Post your top 3 photos of 2008

[D'z Nutz]

Same routine as previous years. Post your 3 favorite photos you've taken during 2008 and maybe explain why each photo makes the cut (ie: tried new processing technique, first successful attempt at new photographic subject/genre, best example that demonstrates your improvements, it just simply looks damn good, first published photo, etc...).

Please post at most 3 photos. This is just so it forces you to be a little more critical about your work, so take your time and make your 3 picks count. If you absolutely have more than 3 that you do not want to leave out, maybe list them as "honourable mentions", but be sure to number your best 3.

And as always, feel free to discuss any goals you had, whether or not you were able to meet them, anything new you learned over the last year (regardless of how trivial you may think it is), and any plans you have for 2009.

[Bukka]

Year and a half into my photo taking life and here we goo.
This year was much much tougher to choose 3...but I think these are the 3 i'll choose for this year.
I didn't really have any goals set for this year other than trying to shoot as much as I could, and I didn't really come close to it. I did end up finding my style in my monochrome, duotone and, tritone images and I'm pretty happy with em.

Goals for 2009..
Hopfully get some studio lights, and get better at my portraiture and street photography.
Pick up a few more gear additions hahaha.

[KKY]

2008 was a year of exploring for me. Lots of new gears and new experiences. Started shooting film in different formats, opened a flickr account, upgraded into full frame digital, developed my own B&W at home, entered a photo contest (and lost), did a portrait shoot, the list goes on.

Hopefully 2009 will be just as exciting for me if not better!

The following are probably not my best shots, but they represent some of my more significant experiences in 2008: (click for larger)

One of my first HDR shots.


From my first roll of slide film shot with my first film camera.


Accidental double exposure from my first roll of self developed 120 film.

[rage2]

2008 was my first year in real photography. I've always wanted to make a short film, but I knew nothing about composition, lighting, depth of field... things that are kinda necessary in filmmaking. So instead of blowing 20k on HD camera gear to learn, I bought my first DSLR summer '08 to learn the basics before any other investment. I've learned so much my first year, thanks to lots of advice here on beyond, and even ended up getting my 2nd DSLR by years end, the full frame 5Dmk2 that can do HD video. Saved me a lotta money haha.

Some of my best '08s were shot on the new 5Dmk2, but I'm gonna limit my top 3 to pics to ones I shot on the 40D. These photos were kinda turning points in my year of photography, shots that made me wonder if I got lucky, or actually learned something lol.

#1: 400iso, f/8, 8s.

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My #1 pic by a longshot would be the night shot of the golden gate bridge. When I was in SF, I wanted a good pic of the bridge, but didn't get a chance to stop by during the day because of work. After a night out, we crossed the bridge and drove for about an hour and stumbled on this spot. I was kinda pissed at myself for leaving the tripod at the hotel, but luckily, there were a couple rocks and posts that worked great as a tripod. I believe I used my iPhone and 2 credit cards to help level out the camera sitting on a fence post for this shot. This was my 1st picture I shot at this location, and ended up being my best. My night shooting practice worked well! In post processing, I decided to change the color of the bridge to reflect how it would look during the day (it looks orange at night and red in the day), and I believe that's what gave this photo the unique look compared to the billion other golden gate bridge pictures out there (it's supposedly the most photographed landmark in the world).

#2: 400iso, f/4, 1/5s

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My first time using external lighting, this pic finally won me a beyond theme contest. I'd like to think it's my photography skills, but I'm pretty sure I got a lot of "beyond horny votes" for this one lol. The night before this shot was taken, I had pictured in my head exactly what I wanted to shoot here and how I wanted the picture to look. Other than the pose, this turned out exactly how I envisioned it... I wanted a more abstract post (think anime cartoon chicks) but it didn't really work with this dress. It took about 15 minutes to setup the lights and camera, and about 1 minute to get this shot. I was really happy with how quickly I was able to go from idea to photo exactly the way I wanted it.

#3: 800iso, f/4, 1/3s

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This was my first good picture I've ever taken with a DSLR. I had just gotten my camera, and was messing around with the settings, taking a picture of Kerry while he was rockin' out. I had just watched Black Snake Moan, and there was a really cool B&W picture of Samuel L and Christina Ricci that I wanted to duplicate. My house has horrible lighting at night, and so I grabbed every portable lamp I had and aimed it from the other side of the room over to Kerry. I snuck under the pool table and ended up with this shot. This was definately a lucky shot, I knew nothing about composition, or lighting, and it just turned out really nice. In post processing, I decided not to do B&W, as this had a much better impact.

Honorable Mention: 250iso, f/8, 25s

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This picture was shot right before the golden gate bridge picture. It was a very difficult shot, as there was a lot of traffic on this street. It took forever to find a 25s gap in traffic. The exposure ended up perfect, capturing every detail I wanted (it looked a LOT darker in real life), and was a very sharp picture. Again, didn't have my tripod, this was shot on a park bench. The lighting of the parked cars with the streetlight made it look amazing.

