My favorite thread of the year. Haven't shot nearly as much as I wanted to, but going to Bosque tomorrow, so that might change! Here's mine from the beginning of the year. I love the background and the pose. Shot near Richardson's Bay, just north of San Francisco.
Hung – night & day difference-> your hard work paid off
Harsha- amazing
Zoom- love the breeding plumage
Al- beautiful stitch
Chad- iconic capture, very nice
Wayne-perfect BG
Thang- wow. Such a sleek predator and a rough last few minutes for the coot.
Doug B- Great closeup. Almost a landscape shot within and of the pupils there.
Sean- your shot makes the reader feel as if they were there
Kirry- shots like this def make the trip worth it
Shane- eye contact is moving here. Nice gradient in the BG
Wacky roger- sharp corner to corner
Vivek- nice catch.
Argosy- nice synchronized behavior.
Jim C- I imagine this is a lifetime best for you-congrats. Needs to get enlarged on a wall.
Ed Robertson- great catch. I don’t keep a list, but this is one I’d love to see, much less shoot as you have.
Herb- Wow. I see 10+ sets of eyes there
Trenchmonkey- sweet BIF. complimenting colors and very smooth.
Jody- you continue to amaze me. I had to stop and compare face expressions there
Ray- nice talons
Veroinferno- definitely a guilty pose here. Caught red handed.
Larry- I am stunned here. Perfect capture. You can almost taste the mud on the toes and feel the wind in the fur.
Davev- great shot. Don’t retire your gear for sure. You might find a little “cheating” in photoshop will take you a long way.
Karla – I love the red on green. Subject sharp, BG thrown nicely OOF. Very clean and subtly diffused natural catchlight.
Alan- frogs are where its at definitely some of the best herp shots taken on “cheap” cameras.
gpgt1998- super detail and color. Almost looks fake. I can go back and revisit this one all day.
skibum- your monkey shot is priceless. I’d crop in a little tighter and start getting your shot out there for the world to see.
Msyuan- very nice. Black on yellow on white is striking.
Rod- best sportsman award all around. You make it a point to get out so often that you I bet your cost per use on that 800 is almost nothing I applaud your commitment and motivation and continue to ask myself why I am behind a desk all day.
You all are one bloody crowd!
Sorry if I skipped you (your pic hosting is likely blocked on my network).
And Laura, thanks again. Great vocalizing cactus wren on colorful cactus. I still remember my first viewing of the annual “best of’s” Probably a good 30 mins to load!
Thanks all for the breath of fresh air. Back to reality
For those of you new to the forum, and may have not seen last year's "best of" thread, here's a link Best of 2007
Besides showing the fantastic wildlife we got to see last year it also shows the progress made by many forum members as thier skills progressed over time. Some of the images are now gone but still enough to wet your whistle on.
Let's keep this thread alive - 2008 is not over yet!
ZOOM, thanks for that link, I will have to go and refresh my self with those as I remember coming here and being astounded too by what I was seeing on these best of threads. It is a good example of how we progress because it may not be as noticeable on a weekly basis as it is on a yearly basis.
Thanks again Laura and keep them coming.............
Excellent shots everyone. I really did enjoy reading and looking through the posts so far.
I have handful of shots that I hold close. When choosing my favourite shots I think there needs to be more than just technical precision involved. The experience of getting the shot, looking at it and sharing it with others is what amounts to a worthwhile photograph in my opinion.
At the moment, when pressed, I choose this shot of a midland painted turtle's eye. I spent a lot of time on the road this summer and moved dozens of turtles off of them, I encourage more people to do so.
Though I wish I had a tiny bit more DOF in the foreground... I like it.
Lots of great images here. This year's been a little slow for me in the wildlife department (been fantastic for landscapes though), but I certainly made out with a few treasures.. here's two
Great Thread but a tuff call. I was having a difficult time picking a favorite from this year but then I came across this one.
Its my favorite because I did not take it!
My youngest daughter did. This outing was the start of something her and I shared together all year long going birding and taking pictures.
Hopefully she sticks with it and we can share it for years to come but if not it sure made this year fun!
Here she is moments before taking the picture Im a proud Daddy!! Notice the long lens technique
Thats gonna itch.
this is a shot of my cat.Name is booger.I like this shot just because its not very often that you get a shot like this in focus.When i look at it, makes me laugh a little
-Jim
Kitehog wrote:
Great Thread but a tuff call. I was having a difficult time picking a favorite from this year but then I came across this one.
Its my favorite because I did not take it!
My youngest daughter did. This outing was the start of something her and I shared together all year long going birding and taking pictures.
Hopefully she sticks with it and we can share it for years to come but if not it sure made this year fun!
Here she is moments before taking the picture Im a proud Daddy!! Notice the long lens technique
Model = Canon EOS-1D Mark II N
Exposure Time = 1/1250"
F Number = F8
Exposure Program = Manual
ISO Speed Ratings = 400
Metering Mode = Spot
Flash = Off
Focal Length = 400mm
Color Space = sRGB
Exposure Mode = Manual exposure
Handheld with Bushhawk
Calls used
Lying in the mud
Some amazing and very inspiring photos in this thread, thank you all for posting. I don't shoot wildlife that often but got a few shots in 2008 that I'm very happy with. Hard to pick a favourite so I'll post two.
Here's mine from the beginning of the year. I love the background and the pose. Shot near Richardson's Bay, just north of San Francisco.
