look closely you can see a herring in the water that got away and inside the water in its mouth, a one that didn't. I have taken better shots by far, but for me this was the one that meant the most.
Hope you like it because I certainly do.

Thanks for looking.

Peter

[Donald]

I thought it might be too hard to contribute to this thread, but .....!

During 2013 our lives were turned on their head when my partner of 30 years and wife of a few weeks was diagnosed with ovarian cancer. One of the consequences was that we had to cancel our arrangements for a holiday/vacation in France.

In trying to plan an alternative in Scotland to work around when we thought treatment would start, we booked up a couple of weeks in two separate holiday cottages here in Scotland. As it turned out, we then had to cancel the second of these when we got the appointment for Sheila to go for the major surgery that was the start of the treatment programme.

So, the week before she went into hospital we spent in the Strathspey area of Scotland, within the Cairngorms National Park. A place I know well, have travelled through often, but never really stayed there for more than a day. It was great and I found places I had never been to before. One of those is the Abernethy Forest, which is one of the very few places where the ancient Caledonian Pine Forest that once covered all of Scotland, can still be found.

I hope I'm forgiven for posting two images. They go hand-in-hand.

One is taken in the Abernethy Forest. It captures, for me, everything about that week we managed to have together.

Sheila's now into week 6 of the 18-week chemotherapy programme.

The other is of the said Sheila in the environment she loves best - with her dog, old clothes, in the countryside (taken just along the track from the cottage in which we were staying). Only a snapshot, but an important one.

[conkerwood]

I thought it might be too hard to contribute to this thread, but .....!

During 2013 our lives were turned on their head when my partner of 30 years and wife of a few weeks was diagnosed with ovarian cancer. One of the consequences was that we had to cancel our arrangements for a holiday/vacation in France.

In trying to plan an alternative in Scotland to work around when we thought treatment would start, we booked up a couple of weeks in two separate holiday cottages here in Scotland. As it turned out, we then had to cancel the second of these when we got the appointment for Sheila to go for the major surgery that was the start of the treatment programme.

So, the week before she went into hospital we spent in the Strathspey area of Scotland, within the Cairngorms National Park. A place I know well, have travelled through often, but never really stayed there for more than a day. It was great and I found places I had never been to before. One of those is the Abernethy Forest, which is one of the very few places where the ancient Caledonian Pine Forest that once covered all of Scotland, can still be found.

I hope I'm forgiven for posting two images.

One is taken in the Abernethy Forest. It captures, for me, everything about that week we managed to have together.

Sheila's now into week 6 of the 18-week chemotherapy programme.

Te other is of the said Sheila in the environment she loves best - with her dog, old clothes, in the countryside. Only a snapshot, but an important one.

Only a snapshot. Yeah I suppose, there is something blurring part of the image and somebody might quibble about the depth of field etc etc. But the eyes!! The eyes are just beautiful. As a card carrying member of the soppy romantics club that has to be one of the most loving photographs I have seen in a long long time. Its how I feel about my wife. Thank you for sharing the pics. I hope it all works out.

Peter

[Downrigger]

Only a snapshot, but an important one.

First - we must all be touched by your heartful contribution - and know it as a gift from you, to all of us. Second, I don't know how the "snapshot" could be improved with a tripod and lighting accutrements, and gynormous megapixels, and the finest of big pieces of glass. It is simply beautiful. For what it means to say, it is perfect; what more can an image strive for? We will all hold in our heart that Sheila will triumph - anyone who loves her old clothes and dog time best has what it takes and deserves the most wonderful...

[tbob]

Donald; The most vital aspect of photography is the successful attainment of the photographers intent to say to the viewer "Look at this thing (or person) I love and feel the way I felt" These are VERY successful photos

[NorthernFocus]

Awesome, Donald. I hope things go well with your bride's treatment.