Best of 2021

 

Ah, welcome to my wrap-up of 2021, the year that was. I wish I could say it was a great year. I wish I could say it was the year the pandemic crawled away. Alas, it was a year anyway, so it has that going for it. What can I say about 2021 that hasn’t already been said? Maybe, “embrace the suck!” That pretty much sums it up, although there were a few bright spots here and there. 

For the photos, starting at the top and working down: 

10 – Swirls – this from the water gardens, it’s a close up detail of some pottery with the colors enhanced. I had been wanting to get some pottery shots over at the gardens and this kind of fit the bill. Originally shot for the “Chase the Light” exhibition, it ended up making the cut for my top 10 list this year. 

9 – Leaves – also from the water gardens, also from “Chase the Light” this is a close up detail of a more natural kind. Some nice leaves, clock in at number 9. I was going to take these out but then I promised I’d put them in so they clock in at number 9 on the list this year. 

8 – Homestead house – this is from an excursion I made over the summer. I snuck out between outbreaks of Covid in order to visit a local homestead. The house itself dates back to the 1800s and is a sort of living museum, showcasing how folks in Texas lived back in the day. A nod to my love of architecture, this clocks in at number 8 on the yearly list. 

7- Two Buddha Heads – another from the water gardens, also more pottery. This one a bench that serves as a prep area. I thought the light rather nice and, of course, I love the Buddha heads so there you go. It’s now number 7 on my list. Oooommmm. 

6 – Stark – now here’s an interesting twist. Playing with the iPhone this time and making pretty pictures. Stark, a wild experiment, ended up tickling my fancy so it clocks in at number 6 on the list for 2021. 

5 – Twinkling Lights of Bethlehem – Late in the year, I got word that a local resident had built a city in his backyard. Being a lover or architecture, now, that’s my kind of guy! I was lucky enough to get in and shoot for a day and now we have number 5 on the list. Isn’t that grand? Actually, no wait. Isn’t that to scale? Um, er, it’s number 5 and I’ll leave it at that.

4 – Gingerbread Family, Holiday Lights – Holiday lights were a big thing for me this year. I wanted to get out in December and play! This from an old familiar location for holiday lights. I managed to get over there right before the holiday. We were lucky in that it was a mild holiday season. Shooting Christmas lights in 70 degree days made it easier to go out several times, for sure. The little gingerbread family hops in at number 4 on my list. 

3 – Realism Left – more holiday lights, this time getting more abstract. For the Christmas lights, this year, I had a vision. I wanted to do very abstract paint with light style images. Kind of like what you see here, this was an idea I had. I guess it came to pass, as it’s now number 3 on my list. 

2 – Red Swirl – among other things, 2021 was the year of the abstract for me. This was another iPhone creation, this time playing with the image, manipulating it with my hands to make what you see here. I love playing with these. This little series is inspired by Venetian marbled paper, which I loved to watch them make when I was over in the land with the canals and boats (got to have boats.) This red swirl clocks in at number 2 on my list. 

1 – Snow Day – an iPhone image tops my 2021 list and it’s also one from our horrible blizzard. Phew! What a time we had. It was like days without power. The phone lines went down. The snow kept falling. In the end? We had a lot of fun and enjoyed it! Yup, you read that right. This snow day tops my list as my favorite image from 2021 even if my hands were cold in the making. 

So, there you have it. 2021 in a nutshell. And I do mean nut as in, “it was nuts!” Let’s hope 2022 finds us all safe, happy, healthy, and back behind the lens yet again. 

Until next time…

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