Photo of the Year

[Melizard]

I'm still learning, not yet mastering anything, so photos I once thought were good now don't seem so great. Nonetheless, this isn't perfect but it is my favorite so far:


Street Performer by Melissa.O.Anderson, on Flickr

 

[Doylem]

2011 hasn’t been a good year for photography (or anything else really ). I don’t often wish for time to go quickly (hell, at my age a month only lasts a fortnight), but, as far as I’m concerned, spring 2012 can’t come soon enough. So I’m looking forward to the pix I’m going to take, rather than looking back over the past year. There isn’t much to this shot, but it’s green and calm and it reminds me of a good day last May...

 

[guy curlewis]

my favourite of this year!

 

[VirtualRain]

Although not my best photo of the year, it's my favorite!

 

[Keleko]

Although not my best photo of the year, it's my favorite!

I strongly agree with a view like that.

 

[fcortese]

I strongly agree with a view like that.

+1. Was jealous when your first posted this. I'm still jealous-it's snowing here!!!! Looks like a commercial for Corona Beer!

 

[Oberhammer]

 

[VirtualRain]

^^^^ That's an extremely effective effect I need to learn how to do that. I wouldn't want you to give up your trade secrets, but man, I would love it if you would post a how-to in the forum! It is incredible!

I strongly agree with a view like that.

+1. Was jealous when your first posted this. I'm still jealous-it's snowing here!!!! Looks like a commercial for Corona Beer!

Yeah, it's not very nice here either right now... it makes me jealous of that day every time I look at it too.

 

[Oberhammer]

^^^^ That's an extremely effective effect I need to learn how to do that. I wouldn't want you to give up your trade secrets, but man, I would love it if you would post a how-to in the forum! It is incredible!

Thanks for the kind comment. Perhaps I will do a video tutorial of the process.

But in short. I use Camera RAW to clean up and straighten the image. I then load the image in to Photoshop CS 5.5. Next I go in to Topaz Adjust and pick a setting that looks good. Then I will blend the original layer with the new adjusted layer. After that, I experiment with the oil paint setting in Pixel Blender or I may go back in to Topaz and use simplify. I mess around with the custom settings to get something that I think looks artistic. After I use simply, I go back into the Oil Paint section of Pixel Blender. Sometimes I will add some sharpening along the way using Nik Software. I do several blending steps along the way. I end up creating about 15 different layers. Sometimes I will add a small amount of poster edges using Photoshop towards the end of the process. I should add that I normally shoot in RAW with a 5D MKII or 7D. I have been trying to incorporate HDR into my workflow but I have not been getting great results yet. Hopefully that gives you an idea how I am creating this effect. It is a creative process and some trial and error.

 

[p.jopko]

 

[fitshaced]

I dont have a massive collection of pics as I just learned how to use a camera in May. But, this one is my favourite as I was totally surprised by the result. I was expecting a very distorted image. Its just another example of how camera technology amazes me.


Life in the Opera House by kevinfl2011, on Flickr

 

[UltimaMC]

It was a tough choice between two pictures, however this one ended up being the winner.

 

[whodareswins]

Probably my favourite!


004/365 by doublem_1, on Flickr

 

[Longdrive]

Gwp

 

[Designer Dale]

Going back through my library for this made me realize that I really need to get out more in 2012.

Nisqually Delta sunset



Dale

 

[Darby67]

Taken three days after New Years 2011.

 

[SonicChronicler]

Gulls at Dusk

Going back through my photos this year, I've been surprised that I was quite happy with a few of them.

I picked this one as my favourite. It could have been composed better, but in terms of the amount of the minimal tweaking it needed, I was pretty happy with it as it was. I did clone out the distracting third bird that was there in the original.


Gulls at Dusk by sonicchronicler, on Flickr

 

[hitek79]

 

[Blakeco123]

I'v put this picture on here many times before, and I don't know why but its my favorite macro I'v taken this year.

 

[Phrasikleia]

Definitely my favorite of the year.

Image

K5 28mm f2.0 300s x 11.

If you posted that one to this forum before, I must have missed it. Terrific star trails shot. The asymmetry of the trails makes the centering of the 'subject' work really well. Beautiful colors too.

OK, Like the rest of you I am anxiously awaiting Ms. P's favorite. I have no clue how she will pick hers.

Thanks for the interest. Sorry to keep you waiting so long; I was traveling a lot over the last few weeks. I'm going to go with "Synchronicity" because it was the start of good luck streak with my photography that made the rest of 2011 a lot of fun for me.

 

[Heebeejeebies]

My favorite picture of the past year. An Eastern Tiger Swallowtail.

Click for full size

 

[NeGRit0]

Love San Francisco...


Camera: Canon EOS Digital Rebel XTi
Exposure: 0.01 sec (1/100)
Aperture: f/6.9
Focal Length: 28 mm
ISO Speed: 100

 

[Heebeejeebies]

Camera: Canon EOS Digital Rebel XTi
Exposure: 0.01 sec (1/100)
Aperture: f/6.9
Focal Length: 28 mm
ISO Speed: 100

Awesome!!


------

Ahhh... Couldn't figure out the quote pics thing....

 

[mrlozza]

photo

This was done on my iPhone 4S, but have actually moved to a camera now

 

[oblomow]

Vyšný Medzev, Slovakia