Happy New Year!
Welcome 2017
Photo #2
I’m still sorting through the Whale pictures. I went on quite a few whale watches this summer so there are a ton of pictures. I eliminated all of the flukes and tails because I have lots of those so they lack that “special” quality I’m looking for.
This one is another surface feeding humpback. I like this because of the boat in the background and the shoreline. It gives you as reference point for size and the relationship to the shore. The water depth is relatively shallow where these whales are feeding.
Check out all of the gulls flying around hoping for an easy dinner.
Photo Number 1
Although I called this Photo Number 1, I don’t mean it’s necessarily the best. I mean it’s the first photo to make the cut.
This is a photo of a humpback whale “Surface feeding” as he skims the surface with his mouth open, the baleen strains the water out leaving the tiny fish and krill in his jaws.
The photo is sharp, can be enlarged and caught an unusual subject. It’s not everyday you see a whale feeding like this.
Baleen – Stellwagon Banks, Massachusetts Bay, MA
Anyone who knows me understands that I have a fascination with humpback whales. I’ve been following them and whale watching for over 30 years. This season was one of the best whale watch season I can remember. I even saw my first breaching whale. Unfortunately it was too far away for the picture I got to pass the top 10 criteria test.
Humpback Breaching, Stellwagon Bank, Massachusetts
Top 10 2015
To help get into the spirit of my top 10 search, here are the top 10 from 2015. Several have been enlarged and framed. A couple of the bird photos hang in my work place. Hopefully when I’ve gone through 2016 those 10 will be better than these. Hopefully.
Bayou Bridge , City Park, New Orleans
Egret, Orlando Florida
Egret #2, Orlando Florida
Hungry Egret with Hot Dog, Orlando FL
Great Blue Heron, Herring Run , Middleboro, MA
Germany (Epcot). Walt Disney World, Orlando FL
Cinderella’s Castle in “Ice”, Walt Disney World, Orlando FL
King of Beasts, Animal Kingdom, Disney World, Orlando FL
Rain Forest, New Orleans Aquarium
New Orleans Cemetery
So that’s the “bar” Let’s see what I managed to capture in 2016 and how they will compare.
Its That Time Again
New Years is right around the corner. A blank sheet of paper if you will. Lots of people will be looking back over 2016 and setting goals for 2017. There will be the usual “lose weight”, “quit smoking”, “be nice to the neighbor” and so on. I’ll probably make some “resolutions” too. After all, a little introspection is a good thing but I tend to think of this week between Christmas and New Years as a time to wade through a whole year’s worth of photos.
Red Fox on a rock
Most of my pictures are of the snap shot variety. I grab the camera and try to capture a moment, maybe something to share here but every now and then I try to get that special picture. One that makes me say ahhhh.
It gets harder and harder to get those special pictures. Everybody has a camera and everybody thinks they are a “pro”. Just this kind of atmosphere raises the bar.
I’m reviewing my pictures for that special , indefinable quality that makes them a “cut above”. I want to find the 10 best.
They have to be in focus, with lots of pixels so they can be blown up to gallery print size, and they need to be special in some way.
So for the next few days I’m going to share my pictures as I search for those special top 10.
Some of these are pretty good but I don’t think they will make the cut. We’ll see.