testmeat photoblog

there seems to be a tradition among photoblogs, and various other sites as well, to compile a retrospective 'best of' at the end of each year. this is something that i haven't really adopted, the closest i came was a couple of years ago when i did a 12 months of gigging post. well this december i'm a little more organised, and i'm also prouder of the shots i've taken in this calender year. i did an alphabetic best of at the start of the month, and 5 of those have made it onto this list. if you're viewing this on a regular, non-mobile computer you can click on each image to go to the original entry. if not then there are some links with the thoughts below:

• january - smoke mountain
  i've seen a few volcanoes this year, this was the only one that was smoking, and when the sun was setting it turned into a magical sight. i processed this so that it would look exactly as it did with my eyes at the time
• february - did you love this town... and this town not love you?
  for me this shot is a perfect example of why people photos work so much better when the person doesn't know you're taking it. i love his body languange, expression and honesty
• march - mercifully free of the pressures of grace
  i took thousands of photos at the gualeguaychu carnival using my 50mm prime lens. it's a fiddly lens with no auto-focus so i had to discard a lot of them for being a bit blurry. i'm so glad that this wasn't one of them, read the original post and you'll see why this was my funniest moment of the year
• april - salar de uyuni
  the salt flats in bolivia are a magical place, and i think this is more true for the months when it's wet. the endless horizons combined with perfect reflections create a huge mirror and make this the best landscape i've seen all year
• may - wonder what we're doing here
  not only is this my favourite photo of the year, but also my favourite photo on this website which by extension makes it my favourite photo that i've taken. i was still getting used to taking star-trail photos, and as with all long exposure shots it was somewhat of a mystery how it would turn out. far better than i could have hoped for
• june - pretty girls make graves
  i've seen plenty of parades and festivals this year, i think every week there's a celebration of some sort somewhere in the continent. i remember i was pretty under the weather during this one in la paz, but i forced myself to push through the crowds and a pretty smiling face was my reward
• july - newborn
  i've done quite a lot of trekking this year, and ascending to over 6000m proved to be the most difficult. i was shattered upon reaching the summit and completely empty after the subsequent descent. but despite walking desperately slow i still managed to beat the sun and saw the best sunrise of my life
• august - martin
  volunteering at la senda verde was an unforgettable experience and martin became my favourite animal of the year. we went for walks, played games and fed each other - i gave him fruit and nuts, he gave me sticks and leaves. it was tough to say goodbye
• september - perpetual motion machine
  i liked the simplicity of both the composition and processing in this shot, and because of that it edges out my machu picchu shot for favourite of september
• october - a reflection of something we're missing
  i was proud of most of the photos i posted in november, but didn't have to think twice about choosing this as my favourite. this was another occasion where i'd been ill for some time and left the hostel for the first time in days, after the paraguayan stars i think it might be my favourite of the year
• november - to discover loss
  putting modesty aside again, which i guess you have to do in a post saying how great your photos are, i had a hard time choosing my pick of november. quite a few have worked there way to my favourites page but i like the atmosphere and feeling that this picture evokes
• december - little blue planet
  this is the most processed photo on the list, and part of me is including it because of the time i put in creating it. but i put that time in because i liked the symmetry, the colours and the sense of depth from the buildings

well that's the list, i'd be interested to know which you liked the best, or if there were any you others think should have been here. here's to a photogenic new year - have a good one

and here's a static/non clicky version