Best of 2014: Pictures

As promised, here's the start of my Best of posts from 2014! These are my favorite photos that I've taken this year. It's a pretty good mixture of nature, still life and portraits. I was surprised at how many bird photos I loved this year! Descriptions are below, left to right, top to bottom:

1. Aria: This was my first good portrait with the Petzval lens where you can really see the swirl bokeh. Aria had a flower crown on and it just fit that lens effect perfectly.

2. James with camera: He built his own camera out of blocks including an eye piece and a rotating lens!

3. Mom with Hannah: They were reading together and Hannah just made this ridiculous face in the middle of it. She's at that age where she loves the camera and I can't get enough of her.

4. Hannah Christmas Portrait: I said last year that there were a lot of photos in her future; I wasn't kidding. Hannah has this adorable smile that she turns on when you take a picture of her.

5. Tristan: This shot is part of an upcoming post of a family portrait shoot I did. I made sure to give Tristan plenty of goofing around time to let his personality shine.

6. Aria at the Maritime Aquarium: There is a great moon jellies display at the aquarium and it didn't take long for Aria to go up to the case to check them out.

7. Grace: She's gotten a little harder to photograph the older she becomes, but every now and then she'll agree to it.

8. Black Crowned Night Heron: There were a few mornings where I was up with the sun to get Answerbook cover shots and I happened across this bird in downtown Milford.

9. Shelton Land Trust: Another one of my favorite foliage shots from this year. The leaves had fallen on the rock just as they appear. I had my Panasonic Lumix with me that day, which just goes to show that it doesn't matter what camera you have with you, as long as you have something.

10. Green Tree Frog at the Maritime Aquarium: You know me, I love my greens! This little guy was stuck to the glass of his cage, sleeping.

11. Monk Parakeets in the snow: Every now and then, the flock of monk parakeets come to our bird feeder.

12. Shelton Answerbook cover shot: This was another early morning shoot. I didn't have a destination in mind and was just driving around town when I found this little red shed on the side of a lake. The water looked like glass and it starting raining five minutes after I got this shot.

13. Fairfield Answerbook cover shot: This was the earliest morning shoot I had all year, but totally worth it. I got up around 5AM and walked out at low tide to get as close to the lighthouse as I could; tripping on the slimy rocks in the dark! I brought along my tripod, 35-350mm lens and several neutral density filters to get a long exposure of the sunrise.

14. Portrait of a Goose: The ducks and geese in Milford let you get pretty close. This goose got me back into my frEYEday series.

15. Goat frEYEday: Finally! I wanted to take a picture of a goat eye since the start of that photo series! Did you know that a goat's horizontal pupils allow them to almost see behind them?

16. Addy: My little glam kitty. She was lying in a patch of sun and I had my camera right next to me. There's such a huge difference with an animal that has gotten used to a camera and doesn't run in fear from it.

17. Potter in Space: I looked in on Addy's old cat friend Potter this year and caught a shot of him meowing at me. It lead to a silly photo series called Potter in Places, where I photoshopped him into various backgrounds.

18. Shooting Calendar Film Canister: Part of my 365 photo challenge, this was the moment that I absolutely, hands down fell in love with my 35-350mm lens. I used a close up filter with it, making the bokeh as smooth as butter. I ended up using this lens for a lot of important shoots as a result of this photo challenge and getting to know its strengths.

19. Kite Selfie: Just a fun perspective from a trip down to Walnut Beach.

20. Gathering of the Vibes family: I loved this moment between a father and daughter playing at the Vibes.

21. Drew and Rita Christmas Portrait: The best Christmas card of 2014!

22. Quinn & Uncle Richie: I caught this smile from my uncle who almost never smiles for photos. He was warming up Quinn's hands on a cold day and Quinn looked up at him with his silly smile which caused my uncle to smile.

23. James' birthday cake: James is so mature, it's rare that I capture him as the little boy he is. I love the honesty behind that smile.

24. Daisy dew drops: You can't see the detail so much in this tiny version, but there is a great reflection of the daisy in the droplets of water. Early morning beauty strikes again!

25. OSCAR MAYER WIENERMOBILE! I took this so long ago, I actually forgot it happened this year! The Wienermobile was parked at the Stop n Shop next to my office in February, so I brought along my SX-70 camera to get this diptych on Impossible Project film.