Well another year has flown by! I'd like to continue our annual FM tradition and post my favorite shot of 2008. Please add your own favorite shot and explain why it was special to you.
This tends to be be a very long thread so please try and narrow your choice to a single favorite if possible so everyone can enjoy without computers freezing up
This cactus wren was singing on a Buckhorn Cholla, and it was once of those rare moments when everything came together: bird, flowers and song. Taken in Wickenburg AZ last spring.
(P.S. thank you Thang for coaxing me out of hibernation)
What a gorgeous image Laura, composition, clarity, dof and gorgeous color, got it all!!!
Dang tough to pick my absolute favourite, so I will say one of my favourites as I have a few, but this one was special as I remember the miles I put on this day walking and froze my butt off, most satisfying, long gueling walk I ever took dragging all my equipment around in the deep snow
I still don't have an ID but it was my first successful attempt at bird photography The colours look quite dull on pc but it looks awsome in print - honest
EDIT: I have since learned it's a Red-breasted Goose - Thanks Mike
You guys have some awsome shots - Keith that owl is awsome
I hope next year brings even more opportunities for you all
Well, it's tough to pick one. So here is one of them...what made this particular one special is the fact that it took patience to get it. Lots of it. I wanted to make a connection with the eagle and this did it. Now I don't think he saw me per se since I used my SUV as a blind. Nonetheless, it is one of my favorites.
wow. i am truly honored to share my work with such amazing photographers as you guys. you guys always inspire me to refine, improve and appreciate.
thang - hey 2008 isn't over just yet. you still have a month to bag your bobbygrail shot before the year is up.
socrate - your exposure is flawless. you were right to choose that shot for your best in 2008.
ok before i share my pick, i spent some time mulling over which i would choose. i suprisingly chose a shot that did not have a bird, despite the fact that the majority of my wildlife and nature photography involves birds. go figure. however the reason behind my decision is as follows.
i "discovered" the san joaquin wildlife sanctary back in the fall of 2006. back then, i started out in photography with a stock 18-55mm lens. i wandered around the trails of sjws and came home with this one shot. my very first dragon in flight. !
i was actually quite proud of it considering that i had just moved up to a dslr and could never have gotten a shot like that with my previous point and shoot. however, i knew that it was far far from perfect. when i walked out of sjws, i vowed that someday i would return with a proper telephoto lens and of course improved photography skills.
this summer i tried shooting dragonflies in flight again and got this shot.
so the reason why i ended up choosing this dragonfly in flight shot was because it represented the countless early mornings and late afternoons spent at sjws improving my craft. it represents the possibility that we may all achieve our goals and dreams when it comes to the art of photography.
seasons greetings you to all here in the nature and wildlife forum. you guys always make me feel like a belong to something bigger and greater. despite the fact that the majority of the time i spend out in the field, i'm by myself (and my wife thinks i'm a bird nut), i always rush home to process my pics because i have so much fun sharing them with you guys and seeing what each of you have been up to.
best wishes to you and your families. may 2009 bring another great year of amazing photographs.
Here is one of my best shots of the year.
I was down & dirty so to speak to get this one. Well, OK maybe just down.
This wood duck chick was out and about this spring checking out his new environment. I'd been on a nearby pier taking some shots of him and I decided to get a better angle. After laying on the pier for a while it forgot I was around and came closer for a nice sunlit pose. Even when I reviewed this on my tiny Mark II LCD I could tell it was a special shot. Well at least for me anyway.
This one's special to me, as I was out shooting one afternoon with Mr Zoom. Good friends and great light make this
personal endeavor all that much more enjoyable. D3 200-400 f4 VR BushHawk
Superb shots all of you guyz (as expected )! thx Laura for starting this thread...must've missed it last year
Well...hard to pick just 1 shot since i'm so dam' good each&every one of them deserves a cover on NG
Anyway gotta be this 1...drove a few hundred km for this but well worth it http://www.pbase.com/nellotodica/image/105457111/original.jpg
I'm new to FM and new to Avian photography (less then a year under my belt). A Red-tailed Hawk in my backyard is what started it all with bird photography. I also always wanted to photograph a Bald Eagle in the wild. Carolina Chickadees are by far my favorite bird to photograph...Brown Headed Nuthatches a close second.
I really really enjoy looking at the photos of so many talented people here!! Here's a couple of my favorites, not for technical reasons but just because I like them
As always there are some awe inspiring shots posted here. Last spring I was fortunate to spend a morning shooting this Tree swallow from minimum focusing distance with the 200 F/2.8L,,, I think that this technically speaking is one of my best shots. Hope others like it as well
