The image from 2015 that means the most to me

[Donald]

At the end of 2014 one of our colleagues here on CiC invited members to post up the image from that year that meant the most to them. Let's do it again for 2015.

It doesn't mean it has to be your 'best' image (although it might be). Instead, it's the image that, for whatever reason, means the most to you. You can explain the story behind it if you wish, or just put up the image.

Let's see what we get.

[robertmpoole]

Sorry if I'm getting boring going on about my son but this is the picture that means the most to me.

Delivery by Robert Michael Poole, on Flickr

[tclune]

I'd have to choose this one of walking with my grandson at a Maryland state park:

[Donald]

For me there is only one image that can fit here. On 15th May this year I was in Assynt in the north-west of Scotland. I was taken out in a RIB (Rigid Inflatable Boat) onto The Minch, the stretch of water that separates the mainland from the Western Isles. There, at her own request, I scattered the ashes of my wife who had died on 31st December 2014.

24 hours later I stood on the headland at Stoer Lighthouse and looked out to sea to the spot where I had scattered the ashes. This is my image of that view and is my memorial to Sheila, my partner of 31 years.

I've named this image 'Her Final Destination'

[robertmpoole]

For me there is only one image that can fit here. On 15th May this year I was in Assynt in the north-west of Scotland. I was taken out in a RIB (Rigid Inflatable Boat) onto The Minch, the stretch of water that separates the mainland from the Western Isles. There, at her own request, I scattered the ashes of my wife who had died on 31st December 2014.

24 hours later I stood on the headland at Stoer Lighthouse and looked out to sea to the spot where I had scattered the ashes. This my image of that view and is my memorial to Sheila, my partner of 31 years.

I've named this image 'Her Final Destination'

Donald, a touching memorial.

[Adzman808]

Trying Mummy's Breakfast by Adam, on Flickr

This one!

Best shot of 2015? Probably not.

A special moment with my OH and our daughter? Well yes, but not one I don't see all the time

No this is the shot when I realised that things like the moment, the emotion and the impact, in short the mood meant everything to me, and everything else is somewhat secondary...

That's why this is deliberately left as it is, a bit too dark, rather needing a crop, desperately seeking highlight recovery

It's completely a SOOC jpeg.

And I wouldn't have it any other way, warts and all - just like life!

[barrydoig]

That was a tall order considering that i have made 15500 images this year. But this is probably my most evocative one. It has a bit of mood, nostalgia and mystery about it.

[Donald]

That is beautiful. I love it.

[pat3pee]

Recovering from a Stroke, I have spent over 3 months in a Rehabilitation Center in Loutraki (Greece). Having my camera gear brought to me I raced around in my wheelchair within the building photographing all and everything, which helped my psychological state and a quicker recovery ( just back home these days).
From the veranda you could view the most beautiful cloud formations and sunsets over the Peloponnese mountains. Here a few......















and with the nice and professional therapists and all the staff I left with very positive memories, yet still some way to go before I am back to some sort of normal life.

Cheers/Patrik

[Black Pearl]

On holiday this year in France the youngest (six at the time) pipes up for the very first time that he would love a camera. I've been trying to get both the boys interested but have so far failed, so we used some of his holiday money, this way he will appreciate the cost and (hopefully) look after it more and added some of our own to get him something nice. Very few camera shops where we were but found a Canon Ixus with a decent lens, good processor and its the right size for little hands.

This is his first time using it and a very proud moment for a photography mad daddy...



Over the next week and a bit he took about 400 shots and is still taking it out with him a few months on. It is fascinating watching what he takes pictures of. There is none of the formal shots with perfect composition, level horizons, careful exposures etc - he just see's stuff he likes and goes about getting a shot that he likes. He doesn't just take one either, there's a spark there somewhere as he takes one, looks at it then takes another and another until he's happy. I'm not telling him what to do at this stage, just letting him figure stuff out for himself, be creative and hopefully learn how to get shots he likes.

[Thlayle]

Blazing Star:

Not my best for sure, but this one shows two very meaningful things for me in 2015. First: cell phone photography, something I never regarded seriously before but now am finding quite a bit of use for (partly due to that bit about the best camera you have is the one in your hand at the time). Second, this comes from a cross-country trip after a summer of reunion with all of our grandchildren in Michigan.

