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The Year’s Best - 2011 

I wanted to put together a little collection of my favorite images of 2011. They’re in a slideshow format, so there isn’t a big write up of commentary and technical details with each one—just what you see in the captions. So take a look, most of them should be familiar to you but there are some there that may not! 

“2011 was a year in which I grew immensely in photography.” That’s something I say every year, except with 2009, 2010, etc. at the beginning. I think that for the rest of my life, I’ll probably be saying the same thing too. That is the great thing about photography, you’ve always got to be evolving, changing and adapting and that suits me very well.

This year I had the great fortune of traveling to some great new places, shooting some great new perspectives of old haunts and even getting in some portrait work. I’ve me some amazing people along the way and loved every bit of it.

I had a tough time trimming the list down, but my blog helped out by limiting the number of images I could include in the slide show :-)

Into The Lighthouse | Assateague Island, VA This is the entrance to the Assateague Lighthouse on Assateague Island, VA. It lies on the Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge, however it does not receive any government funds whatsoever for upkeep. The flaking paint that you see around the door exists all over the 142-foot tall structure. It was last painted in 1995, but as you can see, it didn’t hold up too well. A recent renovation, all funded by donations, refurbished the spiral staircase and observation deck so that the lighthouse can entertain climbers. Current donations and fees charged for climbing it are going toward further rehabbing, including a much needed paint job. I do enjoy it’s grungy look (it’s good for photography), but I hope to see it bright and shiny again someday soon! Join me on my other social networks: Facebook | Twitter | Flickr | 500px | Google+
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Into The Lighthouse | Assateague Island, VA

This is the entrance to the Assateague Lighthouse on Assateague Island, VA. It lies on the Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge, however it does not receive any government funds whatsoever for upkeep. The flaking paint that you see around the door exists all over the 142-foot tall structure. It was last painted in 1995, but as you can see, it didn’t hold up too well. A recent renovation, all funded by donations, refurbished the spiral staircase and observation deck so that the lighthouse can entertain climbers. Current donations and fees charged for climbing it are going toward further rehabbing, including a much needed paint job. I do enjoy it’s grungy look (it’s good for photography), but I hope to see it bright and shiny again someday soon!

Join me on my other social networks:

Facebook | Twitter | Flickr | 500px | Google+

Blue Hour Sunrise | Assateague Island, Virginia I can’t tell you how many times I tried to time the flash of the lighthouse just right, but I stood there shooting for a solid 15 minutes before I got a flare from the light that I liked. For those of you familiar with Assateague Island, you’ll understand what kind of a feat that is when you’re being mauled by mosquitoes! This is the Assateague Island Lighthouse just before sunrise on the Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge. The ocean was to my back, and immediately following this shot, I wheeled around and quickly got set back up to shoot the sun rising over the sea, which you can see here. This was part of my much beloved morning shoot with my mom and dad. Fun times! Not much to say, processing wise, on this one. It’s a single, long exposure- tripod mounted and remote triggered. Minimal work in Photoshop to clear up a little color cast in the upper clouds. That’s it. What you see is the same beautiful sight I saw that morning! Facebook  |  Twitter  |  Flickr  |  500px  |  Google+ ©2011 Zach Frailey
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Blue Hour Sunrise | Assateague Island, Virginia

I can’t tell you how many times I tried to time the flash of the lighthouse just right, but I stood there shooting for a solid 15 minutes before I got a flare from the light that I liked. For those of you familiar with Assateague Island, you’ll understand what kind of a feat that is when you’re being mauled by mosquitoes!

This is the Assateague Island Lighthouse just before sunrise on the Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge. The ocean was to my back, and immediately following this shot, I wheeled around and quickly got set back up to shoot the sun rising over the sea, which you can see here. This was part of my much beloved morning shoot with my mom and dad. Fun times!

Not much to say, processing wise, on this one. It’s a single, long exposure- tripod mounted and remote triggered. Minimal work in Photoshop to clear up a little color cast in the upper clouds. That’s it. What you see is the same beautiful sight I saw that morning!

Facebook  |  Twitter  |  Flickr  |  500px  |  Google+

©2011 Zach Frailey

‘Assateague Island Sunrise’ | Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge- Assateague Island, VA This image was shot just before the sunrise broke over the ocean on Assateague Island, VA. The water in the foreground is a tidal wetland that is connected to Tom’s Cove that is off frame to the right. As soon as the sun came up over the ocean (directly in the center of this photo) the water filled with many species of birds ready for breakfast. I shot this several minutes before the last image in this stream, ‘First Light.’ If you read that post, you saw that this was a special shoot for me because my parents came along.  A little about the island: Assateague is a 37 mile long barrier island that is split between Maryland and Virginia. The northernmost point of the island is separated from Ocean City, MD by a narrow inlet cut by a hurricane in 1933. After a 1962 storm destroyed the structures on the island, the planned development was halted and soon after Assateague became a National Seashore. On the Virginia side (where I visit), the island is home of the Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge which serves as a home for masses of migratory birds and other wildlife including the famous wild ponies, made famous by Marguerite Henry’s Misty of Chincoteague. The shot: Nikon D90, 18-105mm VR Nikkor lens, tripod held and remote triggered. Single exposure of 2.5 sec,  f/18. Edited in Photoshop CS4 with Nik Color Efex and Nik Viveza plug-ins. Unsharp mask and exported for web. ©2011 Zach Frailey
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‘Assateague Island Sunrise’ | Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge- Assateague Island, VA

