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!
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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!
©2011 Zach Frailey
Click image for full-size 1920x1080px desktop wallpaper image.
I know it’s a weird time to start something like this (September, middle of the year) but I’m going to start releasing a new desktop wallpaper on the first of each month. I’ll feature one of my favorite shots of the past month as the wallpaper image. The wallpaper will feature a small calendar in the corner. It always helps me to have a calendar handy so that I can see what the date is, so I added it. If anyone has any other suggestions, please let me know! Enjoy!
This month’s image shot on Chincoteague Island, VA during a stunning sunrise. I went out to shoot it at 5am with my mom and dad and it is easily my most memorable shot from August, if not the whole year.
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Image ©2011 Zach Frailey
Home At Last | Chincoteague Island, Virginia
This was one of those “right place at the right time” kind of shots. My wife and I had just finished having dinner with my family at a nice downtown restaurant when I noticed that the shelf of thick clouds abruptly ended just above the horizon. With sunset minutes away, I knew that there was the possibility of some awesome light when the sun crept below the cloud line, but it would be brief. I convinced her to hurry back to my Jeep with me and we drove over to the docks facing the sunset. We arrived just in time to see the sun break below the clouds. Just as I started shooting, this commercial fishing boat came chugging along the bay. I was able to capture two or three shots of it before the sun sunk below the horizon and the boat sailed away. Sometimes the best thing for photography is a little luck and good timing (and a patient wife)!
The Shot: Single exposure, tripod held, remote triggered. Nikon D90, 18-105mm VR Nikkor lens @ 42mm. Settings- f/9, ISO 200, 1/30 sec shutter.
©2011 Zach Frailey
