This year was my most creative year photographically. I photographed a vintage sailing regatta in Newport RI, photographed San Francisco, San Diego, Cincinnati, and Limerick Ireland. I photographed at the Roger Williams Botanical Garden, the Boston Marathon, the RI Air Show, a cranberry bog and my friend’s lighthouse (The Wings Neck Lighthouse) with the most amazing photographic moment being my 24 hour stay on the USS Abraham Lincoln.
Different than 2009, this year I pushed myself t to get out there and make images. I pushed myself to go places I may not have gone and take opportunities that I may not taken to capture some interesting moments in life. I also found myself “seeing” very differently this year. I noticed the sun’s position in the sky more often, I noticed the little things and details I had missed in previous years.
In reviewing my images for this blog post. It was difficult to pick my favorites, I wanted to pick only 10 but I settled for 20. Here are the images and the back story for each.
#1 Olivia. This photo of my niece brings the most emotion to me and hence gets the #1 rating. I love her dress, the Easter egg in her hand and how it appear she is looking for more eggs during her hunt. It was a lot of fun chasing a toddler with a camera trying to get a good pose. Even though I do not see her face completely in this image, I think you see the story.
#2 Juno. When this image is shown, I hear a lot of “oohs and ahhs” so I placed it #2. This image was captured while on a workshop with Onne van der Wal. In this workshop Onne had hired a motor boat to follow the Classic Yacht Regatta in Narragansett Bay. We were photographing two days after hurricane Edgar had come through the area and the seas were rough. I was tossed around a bit on the boat and we had to deal with the sea mist all over our lenses. When I photographed this Yacht, it was the first time I had become excited on what I was seeing in the viewfinder as I captured the image. It was the first time I knew this image was a keeper.
#3 Glowing Orchids. This image was created using the Freeman Patternson Effect. It is a technique used in slide photography for years and something that is relatively easy to do with Photoshop. I love how it brings out a lot more of the colors in the images and provides a warm glow.
#4 Greetings From… This image says “Summer” to me. When people see this image they immediately see themselves sitting in the chairs looking out on the beach. It can be anywhere there is ocean. This image was captured early morning on Myrtle Beach, SC.
#5 Buttonwood Barn. This is a High Dynamic Range “HDR” image taken at the Buttonwood Farm in Griswold, CT. These sunflowers are part of the Sunflowers for Wishes program who makes donations from the proceeds from the sunflowers to the Make a Wish foundation. This image was made after a rain and late in the season as the flowers were drooping from the heat. The next day, they were all gone.
#6 The Village of Adare, Ireland. I chose three images to show here. The building with the thatch roof is my favorite. Although I’ve been told to crop this image removing about a third of the roof, I think it is the thatch that makes the image. The thatch and the contrast of the red door is what keeps grabbing me in this image.
and the runners up were both created at the Adare Manor
#7 Wings Neck Lighthouse Stairs. My friend owns a lighthouse, and offered to allow me and a group of photographers to shoot it (with cameras). My favorite image was captured looking down the staircase with a wide angle lens. It is also captured in HDR which allows me to bring out the textures within the building. Many of the out takes were images that contained my foot in the bottom right corner.
and the runners up: sunset and sunrise at the house.
#8 The Boston Custom House. This image was captured from my favorite vantage point of Boston, Piers Park, East Boston. Captured just after sunset but early enough that the lights in the office building were turned on.
#9 WaterFire. Providence Rhode Island has a wonderful event throughout the summer called “WaterFire“. This image is also HDR and I think it provides a very interesting surrealistic view up the river in Providence just after the lighting of the bonfires.
#10 USS Abraham Lincoln. Having spend 24 hours on the USS Abraham Lincoln, I captured thousands of images. None of which truly tell the story of this magnificent aircraft carrier, the people, the aircraft and the mission. I discovered the only way to tell the story is in a slide show. You can see it here.
#11 Winner. I shot the Boston Marathon for the first time this year. I will do it again in 2011. It was a wonderful experience. For me it wasn’t the mainstream runners who were interesting to photograph but those thousands of others trying to achieve their goals.
#12 Cincinnati. I never expected to see such color and beauty from this town.
#13 Boston Silhouette. Another image from Piers Park. I guess this is a runner up to the Custom’s house but I think the effect allows this image to stand on its own as number 13.
#14 Caribbean Sunset. You always need something in front of a sunset to make it interesting. Here a tanker did just fine.
#15 Thunderbirds. I love this image of the USAF Thunderbirds because it appears that my vantage point was above the aircraft. but I was on the ground and they were banking sharp and in tight formation!
#16 Dingman’s Falls. Why did this image make my top of 2010? Well it is my first waterfall with the “cotton candy” water effect, and we always love the first time we’ve done something right.
If you wish to see these images in more detail or are interested in purchasing one or two 
follow this link…
