Sunday, December 30, 2012

Year in Review-Photography



Moon over the Grand Canyon
Photography is one of my favorite things to do.  It's always looking for that right angle or interesting feature.
Christmas lights create an abstract blur that I call, "Holiday Rush"
And it is challenging in many different ways....night shots, moon shots, lightning shots, fire shots, abstract shots, blurred water shots, shooting into the sun(careful) and oh so much more.
Lighting is some of the most challenging.  500 shots later and I finally get the one I  want. There are tricks to this and I don't like being outside while it's all going on.  
Some bloggers love to write and others love photography.  I am the latter of the two.  
Fire.  I love the various shades of this fire cloud  as it is blown into the air at the Arizona Renaissance Festival. 
I love being out in the field.  Sometimes I get stuck doing things I don't always enjoy.  But I always bring my camera and it keeps me occupied. It forces me to find the interesting:)
This particular image captured a scary feeling I had as a child at my Grandparent's house while reading about dinosaurs
The zoo, for example, was one of those places I didn't really want to visit.  So I took how I felt(haunted/sad) and transferred that feeling into the photography.  Then I manipulated the above image to create that look.
I love the colors of the orange and blues.  Taken at the Pima Country Faire
One of my favorite things to shoot are fire dances.  It has a  magical quality to it all.
These fire dancers look to be spirits as they whirl fire in different directions. 
And no matter how hard I try to resist, the moon is always fascinating to me.  While on a bird outing, I spied this plane passing by this large spacial object.
Then there was the sun and moon eclipsing.  Dragonflies, in a wonderful spiritual moment, perched on the branches perfectly as the moon blocked some of the sun and reflected off of their wings.
Night shots can frustrate people but when they turn out, it's really quite something special.....like the fireworks below.
I love this shot below. It was taken at the House on the Rock.  It was drenched in red.  With some selective toning, we were able to distinguish the various shades of red.
Capturing flowers on camera isn't as easy as it looks.  But sometimes.......they turn out magical.  Rosemary really captures the images wonderfully.  Somehow you've got to imprint the human feeling onto the flower to make the pic POP!  Sometimes a flower will inspire me to do those things.  Other times, I just look at the flower and say to myself, "Ooo, that's pretty!".  And take the pic without thinking.  That's where I have my challenges:)
And another feature I worked with on photography was the process of aging a shot to capture that feeling of childhood.  These were some of my favorites this year.  Hope you enjoyed.



16 comments:

  1. A good round up all the very best for next year.

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  2. Very nice shots...... but that first one is really FANTASTIC Chris...... good work.

    Wish You a HAPPY NEW YEAR.

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  3. Beautiful photos Chris - so colourful. I couldn't even start to pick a favourite as they are all beautiful.

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  4. I enjoyed each and every one of them! Stunning!

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  5. A fantastic year for your photography, Chris! Awesome photos. Looking forward to seeing even more in 2013. Happy New Years!

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  6. awesome round up for the year!! your shots are always incredible...even the ones you don't think turned out so great!!

    have a HAPPY new year!!

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  7. Great choices for the review Chris!

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  8. your lightening shot is wonderful, but i'd not have wanted to be out there holding equipment to get it! :)

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  9. Beautiful photos Chris. Seeing them put together in one group is awesome. Great night shots and I enjoyed your narrative about each.

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  10. Lightning is quite a challange but Ohhhh when you get one, Victory!!
    These are all fun shots. Happy New Year!

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  11. You have much patience and give your photography so much attention. Every one of these shots demonstrates the thought, and occasional luck, that goes into the composition. Image poetry. The lightning shot is wild, and fire ohh la la.

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  12. They are all great.... I especially love both moon photos... WOW---that moon over the Grand Canyon is AWESOME.... WOWOWOWOWOWOWOW....

    Happy New Year.
    Hugs,
    Betsy

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  13. A wonderful collection - I'm SOOOOOO jealous - and a fabulous retrospective!!

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  14. Hello Kreesh, my dear blogfriend! Happy New Year! These are the best shots and I am so envious as i don't have the power to capture the same, they are all magnificent. I not only envy the shots but also the equipment. And i am glad you cannot post daily now, so i can cope with them, haha! More power and may you be fully blessed this year as well. Happy shooting!

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  15. Your photography is amazing too! Wow! Love all the night shots that I am just too far from in my realm of possibilities...and yet I actually took a night photography class many years ago. It was with manual 35 mm, and the one thing I remember is setting up on a tripod and removing the lens cap while the shutter was open, closing it, removing it again and closing it to get a really neat effect. I should do some experimenting with the old Nikon! Your lightning shot is WONDERFUL by the way!

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Thanks for stopping by!