My Top Ten Favorite Photos (that I’ve taken) of 2014…Part 2

This is a hard list to make.  I have a very strong connection to my work, and it is hard to single out images (or at least just ten of them!)  I’ve tried to include a mixture of images here:  animals, landscapes, portraits, a few fine art shots.  My work and interest is varied, and I thought this list should reflect that.  Most of these have had a fair bit of critical success and have been taken with a wide variety of lenses.  This list has shots taken at 14mm and 600mm, and just about everything in between!  If you would like to order prints of any of these, please contact me by clicking here.

#5 Foaming:

This is one of my favorite locations to shoot.  It is close to home, fairly easy to access in all weather conditions, and has been a gold mine because of a variety of elements that allow me to compose in a variety of ways.  It is perfectly situated along the Ottawa River for getting the light at dawn.  I shot a number of great images on this particular outing very early one morning using my Rokinon 14mm f/2.8 (the best bargain in wide angle lenses, period!)  It was one of the first real outings using my filter system for the lens.  This was my favorite of the series, however, both for the moody quality and the amazing effect of the skimming light on the froth from the river along the shore.  I had not seen this before…nor since.

#4 Crystalline:

I was very happy to get this shot as this period of time (November) is an “in between the seasons” period for us here in Canada and often isn’t the most pretty time of the year.  I was preaching for a wonderful elder minister in New Brunswick, and we had gone for a walk near the hunting camp of one of the members of the church.  We came upon this scene:  cold, crisp, and with the river’s surface as still as if it were frozen over already.  I used the excellent new Sigma 50mm f/1.4 ART lens for this shot.

#3 Basking:

Parc Omega in Quebec has become a “go-to” location for shooting wildlife.  I’ve now gone on multiple occasions when I am testing telephoto lenses.  One of my favorite subjects there are the Arctic Wolves.  They are beautiful animals, and this shot is perhaps my favorite wolf shot to date.  I loved the light on the lone wolf as he lay on an outcropping of rock amidst the greenery of summer.  I processed for a bit more mood, and got an image that is one of my favorite wildlife photos I have taken.  I shot this with one of my favorite lenses:  the Canon EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6L IS USM.

#2 Winter at f/1.4:

This was a favorite of the many exquisite images I was able to shoot with the astoundingly good Zeiss Otus 85mm f/1.4 Planar T* lens.  It is big, very expensive, heavy…and pure magic.  My review will come in the next week.  I loved using it, and the exquisite detail of this image taken during a snowstorm at a wide open aperture of f/1.4 ought to tell you why.  Incredible!

#1 Valley of Autumn:

Some pictures pretty much take themselves, and this one was in large part a matter of being in the right place at the right time.  I got up early as a beautiful sunrise was starting to break out.  Autumn is my favorite time of year to shoot, and the trees were resplendent in rich color, which was further enhanced by the gorgeous light.  I used a telephoto lens (my beloved Canon 70-300L) to compress the scene and bring the detail of several miles close enough to see.  The road swoops down into the valley, leading the eye right to the river and the province of Quebec beyond.  I have a number of other gorgeous images from this same scene that I have not yet shared.  This is, however, my favorite image that I took in the 2014…hmmm…or is it?

If you didn’t see images 6-10, please click here:

I hope you’ve enjoyed these today. I’ll be looking back at the top ten reviews of the year and also my top ten faves of new gear released in the past year. Watch also for the Zeiss Otus 85mm f/1.4 Planar T* review coming next week. It is the finest lens I have ever used!

Gear Used:

Canon EOS 6D DSLR Camera (Body Only)
EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6L IS USM Lens
Rokinon 14mm Ultra Wide-Angle f/2.8 IF ED UMC Lens For Canon
Sigma 50mm f/1.4 DG HSM Art Lens for Canon EF
Zeiss Otus 85mm f/1.4 Apo Planar T* ZE Lens for Canon EF Mount
Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 5 Software for Mac and Windows (Boxed Version)
Adobe Photoshop Creative Cloud 1-Year Subscription
Alien Skin Exposure 7

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