Chuck’s Top 10 Photographs of 2017

I suppose this year, more than any other in my photographic adventures, really symbolized my ability to survive against all odds.  No matter what was thrown up against me, i still found a way to get my cameras into the world and capture the beauty and awesomeness of 2017.

And every year at around this time, I also reflect back at what I’ve captured, how I’ve captured it, and what I went through at that time.  So here, for the first time in my new blog portal, are ten images I’ve captured in 2017.  And they include…

FAITH AND FROST

What a way to start off 2017.  Hobble on a broken foot up to Essex County, and capture a snow-covered chapel at the old Frontier Town amusement park.  Man, I hope that when the new Adirondack visitors center is built on that site, they find a way to preserve and restore that chapel.  As for Competition Season 2017 … this image picked up Honorable Mention at the Big E.

WHAT THE GRASSHOPPER SAW

Nothing like putting your Nikon Df in a tulip field and using a Kenko 180° lens attachment to create towering tulip bulbs against a cloudy sky.  This was my first-ever silk garnered at the Iowa State Fair’s photo competition (third place, category “What’s Up?”) and it also snagged an Honorable Mention at the Durham Fair.

STONE, SALTWATER, SURF AND SEAGULLS

The morning after my Stir Crazy team won the World Tavern Trivia championships in Atlantic City, I ventured to an old stone jetty off the Atlantic City coast … waited for the sun to try to peek through the overhead clouds, and instead captured some seagulls at flight and at play.  This picture took silk at the Big E and at the Durham Fair, one of two images to claim double silks in Competition Season 2017 for me.

CORINTH RESERVOIR WITH MILKY WAY

I used a super-long exposure to get the Milky Way in the sky, while at the same time I “light painted’ the trees and Corinth Reservoir sign with the flashlight in my BlackBerry camera phone.  That’s cooperation.  This piece sold at the Trask Art Show in Saratoga Springs, which means that the Saratoga Springs Preservation Society has a little extra cash to preserve those monuments and architectures.

MUGSHOTS BRO LEADS THE WAY

One of my successful captures with my super-telephoto mirror lens, I caught this shot at the Saratoga Harness track where Mugshots Bro (in the white-blue hood) went from last to first to win the race.  Oh yeah, and I won a few dollars betting on that stallion to win.

THE CUMULO-NIMBUS ECLIPSE

I spent a year preparing for the solar eclipse.  And through all the challenges – travel, lens choice, the cloud cover – I was able to amass this sweet five-images exposure for my efforts.  And as a last-second entry for the Durham Fair, it picked up an honorable mention.  Super sweet.

J-MAC AND KATIE

These lovebirds tied the knot in a beautiful and stirring wedding, and I was so happy to attend their ceremony.  Plus, once I posted this picture on social media, the photo went viral through all their friends.  That’s awesome in and of itself.

THE MAHARI STREAM

I came across this stream while visiting the mountains in Washington State.  And I got this glistening, swirling capture without using an ND filter … simply by bracing my camera against a bridge rail, shrinking the f-stop to f/11, cranking down the exposure, and exposing for half a second.  Half a second may not seem like a long time … but in photography, that’s long enough to blur the water and get this great shot.

THE LEICA TOURIST

In the same way that Tenzing Norgay was the first to be photographed atop Mount Everest, my restored Leica M3 – nicknamed “Leica Green” – made it to Mount Rainier in Washington State, and I wanted a good photograph of the scene.  Composition-wise, it could be competition-worthy in 2018, yes?

THE ADIRONDACK HIGH PEAKS FROM THE BOREAS PONDS

And to round out my Top 10 photographs of 2017, I have this image that was a reclamation of a goal – to return to the secluded Boreas Ponds in the Adirondack Mountains and re-capture its stunning beauty.  I didn’t get the Milky Way shot I wanted … but this one is just as strong, I believe.

And there’s what i feel were my top ten photos taken during 2017.  I hope that some of them are your favorites as well.

Of course, now I have to look toward 2018 and the shots I can capture during that time.  That should be lots of fun.  Yes?