Well, I’ve been quite into my photography for about a year now. 2009 was quite a step for me. I brought my first dslr, 2 lenses, tripod and external flash. I met some fantastic people on NZFM, both online and at meetups, which for me is quite a challenge as i’m horribly shy in new situations. I’ve submitted a few entry’s for competitions and am taking on the challenge of Project365, up to Day 141 tonight.

As I follow quite a few photography blogs, I’ve noticed that many people have been listing their top photos from 2009, so I thought I might give it go. So counting down from #5:

#5: Voodoo Witch

This photo was taken at my Work Christmas party in 2009, dress theme being “Island Styles”. Caro (a good friend) is very photogenic. and makes for a stunning model. The photo itself has a little bit of colour touching ti bring out the redness in Caro’s cheeks, other than that it hasn’t been cropped or anything, framed within the camera.

#4: I Love You Light Graffiti

This photo was defiantly a challenge for me. I had seen a similar photo somewhere and wanted to give it a go. This took me about 2 hours and 50 photos to get it to a point i liked. Was one of the first real photos where I really had to understand how aperture works with long exposures (for you tech geeks, its f/22 with a 20sec exposure). No post processing.

Dedicated this photo to Rob as he wasn’t home that night and i was missing him.

#3: Looking to the Light

This photo needs to be credited to Simon (in the photo) as it was his idea. Simon and I were hanging out taking some pictures at Maratai Wharf when he suggested I turn off my flash and take some of him. The light source is a single street lamp at the end of the wharf. It had been a very contemplating conversational night we had been having, and Simons face reflects this well. From memory there was a little post processing to correct the light levels.

#2: Wee Little Arthur

Taken on the day I got my 50mm f/1.8 lens. This is my sisters cat, who usually hates people but I think it might have been feeding time so he was hanging around. I’d like to say that this was throughly planned with appeture and DOF etc, but the camera was on auto. I think I’d be able to recreate it now tho in a more manual setting. No post processing.

#1: Bloody Knife

This is my #1 photo of 2009. I think it’s part of the shock factor as to why I like it so much. I’d had the idea for a while, but it started out quite a bit different to the final thing. I like how the colors are primarily in the same range (red / brown / black) and also the reflections on both the glass and on the knife. Once again this photo was a learning curve for me, but I am thrilled with the result. Post processing was playing around with levels and contrast.

I’m excited to see where 2010 is going to lead me with my photography. I love picking up my camera and getting out and taking a photo or trying a new technique. 12 months ago I didn’t know nearly as much as I do now, and I’m sure that in another 12 months I’ll be saying exactly the same thing.