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 :-)
click arrows to scroll through images
Sneak Peek at my book, Sky Chasing, vol. 1!
I’m currently taking pre-orders. If you’d like to order, please email me at zach@uprootedphotographer.com or shoot me a message on Facebook for more details. All pre-ordered books will be signed and dated!
I’ve been working hard at this for several days now as I try to complete it. Very much planning on having this in hand by Christmas, at least that’s the goal. We all know how that can change :-)
The plan was originally for this to be simply a photo book. As I’ve been working on it, I find myself adding tips and other tidbits of photography info in there. By no means is it a how-to manual for photography, but I feel that it can offer something for anyone, whether you just want to look at some images or if you want to learn something.
The images in the book all involve Eastern North Carolina. When I was planning the book, I had a hard time deciding if I should include shots from places I’ve traveled to this year such as Pittsburgh, PA, Colorado Springs, CO and Chincoteague, VA. I decided to concentrate on my new home area for the one though. The photos range from the Outer Banks of NC all the way down to Wilmington, NC. That being said, most of the book is not of landmarks, but of the skies, sunsets, sunrises and scenery of the region.
I’ll share more info as it is available, enjoy the early sample!
Sunrise on the Ada Mae | New Bern, NC
Sunday morning, I set out before the sun came up for a sunrise photoshoot. On my way, I noticed that the horizon was just beginning to glow just above the water and I knew exactly where to stop. I have been wanting to shoot this scene, but during the evening this is a very popular and busy restaurant however, in the wee hours of the morning there wasn’t a person to be seen. I set up the shot so that I could get the skipjack Ada Mae in the scene as well. The sailboat was built in 1915 and provides shipboard education now. She stays docked here beside Persimmon’s restaurant when not out on the Neuse River. I knew that the really bright light on the front of the building would make a great flare at a small aperture, so I composed the frame so that it would be in the upper right, with the approaching sunrise peeking into the lower left frame for balance.
The shot: Single exposure, f/13, 6 second exposure, ISO-200. A little Photoshop adjusting for color.
Join me on my other social networks:
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.
Facebook | Twitter | Flickr | 500px | Google+
Image ©2011 Zach Frailey
