In 2008 I made the move from my entry level Canon 400D to a 40D and later that year I invested in some LEE filters, according to my post last year that was a big change 🙂 It’s always interesting to read back things you wrote a year ago.
This year I swapped the 40D for a 5D Mark II, moving to full frame. I also acquired a Canon EF 17-40mm f/4L USM, Canon EF 100mm f/2.8 Macro USM & a Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM (an here). These ‘tools’ have made a significant difference to my photography this year. Technically they have provided sharper, richer images but also creatively they have opened up so many new opportunities, perspectives, positions, etc compared to the Sigma 17-70mm they replaced.
Again this year I took the opportunity to display my photography at the annual Peoples Photography Exhibition in Dublin and had a great time. I also entered my very first photographic competition in June and won a nice copy of Adobe Lightroom v2 thanks to Jason over at Canon Blogger
It’s hard to believe another year has passed in my photographic life and I sit once again with the task of choosing my personal top 10 images from the year. Wow and I thought this was hard last year! 2008 was the first year I felt I had “a large enough body of work with sufficient quality to complete” the task of choosing a top 10 and I found it a pretty difficult task. I noted then that knocking it down to 25 was easy enough, the struggle was to get that list down to the final 10. Well I’m happy to say it was far harder this year as I started with a shortlist of 38 images, struggled to get that to 17 and have sat with those 17 images for the last week trying to make a final selection. You’re asking at this point why am I happy? Well it is a great sign for me that my photography is improving every year. While we’re talking numbers I managed 28 outings this year with two of them being multi-day trips. While like many photographers I will moan about not getting out often enough, this a big improvement on last year.
Two things struck me when I had my final selection. Firstly 4 of them are floral detail images which I am really happy about as one of my key photography projects for 2008 was entitled “Natures Design” and was very much about capturing the exquisite and delicate details in the flowers around us. Indeed the output of this project was well represented in the original shortlist and there were very nearly six of them in the final 10. The fact that there is no B&W or Portraits in here speaks volumes for the success of my other two projects, but that’s for another post 😛
The second thing that struck me is how I favour portrait orientation, 7 of the 10, exactly the same as last year in fact. I was certainly sensing this was the case but seeing it for the second year in a row is very interesting.
So without further ado here are my top 10 for the year, I hope you enjoy them. They are listed chronologically by the way.
Close up of the underside of a brilliant white flower set against a black background.
Low lieing view to Howth from Dun Laoghaire, Dublin, Ireland showing gentle movement in the sea and slow moving clouds above.
Close up of a P Betulifoliun flower showing the incredible petal design, almost as if someone leaked purple ink on them.
An mother Orangutan sits alone on the rocks while the young play in the background
Macro image of the central stamen of a colourful orchid.
Looking on to the Dublin city lights and the Pookbeg Chimneys from Bull Island while the tide is low after the sun has set.
The golden rays of the sun reach out one last time before it sets below the Wicklow Mountains, Ireland with a calm lake and ageless boulder in the foreground.
A dreamy macro image of a purple flower surrounded by out of focus green vegetation
Sunrise at the seafront of Torrevieja, Spain standing at a promenade looking out to sea,
View from Valentia Island in Kerry looking showing the sea, cliffs and cloud filled sky with Sheep grazing in the foreground.
