This time of year is filled with stories of the ‘best of 2007’ everywhere, so I suppose it is only natural for a photographer to think back on the images created over the last year and if any hold particular significance above the rest. So I offer up to you my “Top 10” images (in no particular ranking order) that I made during 2007 and a few thoughts about each one of them. I hope you enjoy them as well.
Plant oils in ice – perhaps one of my favorite finds, and almost literally like a buried treasure. I am always looking for the patterns formed by natural plant oils (bacteria) caused by decaying vegetation and minerals in soils. However, I never expected to find them during the winter, suspended in ice on the side of a creek. And they were only visible through the use of a polarizer – to the naked eye they looked like white/gray ice patterns.
As much as I like to gripe about the cold in Michigan, the cold weather does provide some unique photographic opportunities. On this particular day, the conditions were just right to be cold enough to freeze water, but not steadily cold for it to be snow. The result? Frozen raindrops! My only regret is that I didn’t spend the entire day searching these out because the conditions have never been the same since creating these tiny crystal gems. I have come to appreciate just how rare of a day this was and keep hoping for the opportunity again.
Finally the fox – this particular animal has eluded me more times than I care to admit – and became a great frustration because I would continually see shots published and hear stories of other’s encounters with them that were relatively easy. So a day that ended as a rather unsuccessful bird photography trip ended up providing me with a great consolation prize.
I wrote about this particular image previously upon reflecting on visual balance. I photographed this Eastern Meadowlark over a period of several attempts, and I think this shot ended up being my favorite of the bunch. It was also my first time photographing this particular species. I loved the balance the evergreen provided, and I was fortunate enough to capture the bird in a great pose and position. It quickly became one of my favorites among all of my bird photographs.
Sandscapes – this was my first use of my Singh-Ray VariND polarizer on a trip to Michigan’s Upper Penninsula where the low Lake Superior waters created quite a large number of sand bars. Although we often think of photographs capturing a very brief moment of time, a fraction of a second – the images I made with the help of this filter seemed to capture the feeling of an elapsing moment before me. The ethereal look of this image is from a long shutter speed, polarization, and the movement of waves in and out of the sand bar during the warmth of early morning light.
Howard Grill and I have written about photographing Trilliums and trying to portray them in some unique way – the Trillium Challenge of 2007. This was the result of some of my efforts. I think the inner glow created by sunlight directly down the ‘throat’ of the flower gave this a unique radiance quality. Next year is going to be tougher to continue that challenge. Wildflower photography in particular can be challenging to try to come up with new approaches because it seems at times they have been done to death. I know flowers can be admired for their natural beauty as they are – but I think showing an aspect of them that is often overlooked can be just as rewarding, if not more.
Funny how some of your favorite shots can come from just ‘goofing around.’ This was from a time when I was really coming up empty for ideas in this pine grove. So I began shooting, just to shoot – not really intending on keeping much at all. It is supposed to be a technique to overcome some creative blocks – to just start doing something, anything to ‘get the gears working.’ Laying on the ground, and playing around with some zoom blurs resulted in some images that I ended up being quite proud of.
I keep coming back to this particular place on Lake St. Clair in Southeast Michigan. I have shot many of my winter landscapes here because they seem to change all the time, providing some interesting elements to play with. The light, however, can be like rolling the dice. More often than not, you get drab, gray sunrises common throughout winter months or clear skies that simply don’t amount to much at all. So when the sky explodes with color like this particular time, you can’t help but be thankful you chose to be there on that particular morning.
Owl encounters are rare enough for the Suburban Detroit area, let alone the chance to be within good photographing distance from one. This barred owl was hanging out over a period of close to a month in the same general area of a local park. I visited this spot a few times, hoping to find the owl in a good location. He flew to this branch, leaving seconds later to a higher spot in a thick pine grove. There is some saying about luck, being prepared, and opportunity. I think I got really lucky. Maybe the upward angle is too much for some, and maybe not the most perfect background, but I like it – and probably more because it is a decent shot from a rare opportunity.
This image is part of an ongoing theme that I keep my eye out for – symbiotic elements within an image that create some type of circular reference. I wrote about it previously here. This leaf had some holes in it that were shaped like leaves, which I thought was quite interesting. It was also a result of my playing around with dual flashes and some colored gels to bring some life to an otherwise drab-colored, decaying leaf. Unfortunately, I have not been able to find many situations of this type of circular relationship – but remains in my mind as something to look for while out in the field.