[Ndukes]

Elektra says goodbye and thank you

This is the story of my brief encounter with a young Grey Seal which we discovered washed up on one of our local beaches roughly three months ago. The tiny creature was only weeks old and clearly undernourished and she also had an infection.
'Seal Rescue Ireland' is based in my local town and a photograph sent to them from my iPhone determined that the tiny creature was in dire need of assistance. So, with the help of one of their volunteers, we carried the seal and got her to their rescue centre where she was nursed and nurtured over the following two months. They named her Elektra.
Two months later I got a phone call from the centre to let me know that she was now in great condition and ready to be released back into the sea. I was given the honour of releasing her from her cage and got this quick photo of her just about to enter the water. She paused and turned momentarily as if to say 'thank you'.



Seal Rescue Ireland (http://www.sealrescueireland.org/) is a charity organisation staffed almost entirely by volunteers and dependent entirely on charitable donations. Their dedication and compassion for these wonderful creatures as well as otters and a variety of birds and other creatures is truly an inspiration.

[Donald]

Elektra says goodbye and thank you

God, I'm far too emotional!

[Ndukes]

God, I'm far too emotional!

I never envy people with no feelings. It's hard not to be touched by these amazing creatures, especially when they look straight at you with those big eyes.

[shutterthug]

I have been a member here for close to a year, haven't posted much mostly just reading and absorbing, this isn't my best technically but it is my favorite shot of the year.

My grandmother and my granddaughter sharing a moment on Christmas eve.

[Shadowman]

2015 was a year of experimentation (photographically) for me, at times I got closer to my subject, had the opportunity to shoot sports photography, a lot more night photography, and this image taken in 4 degrees Fahrenheit temperatures with a 20 mph wind chill while standing near Niagara Falls. Everything (my tripod, lens, and body) quickly frosted over after a few minutes and the photography bug was just as quickly squashed; but I did get this capture before I ran for warm cover.

[davidedric]

I have bent the title a little, hope that's OK. When I started to read the thread, I knew it must be mostly about people and pets, which are not my genres. I looked though my last years images, and came upon this.

It needs some explanation - it's not about the cutesy babies. We watched this herd down in the river, but when they climbed the bank we could feel there was something wrong. (I've examined all my shots, but I can't show it - please trust me). We then saw that one of the smaller elephants (not the babies) had the remains of a snare around its leg. This is serious - if nothing is done the wire will eventually cut through the skin, there will be an infection, and the animal will die. Of course no-one deliberately snares elephants, it would be futile, this would be local villagers looking to poach antelope for food.

The idea is that you contact the local Conservation Society. The have a vet with the capability to dart animals, so he darts the elephant and the snare is removed. After some frantic radio calls, we talked to them. Unfortunately, it would shortly be dark, and the operation would be too dangerous for everyone.

So we had to watch the herd walk away, ironically heading to raid maize crops in the local village, likely the home of the poachers. It was immensely sad. Watching this lovely beast walk away with a death sentence around its leg.

I wish I could report a happy ending, but when we left a few days later, the herd had not been re-located.

Sorry for the long-winded narrative.

Dave

[chauncey]

It was a genre rather than an image that meant the most...spurred on by many of you all...smoke!
One of my first.

[Mike Buckley]

Such a wonderful thread filled with such terrific explanations and images!

It was very difficult for me to select a single image to post here because I'm so grateful for the many events and circumstances of my life that mean so much to me for very different reasons. It's actually not possible for me to select any single image that is most important to me this year, though I have been able to do that in the past. In fact, seven or so years ago I made the most important image I have ever made and nothing comes close to it in that regard.

The image shown below means the most to me this year insofar as my development as a photographer when making tabletop images in my makeshift studio is concerned. That's because I learned so much this year about how to include artificial items that enhance an image in ways that would have been totally impractical if I had limited myself to trying to include the real thing. This image is the best example of that learning process because it includes so much artificiality: artificial ice that I purchased, a drip that I made artificially and the illusion of condensation on the glass that I also made artificially. Indeed, a good friend who was aware that I was learning how to use artificiality asked if anything in the image is real (and everything else is!).

[purplehaze]

Not necessarily one of my best, but representative of the many wonderful things this hobby has served to teach me about our natural world, things I never saw before (like the mating ritual of the damselfly shown here), or saw without understanding (my osprey shots for which I had to learn something of their habits), or saw without seeing deeply (the abstracts I made of fallen jack pine pollen, which I don't think I have shared with you yet).

[IMG]_DSC5712 - Version 2 by Janis Hughes, on Flickr[/IMG]