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regnaD kciN

(26,035 posts)
Fri Dec 30, 2011, 07:50 AM Dec 2011

2011: A Look Back

Time for my annual photo retrospective. For those of you who haven't seen one of these before, I always have two rules in building this collection:

1) One photo per month.
2) None of which has been shown on DU before.

Normally, at this point, I gripe about how difficult it's been to choose this year, because I tend to post every good image I shoot here. This year, it was even harder...but not for the usual reason. Rather, since most of my photo posts this year we on DU2, I honestly have no idea which images I posted here already and which I didn't. So, when making picks, I had to work on the principle of "if there's even a slight chance this photo got posted, leave it out." Nonetheless, there's a slight chance that I may have inadvertently included an already-displayed image in this thread; if so, my apologies for not living up to my usual standards.

January starts off with the actual first photo I took all year, at the city plaza in Renton, Washington, a few hours before work crews arrived to take down the lights.




In February, a trip to the San Diego Wild Animal Park (I still refuse to call it the "Safari Park" ) brought an image of these two, just lion' around.




March, in this La Niña year, provided less early blooming than usual; nonetheless, I was able to capture Chained Beauty.




La Niña or no, April is always "tulip month" in the Northwest, and this year didn't disappoint, even though they arrived a couple of weeks later than usual.




May brought my first serious Water Falling Over Things trip, this time up to Bellingham for Whatcom Falls.




June continued the water theme, with Rocky Brook Creek on the Olympic Peninsula.




July was for the birds, as a trip to a Sequim lavender farm brought a bonus of a few (caged) peacocks on the property. (You know you're old when the first thing that comes to mind upon seeing a peacock in full display is "this program is being brought to you in living color on NBC." )




August brought the "sunset for the ages," subject of another thread. The evening before, we had a somewhat-less-impressive sunset, but a returning fishing boat showed up at just the right time.




Because of the aforementioned La Niña, the usual August wildflower shows on Mount Rainier got delayed until September. Thus is was that I got up at an ungodly hour on, yes, 9/11, with plans to be at Reflection Lakes for sunrise. These plans lasted until I got to the southeast park entrance and discovered, unbelievably, that the National Park Service had already closed Stevens Canyon Road for the year, making access to my planned location impossible. Needing a "Plan B," I wound up at Tipsoo Lake on Chinook Pass in the pre-dawn hours, in time to catch this view of Orion.




Late October brought the (once again, delayed) first signs of fall color, with this view of Middle Tumwater Falls.




But the foliage didn't turn in the Seattle area until November, as seen in this shot from Kuboda Garden.




Finally, we end the year as we began it, with December bringing the spectacular Garden D'Lights display at Bellevue Botanical Gardens.




8 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
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2011: A Look Back (Original Post) regnaD kciN Dec 2011 OP
Thanks for sharing these and putting them together like this. Burgman Dec 2011 #1
Very, very nice. nt flamin lib Dec 2011 #2
Beautiful shots - TBF Dec 2011 #3
You get a big rec from me! I enjoyed the trip very much. Little Star Dec 2011 #4
2011 NV Whino Dec 2011 #5
A very nice selection... regnaD kciN Jan 2012 #6
Great Kitty Photo - but here are my favorites: Mira Jan 2012 #8
Very much enjoy your retrospective with Mira Jan 2012 #7

NV Whino

(20,886 posts)
5. 2011
Sat Dec 31, 2011, 04:45 PM
Dec 2011

I started off the year with the goal to shoot one photo a day. I got off to a roaring start, but pooped out about June. In spite of pooing out, I still benefitted from an enforced shooting schedule.

January—Winter dogwood


February—Frost on my neighbor's steps


March—Rain (apologies, I may have posted this one)


April—First leaves


May—Owl clover


June—Fog in the vineyards


July—Early morning dew jeweling up a web


August—Brought a trip to Sonoma with friends and a fabulous meal at a Portugese restaurant behind the square


September—A little wabi-sabi


October—Running late this year and not ready for harvest


November—It was a great fall for color


December—Evening light with liquid amber still holding on to its leaves


And a gratuitous kitty picture just for the hell of it. This is Millie being Millie.

Mira

(22,378 posts)
8. Great Kitty Photo - but here are my favorites:
Mon Jan 2, 2012, 10:23 AM
Jan 2012

Jan.: overall color/placement/differing focus: LOVE IT
March: so wet, so intriguing: "Stay away for now, just let me soak"
June: Amazing fog, haunting
October: I think the rolling greens are phenomenal, remind me of South American places
November:I like the vantage point from where you shot it

Thank you for these. They rock.

I forgot to mention the August shot with the glaringly prominent negative space.
You did good!

Mira

(22,378 posts)
7. Very much enjoy your retrospective with
Mon Jan 2, 2012, 10:14 AM
Jan 2012

a monthly photo of your work throughout the year. I scrolled and studied the lineup 3 times and surprisingly found myself happiest with the sunset image. Happy New Year regnaD kciN!

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