Now, goals for 2009. I'll probably be taking less photos in 2009 as I begin to transition into video. I'm still rounding up equipment for video so it might be a while before I get there, but hopefully by years end I will have a few 5 minute short movies under my belt.

[BlackArcher101]

2008 was a chance for me to get some better storm photos. I do quite a bit of storm chasing and this years excelled a lot better than '07 primarily because I found myself in the rights spots more often. All are taken with my P&S A630, handheld. In 2009 I have already purchased a Canon XSi and I plan on purchasing some lenses and focus more on wide-angle shooting.


#1 - While travelling back home from a chase I came across the remnants of a storm spinning on a horizontal axis instead of the usual vertical, forming a tube.




#2 - Lightning striking Red Deer. My first "good" lightning photo I was able to take. The aperature was probably too large which gave me the nasty bloom, but I'm still pretty happy with it.




#3 - Storm Panographic. A very fast moving storm which passed over me less than a minute after taking the photos. Too dark but it's my #3 because it's my first to be "published" in a public paper.

[mboldt]

This year was a pretty drastic change for me compared to 2007, if you look at the top 3 images of 2007 thread, my post is all band images. This year I started to shoot automotive. Since the start of summer I have come a long long way and covered more ground than I ever have before. Successfully reached all of my goals this year which were: build my own rig, hit 100k hits on my Flickr in 6 months, shoot a feature for a bigger magazine, and win long shots, shot of the month. I am really proud of what I have achieved in the one season of shooting automotive I've had so far and can't wait for next year.

Goals for next year are to be acknowledged by Nikon as a pro shooter, score a cover feature, shoot regularly for magazines I am talking with and I've got a few photo contests I'll be aiming for. Also looking to get a lot of traveling done near the end of 2009 and take some photos when doing that. I am also going to try to get more into fashion and corporate work this year, not focusing entirely on weddings or cars... and possibly get into video

Anyways, here are my images.

#1 Self Portrait


First time out with my suction cups and playing with lengthened exposures and motion blur. Learnt a lot from this image, also received a lot of acknowledgement for it.

#2


Teaser from my first ever feature shoot for a magazine. (no processing in this shot yet! have to wait for the actual mag for the finished product!)

#3


One of my favorite rig shots... I learned a lot from post processing when doing this image =)

[962 kid]

Same as everyone else for me... 2008 = big year. Stepped up to my first (and second) DSLR, covered a bazillion show jumping events, and got my first 2 paying shoots. I won my first beyond contest (and then improved on my entry after ), did a couple photoshoots for friends' cars and went on a bit of a phototour in Yellowstone, only to learn the lesson that I should back up my images on more than one HD Starting January 09, I'm enrolled in a landscape photography course with Darwin Wiggett, so hopefully I should have my skill bank a little more stocked up when I go down again next year :P

My personal favorite:



Beyond contest entry:



Shot from my first paying shoot:

[89coupe]

I like my pano's.


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[flipstah]

I got my first SLR in 2008 and many, MANY rolls later, I learned a lot from it. Spent a lot too in the process but I wouldn't trade it for the world! People have been transistioning away from film but through it, I felt more appreciative of the shots I took and the precision that is required to get that 'perfect shot.' I've wasted a lot to appreciate a few and once again, I wouldn't change one thing.

I'm still learning from the process but hopefully, through everyone's critiques and through trial and error, I get better and excel like some of the people here on Beyond.







Honorable Mention

[teggypimp95]

Well 2008 was not my best photo year. Did not get out with the camera as much as I had hoped. I am really looking forward to taking alot more pictures in 2009 and hopefully learning some new skills along the way.

Here is my top 3 favorites of 2008.

The first photo was taking a picture of a plante in front of a window, the next 3 was a long day at Sea World, Florida.








And 1 for Honorable Mention- I just loved the way the Dolphin smiled when i was taking his picture.

[Melinda]

I had a tough time choosing my 3 this year. I spent a lot of time in Banff and surrounding areas this year doing landscape stuff and had some great luck there, but I thought I'd pick photos that represented new areas of photography that I got into this year. I've expanded my event coverage and portrait work to be a little more broad, taken on new subjects and situations. These three represent different situations which were particularly challenging to work with to begin with and I feel that I learned a lot from them.

Salsa dancing- I was asked to photograph the Calgary Salsa Congress in January of 08. I was totally blown away at the speed of the dancing and how difficult it was to capture those graceful poses within each dance. Intially it was a huge challenge to really get anything good, but with a little bit of time and a lot of focus, the weekend ended up being totally awesome. We've actually been asked to come back and shoot the event again in 09 This was one of my best shots of the weekend





Boxing- A portrait shoot done just before christmas this year. This guy was off to provincials the weekend following this and wanted some photos to send to his mom who lives in another city. This shoot was challenging for a few reasons. 1) the speed 2)capturing the right emotion for the moment 3) I was 9 months pregnant when I shot these photos. The whole shoot actually turned out really well, and this was one of my favorites. I chose it as one of my top 3 partially because of what I had to go through to get it. I was laying on the floor beneath the bag, and at 9 months pregnant, that's not comfortable OR easy!





