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Decision 2016: What's Your Favorite Photo?

What's your definition of a photographer? Is it someone who gets paid to take pictures? Is a hobbyist with a fancy Nikon? Or can someone with a good eye, some Instagram filters and an iPhone a photographer?

I'm not sure what the answer to my question really is. But my path to photography started back in January of 2015. I took a two part photography class by a local arts nonprofit, AVA. The goal was to enhance my professional skill set, learn the basics of a DSLR camera and save myself some professional headache. Working in the marketing and communication world, having great visuals is a must. I wanted to be able to produce those on my own; both ensuring I could capture high quality images for all my needs and provide cost savings and add value to my professional position.

From the instruction of that class and many hours taking and editing pictures on my own, I would say my photography skills are passable. I would like to invest in some better lenses in the future and continue to take some classes. I shoot on a Canon EOS Rebel SL1 and am pleased with my experience so far.

One thing I know about my photography is I'm not a people photographer. I'm fine capturing corporate events, but things like weddings and baby pictures terrify me. I enjoy nature forward photography: animals, water features, foliage, etc. I also enjoy city scape and urban/architectural focused photography.

So while none of my pictures would be classified as technically perfect or incredibly appealing to the masses in the image overloaded society we occupy, they do signal the growth in my ability to capture the beauty around me.

So people's choice award time, which is your favorite?

(Please note the images had to be scaled down to actually be loaded to the blog.)

 You'll note that a lot of my top choices are from my Iceland trip. Iceland is a photographer's dream!

Kirkjufell - Iceland

My family's cabin in Virginia, a very special place for me.

Caladiums on my front porch - the light was perfect and the pink on the leaves was intense. 

At Craven's House on Lookout Mountain.

An interesting sculpture piece at The Perlan, Iceland.

A graveyard in Vik, Iceland. The view the opposite way is the last picture on the post to give you some perspective.

These smaller, fluffier horses are all over Iceland. I think this was the moment they realized I had no food for them.


This is abandoned wreckage of a US Navy plane in Iceland.

The elusive Icelandic sheep. This was probably my 30th attempt at a sheep picture. For some reason, this little guy looked straight at me while the rest during our vacation ran when I tried to take pictures.

Spider under my porch. I loved the lines in this picture; both the straight linear lines of the porch railing, which are out of focus, yet haphazard lines of the spider's web and his limbs which are in focus. 

Vik, Iceland. 

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