FAVORITE PIX OF 2013--

This image made the cut, not because it is a fairly nice photo, rather it was done with my then very new--say a week or so--cell phone.

I hopped on my bicycle one morning in Florida this past Spring and was doing a turn around in a botanical garden just a few miles north of our winter digs.  Turns out they were celebrating a showing of this marvelous glass artist and I saw this scene with only the cell phone camera available.

Rather than having my preferred camera (a Canon DSLR) with nearly infinite manual controls, I was stuck with this point-and-shoot variety. *Gasp*  Imagine my surprise when I discovered it had made this delightful image.

That same botanical garden offered a couple of evening shows so I went back, armed with my preferred equipment and did this image.  I planned for this shoot to happen when there was a wee bit of daylight remaining in the sky.  One of the beauties of digital technology is the ability to preview the images; especially in a case like this with brightly lighted highlights and colorful reflections with that dab of evening sky boosting detail in the background tree canopy. 

The other helpful factor with many digital cameras is image stabilization.  Imagine your camera attached to a gyroscope to keep it steady when using slow shutter speeds.  Digital cameras achieve that electronically and I was able to achieve this shot hand-held.

This shot made the list of favorites because it induces nice memories.  At my prodding Sue is clowning around a bit as she holds a geocache we had just found in her right hand and frames traffic on I-77 far below her left arm.  The other component of my nice memory is this was done on our way to another winter basking in Florida's sunshine and, she is standing on the Appalachian Trail where it crosses I-77 in Virginia, 3,000 feet above sea level.  Florida snow birding coming up, all the while enjoying geocaching, photography, the AT and my lady all in the same pic;  Yup, a favorite indeed.

 

These two pictures (immediately above and below) were taken at the Easter Sunrise service on the shore of Vero Beach.  I liked the spontaneity of the foreground couple waving their praise to the Lord as a rising sun teased the morning sky.  Immediately before this shot I had made another with their heads and shoulders simply framing the cross in the background.  Their being caught-up in the joyous celebration and beginning to wave made a dramatic compositional improvement.

Moments later a seaside baptism (below) presented itself just as the rising sun overcame the distant cloud bank.  In both cases these were fleeting images and would have been entirely different with any delay in making the exposures.

 

 

This is a technically nice image inside Kentucky's Mammoth Cave.  This picture was done automatically with the flash disabled.  Cave pictures like this, or any night view colorfully lit, almost always will be more interesting without firing the flash.

 

Stabilize the camera and gently press the shutter with the camera on automatic and you may be amazed at what happens.

 

This photo (left) doesn't make this presentation on the merits of the photography, but, rather, because it represents a huge milestone in my rapidly advancing years.  My dad never realized his dream of owning a motorcycle and neither had I until this past spring when my bicycling friend Ken Johnson made the leap to owning a two-wheeler--equipped with a throttle.  That was just the nudge I needed.  Thanks Ken!

 

My rookie season of riding just over 2,000 miles is now behind me and I am looking forward to the next Spring with boundless enthusiasm.

 

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!