Babies- Pretty self explanitory as to why babies are a new relm of photography all on their own. Wiggling moody things that don't understand the commands of "smile!" or "look over here!" haha. This little man was 1 month old at this shoot and believe it or not, screaming almost the entire time I was shooting him. Some of the shots we got were amazing, but I loved this one because of the expression on his face and the dramatic effect of the post processing. Definitely looking forward to doing more work with children, looks like I now have the perfect model to use any time I want!





Honourable Mention- Shot at the Columbia Icefields on a trip to Maligne Canyon. Perfect day, I absolutely love this shot

[3g4u]

Füßen deutschland

Moab Utah

Karlovy Most Praha

[n1zm0]

^jebus the castle is insane, whats it called?

[3g4u]

It is quite the amazing castle. It is called Neuschwanstein, or Mad King ludwigs fairy tale castle.

[smc]

Picking only the best three is impossible, but I have chosen three that I like.







This year I am going to Nigeria, Kenya and Tanzania in March!!

[Gibson]

In no particular order...

First:

I'm going to put this picture in here in one of my top 3. This picture, while not a technically spectacular picture by any stretch, was my first really excellent rolling shot. Obviously there is a lot of room for improvement...the sky is overexposed and looks a bit funny from a tad too much saturation, but other then that it makes my car look rather good I think.





Second:

Some of you will recognize this as the "movement" themed August 2008 beyond.ca photo contest winner. When I look at this image, I can hear and feel movement as though it was happening in real time. It was shot on an overcast fourth day of a camping trip, and I was rather tired and just killing time while waiting for some people to return so I could leave. I had tried this technique before but was never really satisfied with the results until this image.




Third:

I took this picture while on assignment to shoot the Remembrance Day ceremony at Centennial park. The girl disappeared before could get her name, but I was still able to use it as a "feature photo" for my class assignment.



Honorable Mention:

Another of my "feature photos." This same girl actually made it into the Calgary Sun the day after this picture was taken by a photographer about 10 minutes prior to when I arrived.

[Dirty_SOHC]

My goal this year was just to improve my photography. I did a lot of random shooting and had a pretty good year. Here are my top three of 2008

1. On one of my many drives to K country with my wife we pulled off on the side of the road and found this lake. Perfect day and I got a great (in my opinion) picture.

2. I shot some fall maple leaves on a trip to Montreal this year. One of them actually won me the monthly photo contest for “light”. I had fun playing with the setting sun in the background while taking this picture and the results really impressed me.

3. My biggest challenge this year was to start taking photos of people. I learned the hard way that is it way harder than taking photos of nature or landscapes. This was a shoot I did of my wife during her last months of pregnancy. Everyone who has seen this picture has picked it out of the bunch as their favorite.


Honorable mention

4. Another favorite from the maternity shoot. The lighting was a fun challenge and the results turned out really well.

[95EagleAWD]

Three of mine.

My parents bought me a Rebel XTi when I graduated my BMQ course in the military, so I had it out quite a bit this year. None of these have any post processing.

Canada Place in Vancouver at night is beautiful. I was there for a week with friends getting his STi tuned at Rocket Rally and it was a great trip. I was bored at 2 am, so I took a walk down to the waterfront and got this one.



The Skyhawks at the Edmonton Indy. This was only luck that I got him perfectly aligned with the picture, but I love this shot.



Ferrari oil cap. I like this one quite a bit as well. Just trying to capture that magic and beauty that makes a Ferrari, a Ferrari.

[Thud]

I took way to many pictures this year and many I like but only 3...pfffft so unfair
My fav drifting picture that I took this year, I just love watching cars do this so close it's so much better than sitting with the crowd.


I took hundreds of lighting shots this year and did some storm chasing and had fun doing it, this picture was taken during a nasty set of storms that wraped around the city and many of the stires were twins.
Facing east towards sherwood park


Once apon a time I use to use film SLR then one day I got a digi SLR and went out that night and took pictures of the fireworks for Canada day, worked out rather well.


2009 is gonna be crazy for pictures and I hope I get to take atleast 10,000 of them from everywere i can go.

[D'z Nutz]

Damn it, I kept forgetting to add mine.

Anyways, here's my 3 picks (in no particular order):

First dance from my 080808 wedding.


TTD shot from a destination wedding in Mexico I was hired for earlier last year. I don't use teles, so I was right there in the water with them. The staff and guests at the resort really enjoyed watching, so we were sorta celebrities for the day! Haha


From a boudoir shot I was hired to for. Not exactly the favorite shot from the set, but it's one of the few I'm willing to post on pervcentral.ca out of respect for the client's identity.


I think the only goals I have this year is to cut back on photography related spending: anything and everything I buy has to be funded either from photography work or by selling unneeded equipment. This even includes minor things like paper/prints, memory, film, etc.... Since I rarely do (expensive) gear acquisitions anyways, it shouldn't be too difficult. I'm already in the green! Haha

The only other goal I have is to start doing my own E-6 processing. After that, I can officially boycott Vistek forever