2016 was the year in which my rate of photo posting dropped off a cliff.  Part of this was due to me shooting less, which is its own story, and in large part due to some changed family schedule basics that got in the way of my favorite shooting time. But I also often just found it hard to make myself post. Even with the lower rate of shooting, I had enough good photos to post a fair bit more than I did. In fact, as I chose my favorites for the year I found myself surprised that 2 or 3 shots I remember being rather fond of never were posted. I could go on, but prefer not to dwell on the negative.

On the plus side, with only about 5 dozen or so shots to pick from, I was pleased that there was a decent amount of images I was proud of. It also was easier to select the best, and I did not have any difficulty cutting the list down to a respectable and manageable number. In the end, 7 shots stood out as my favorites.

Hello? – New Friends – #ExpeditionSpud 

Last January a story made the rounds that a photographer sold an image of a potato for more than $1 million. Some friends and I had fun inventing our own potato shots, some serious and others playful. Everything here: the primary elements, lighting, and background came out exactly as I envisioned it.
 

Fourth Avenue Ghosts

I experimented early last year on a new potential project, creating black and white semi-long exposure panoramic urban shots on film.  The results, unlike the potato shot above, were not quite what I hoped but the experiment still had some useful results.  This was my favorite.

Some Way Out/The Color Mill

In the Spring I had an opportunity to take part in a light painting outing in the mills of Lawrence, Massachusetts run by some friends.  First I had access in the afternoon to shoot using available light; then in the evening we used colored flashlights to “paint” the scenes for long-exposure images.  The first image here is perhaps my favorite image of the year. The light painted image below is the best of those I published. This was an instance where I never got around to posting at least a couple of my favorites.

Schwabacher Landing Blues

In June I went on my annual nXnw trip with photographer friends from around the country. This year’s location was Grand Teton National Park (GTNP). It was a fantastic rip with glorious views that took my breath away, yet I found myself oddly unmoved by most of my images. I cold nt guess why, but this is an exception.

Cerise

In the early fall I went to shoot a particular piece at the Socrates Sculpture in Astoria, Queens.  Again, for some reason, I never posted anthing from it, but I did post this image of the wall of a truck and equipment sales and rental business nearby.

Grand Tetons Panorama

This is a panorama of the Grand Tetons taken from the rear viewing area of Jackson Lake Lodge. It is by far the image that moves me the most from that trip. Panoramas like this do not display well on computers, but you can at least see it a bit larger and in full resolution if you click through the link.

My best wishes to each and every one of you for 2017.