So that’s it – thank you for enduring such a lengthy post, but I hope you have enjoyed some of the thoughts behind my favorites of 2007. Here is to a happy, healthy, creative 2008! (wine glass raised). Happy New Year everyone!
skylar – thanks so much!! Your preserve up there looks terrific! I would love to visit it someday.
Namaste’ Mark what can I say I am left breathless with the talent of your photo’s I am a fan!! I am an amateur when it comes to photographing but I operate a licensed wolf outreach in Northern Saskatchewan Canada,and every day they give me something new to capture in the lens, along with all the other things in life I love to capture. I made a big purchase for me camera wise but know as soon as I get more funds (since eveything I make seems to go to the upkeep of the wolves, and building the eco center here ) I will upgrade again I don’t even know how to work half the buttons on this one as yet but I try. :0) thank you again I allowed each image to simply be and absorb itself into my soul. metta!
Bernie, cally, Howard, and Mike – thanks so much.
Hey Mark, a great collection of images, you did well in 2007.
Mark, what a wonderful set of images…….simply superb. Your trillium shot really brings out the character of the flower and is really unique…they are all great!
beautiful and funny.
it even affect us here in scotland, now i understand why the weather guys didn’t predict it (they were so apologetic as the country had to close schools for the day etc). the rain has washed it away now but I’ll pop a pic on my blog to mark the day and a link to your post by way of explanation .
ps, came here via your comment on kirsty hall’s blog – so happy birthday!
What an incredible display of work Mark, you should be very proud of it, I really can’t pick one it they all are beautiful 🙂
Thank you all for taking the time to comment, and especially letting me know your own favorites! I really appreciate your continued visits.
Thanks for sharing all of these with us. It was wonderful to take a look back to see what images are near and dear to you. I don’t know if I can pick just one… but it might be your pine grove “goofing around” that inspires me to look outside the box the next time I go out.
Happy 2008!
Wonderful choice of images for your 2007 favorites. I’m very partial to sunrises/sunsets, so the Lake St. Clair tops my list of favorites, but all of them are beautiful. Wishing you and your family much love and happiness in 2008 – Happy New Year Mark!
Hi Boyd, I know this is a bit off topic in relation Mark’s great New Year’s post (but in a way it relates back to Mark’s other post on contemplating Mac), but I’m also in the process of researching a new PC and have actually looked at Dell’s options the last couple of days and looked at the XPS’es as an option and the Vostro’s. Have you been happy with this PC?
I have also looked into Vista a bit as it’s seems to have gotten such a bad wrap, but it sounds like you have been quite happy with it. Would you recommend the XPS?
Happy New Year Mark!
I love them all, but I think plant oils in ice really rocks!
Ron
Hey Mark
Super nice stuff, brother. Congratulations, and all the best to you 2 for 2008.
Cheers
Carl
Great photos and article. I love reading how others capture their images.
By the way, I got a new computer with Vista, an XPS from Dell and I love it but my friends hate Vista. Photoshop sure works a lot faster. No troubles so far. You said to let you know if we got Vista so I thought I’d let you know.
Take care.
Gorgeous, gorgeous, gorgeous!!!
Thanks for sharing the photos and the comments about each one.
Hi Mark!
This is absolutely amazing stuff. What was it Ansel Adams once said? ‘Twelve significant photographs in any one year is a good crop’. You you have indeed had a good crop in 2007! Beautiful images, thanks for taking time to share these along with interesting commentary.
I can recognize and really relate to many of these situations such as regretting not spending more time on what later proves to be a rare situation (frozen rain drops), trying to photgraph a flower from a new angle literally or creatively (trillium), ‘consolation prize images’ (the fox) and the idea of re-visiting areas to only to one day experience truly great light one day (Lake St. Clair).
So do I have a favourite? That’s tough! The fox is great and cute – a beautiful nature shot. The rain drop is amazing and becomes even more amazing when you read your commentary which probably makes me appreciate it even more as a viewer. This raises the whole question if captions should sometimes accompany images or if should images should always explain themselves. I really do feel that commentary can sometimes add to the viewing experience. The circular relationship leaf is a really interesting concept and a top notch image. In the classical landscape category the Lake St. Clair image is amazing with a great foreground and fantastic colour depth and today that is probably my favourite. Tomorrow it might be the raindrop, Thursday the Meadowlark…
Thanks for sharing your top 10!
Mark, this is a great overview of your wonderful photography. Thank you for sharing this. I think this is exactly what photography is all about – to see and grab ideas, live the moment and hold on to it, hope for a chance and be prepared and then be happy when the gods are presenting you a gift: luck!
Best wishes for you and your family and a very Happy New Year!