Your favourite photo of 2021 (taken by you), and why

[robert blu]

A difficult selection but after some thinking this was my favourite.

A photo of my wife I took last januarywhen we were in a semilockdown and only allowed for a short walk in the neighborhood or for a real essencial reason.

It reminds me of how bad it was , how much fear we had each time we were out of our home compared to now and reminds me to be grateful to be still here.
In the same time reminds me the enemy, the sniper is still around...


Thanks Lynn for starting this thread.

 

[raid]

Going through this pandemic occupied my mind a lot, and while we did not experience lock downs as Robert and his wife have gone through, it was mentally challenging to stay optimistic and somehow pretend that all was well. I took my family to San Francisco last May. The travel was to somehow compensate for not being able to travel as in the past summers. Here is my family walking away from China Town towards downtown San Francisco.Safety comes first.

 

[jordan.dickinson]

Leica MD-262
Leica 21mm f3.4 Super Elmar-M ASPH

Dogs and Lions - Mission Beach, CA
I love this one just because I finally decided to step out of my 2020 hiding, and joined a local photo group for a meetup event. We walked Mission Beach/Pacific Beach and I got so into shooting that day with other good people that it helped open up some new found street photography courage. This ended up being one of my favorite images I've ever shot, 2021 or not. Hoping to continue this new found boldness in photographing strangers up close in 2022 and beyond.




Leica Q2
Leica 28mm f1.7 Summilux ASPH

Glacier National Park
I just happened to see this tree on the drive down Going to the Sun Road in Glacier National Park. My wife always lets me (with some reservation) to pull the car over at anytime and without warning. She is amazingly supportive of my random "photo opportunities" and I've gotten to the point where if I see a photograph, I try to take it. I hate thinking about missed shots, and I do often. This time I got one that I truly love looking at.




Leica M9 Monochrom
Leica 50mm f1.0 Noctilux ver.4

My Lovely Joy on NYE 2021
And this last one, taken of my very supportive and lovely wife Joy, on New Years Eve. Since we couldn't really go out and participate in the festivities, we decided to do some indoor photos while drinking champagne and enjoying each other's company. Taken on 12/31/21 and I can't wait for many more new years celebrations with her.

 

[RichC]

A favourite photo from my White Lady (Ladi Wen) project, based on a Welsh myth - the only photographic project I did in 2021 because of Covid.

 

[Muggins]

I don't post a lot of photos here as really I'm a muddler who enjoys old gear rather than a photographer (whereas Vince Lupo combines both beautifully with his Ermanox stuff - I'm not jealous, no, not at all, honest). My main photo outlet is following my cricket team - I take photos at all our matches and put a photobook together at the end of the year. I knew this one was going in as soon as I saw it come off the memory card - despite it being taken at only the second match of the season!

Here's the rub - that's taken with a 400mm lens. I spotted her trying to keep warm on a bitterly cold day (it snowed during the first game of the season... this is s a "summer" sport!) and I rather think she spotted me as well - it's hard not to look suspicious carrying that thing! But the light models her face perfectly, it's as good as anything I've taken deliberately. And a pic of it in the book for context.

Chilly day! by gray1720, on Flickr

IMG_7245 by gray1720, on Flickr

ETA - I'm not randomly papping passers by with a bloomin' great lens, she's one of our players - see below! That's me on the left, BTW, I didn't take that one...

IMG_7242 by gray1720, on Flickr

 

[rhl-oregon]

Although it has been a second dispiriting year of contagion, ignorance, extremism, and unwonted quarantine, my daughter gave birth to a daughter and they crossed the continent for a visit in late summer. Sarah, Olivia, and Breena, M10M, Summilux 50.

 

[nikon_sam]

 

[Richard G]

Fantastic portrait Vince. Such energy in that figure.

 

[Vince Lupo]

Fantastic portrait Vince. Such energy in that figure.

Many thanks Richard -- fortunately I have subjects who are willing to put up with me (mostly!).

 

[peterm1]

This is a photo taken by me but not actually taken in 2021. With the prevalence of COVID lockdowns and masks and empty streets (and lack of opportunity to travel to foreign climes) I have not found 2021 terribly fruitful, photographically speaking.

I actually took this shot in 2016 while in Bali and never did anything much with it. It was a pleasant color photo but not particularly outstanding or different - just your typical lovely tropical sunset shot with a single solitary yacht on an otherwise empty sea. But I did decide to try something different with it in 2021 (as I have with a number of my photos during this dessert of photography that I am enduring) and reprocessed it as a black and white image. And here I think it is something new and much better. The solitary yacht somehow complements the vastness of those dramatic clouds.

Silver sea, Jimbaran Bay, Bali by Life in Shadows, on Flickr

 

[Nokton48]

Easton Stilt Girl 21mm Rokkor QH XX 2 by Nokton48, on Flickr

Second Exposure. I yelled out " ONE TWO THREE" and got it just right this time Difficult to catch at the "decisive moment". SRT with mirror lockup engaged, 21mm Rokkor QH Eastman XX 5222 Minolta Yellow filter D23 1:1 This lens has replaced my 19mm Canon RF lens. I think I like it just as well.

 

[JohnWolf]

I'll go with this one of my son (left) and friends visiting us over the summer.

The last two years have been about separations and unions, with the latter way too infrequent.

May this year change that for all of us.

John

 

[DwF]

Very nice Nikon_Sam!

 

[boojum]

This is a stormy day along the Columbia River. The view is south from Washington to Oregon, just a little bit east of the Astoria - Megler bridge. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astoria–Megler_Bridge) The blues are wonderful. This is with a Leica M9, Canon 28mm LTM f/2.8 at f/5.6.

The "sticks" in the photo are pilings left from the salmon processing sheds along the river now long gone, along with the huge salmon.

 

[lynnb]

Marvelous photos in this thread.. thanks everyone for the great photos and stories. Please keep them coming!

I'll go with this one of my son (left) and friends visiting us over the summer.

The last two years have been about separations and unions, with the latter way too infrequent.

May this year change that for all of us.

John

John I wish I'd taken that beautiful group portrait.


This is my favourite colour photo from 2021. Winter at Dee Why beach, Sydney. I liked its painterly look, and the colour palette - taken with a Fujifilm Instax Mini camera.

 

[nickthetasmaniac]

It couldn've been a bunch of shots from this trip, but I'll go with this one.... Travel has always been a big part of our life, and covid has obviously hit hard in that respect. This was from a two week roadtrip we took during Easter, exploring regional Victoria and New South Wales. It was the first time in nearly two years that we managed to get away from Tassie.

Perry Sandhills | New South Wales

Rolleiflex 2.8D and Ektar100

 

[Ccoppola82]

This was a hard one. We decided to "invest" in a camper. It's likely quite the opposite of an investment in the tradtional sense of the term. It IS an investment in experiences we get to have with our children. My son had been craving socializing with kids and playgrounds, but they were all closed. This little girl and him just bonded instantly and for 3 days they were inseparable. It was beautiful watching them play like we used to...by the shine of a flashlight until parents told us to go inside....