This image was shot just before the sunrise broke over the ocean on Assateague Island, VA. The water in the foreground is a tidal wetland that is connected to Tom’s Cove that is off frame to the right. As soon as the sun came up over the ocean (directly in the center of this photo) the water filled with many species of birds ready for breakfast. I shot this several minutes before the last image in this stream, ‘First Light.’ If you read that post, you saw that this was a special shoot for me because my parents came along. 

A little about the island: Assateague is a 37 mile long barrier island that is split between Maryland and Virginia. The northernmost point of the island is separated from Ocean City, MD by a narrow inlet cut by a hurricane in 1933. After a 1962 storm destroyed the structures on the island, the planned development was halted and soon after Assateague became a National Seashore. On the Virginia side (where I visit), the island is home of the Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge which serves as a home for masses of migratory birds and other wildlife including the famous wild ponies, made famous by Marguerite Henry’s Misty of Chincoteague.

The shot: Nikon D90, 18-105mm VR Nikkor lens, tripod held and remote triggered. Single exposure of 2.5 sec,  f/18. Edited in Photoshop CS4 with Nik Color Efex and Nik Viveza plug-ins. Unsharp mask and exported for web.

©2011 Zach Frailey

First Light | Assateague Island, VA After a few days’ hiatus, I’m finally getting back into the swing of things. I spend a long weekend at Chincoteague Island, VA with my family and wife as we celebrated our wedding anniversary. My family has been going on vacation to Chincoteague since I was too little to walk, so I never miss a chance to meet up with them on the island. This visit wasn’t as ‘eventful’ as last year’s (read the blog post here) and that made it just about perfect. Before making the short four hour trip up the coast, I made a shot list of the things I wanted to photograph while on Chincoteague. Right up at the top was a sunrise. So, at 5:00am I set out across the island to the adjacent barrier island, Assateague, to get my shots. Much to my surprise, my mom and dad came along with me. It’s always nice to have company when out shooting photos, especially when it’s my parents who I rarely get to see. We shot the sun cresting up over the ocean and then we headed back down the road to this spot. Those of you familiar with the National Wildlife Refuge on the island will recognize this cluster of trees along the Wildlife Loop trail. I don’t know why, but these trees are synonymous with Assateague Island for me. I guess I’ve just seen them so many times that they have buried themselves in my mind. The Shot: Nikon D90, shot at 18mm. This is a three exposure HDR, shot from a tripod and remote triggered. Merged in Photomatix Pro, finished in Photoshop CS4 with Nik Color efex Pro and Nik Viveza pro plug-ins. In post processing, I added a pretty pronounced blur to the water in the foreground at the very end. The heavy detail in the water seemed to take away from the serenity of the whole scene. Now, it all flows together. Facebook | 500px | Google+ ©2011 Zach Frailey
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First Light | Assateague Island, VA

After a few days’ hiatus, I’m finally getting back into the swing of things. I spend a long weekend at Chincoteague Island, VA with my family and wife as we celebrated our wedding anniversary. My family has been going on vacation to Chincoteague since I was too little to walk, so I never miss a chance to meet up with them on the island. This visit wasn’t as ‘eventful’ as last year’s (read the blog post here) and that made it just about perfect.

Before making the short four hour trip up the coast, I made a shot list of the things I wanted to photograph while on Chincoteague. Right up at the top was a sunrise. So, at 5:00am I set out across the island to the adjacent barrier island, Assateague, to get my shots. Much to my surprise, my mom and dad came along with me. It’s always nice to have company when out shooting photos, especially when it’s my parents who I rarely get to see. We shot the sun cresting up over the ocean and then we headed back down the road to this spot. Those of you familiar with the National Wildlife Refuge on the island will recognize this cluster of trees along the Wildlife Loop trail. I don’t know why, but these trees are synonymous with Assateague Island for me. I guess I’ve just seen them so many times that they have buried themselves in my mind.

The Shot: Nikon D90, shot at 18mm. This is a three exposure HDR, shot from a tripod and remote triggered. Merged in Photomatix Pro, finished in Photoshop CS4 with Nik Color efex Pro and Nik Viveza pro plug-ins. In post processing, I added a pretty pronounced blur to the water in the foreground at the very end. The heavy detail in the water seemed to take away from the serenity of the whole scene. Now, it all flows together.

Facebook | 500px | Google+

©2011 Zach Frailey