2009, how was it for you?

dakar

I've had an odd couple of months photograpy wise where I haven't really picked up the camera, so I hadn't really thought so much about the year that's just gone by as a whole. If anything I've got a mild dose of apathy towards photography at the moment.

Last night, I found out that I have two photos in Pixie's 50 Most Outstanding Photos of 2009 which made me reflect on 2009 and I realised I've had a very good year indeed. A lot of the thanks for that goes to my friends on boards and Pixie.

I got to go to the St Patricks Festival and Guinness Storehouse, the Volvo Ocean Race in Galway in the Summer (remember Summer?), my second trip to Charleville, had a great time at People's Photography, got to the book launch this year, had a photo in the Boards exhibition, did Sofobomo (I'd highly recommend it, great experience) and was delighted to see a good few of you in Sligo for some mini photowalks (open invitation stands by the way to anyone who's around this neck of the woods, PM me if you want a local guide).

I managed to get a good few pictures of the day on Pixie and a coveted picture of the week on the Random Thread:)

Three of my Volvo pics were selected for exhibition in Galway and Dublin, some of my Sliglow pics were exhibited in Sligo and at an exhibition in Germany and I've been asked to submit some prints to a local gallery to sell.

So it's been a pretty good year! The common thread running through a lot of the above is you guys, so thanks for all the encouragement and advice, and I look forward to meeting up with you again during 2010.

And special thanks to ThOnda, without whom my favourite picture that I took this year wouldn't have happened!

thebaz

2009 , like for so many people, was one of the worst years in my life in many different ways , towards the end of the year i took a photograph that i liked

[url="http://www.flickr.com/photos/thebaz/4210096366/][/url]

so as my FB status states - roll on 2010 and good riddance 2009

Fenster

My personal life had a strange duality of light and dark - In the space of two months I stood at the birth of my son and saw the bitter breakup of my marriage. I think the light shows in the pictures of my children and my client's children - Full of love and all the tears and smiles that you find in Family (see here and here). The darkness came out in my winter landscapes after returning to Ireland. I found a desire and a focus in the display of stark and hopeless scenes - sunsets, ice, rain, snow and glowering cloudscape framing stark winter forests and ruins (here).

Accolades-wise, I have absolutely nothing to report to this forum. I have done little in 2009 to advertise/push my work beyond seeking technical feedback in the areas of capture and post-processing.

phog

Took very few photos to be honest, wet summer and winter, got snow trapped at homke then for Xmas so didn't get out much during the recent freeze, headed up Gallows Hill yesterday and almost slid home from there with the ice, no photographs as afreezing fog cam down :mad:

I was at the Grand Slam match in Cardiff and got a few decent photos but my PC had to be wiped and I lost them and a few from Munster being awarded the Magners League Trophy as I had no back-ups done :mad: luckily, I had backed up my daughters graduation from college and my other daughters Debs photos.

I also dropped and broke my tripod and Santa was to replace it but he brought me a satnav instead :eek:

So this year can only be better and Munster might do the treble in H/Cup

-Chris-

Nothing as dramatic as the above for me...

For Christmas 2008 I got my first DSLR. This Christmas I got a nifty fifty. The rest of the year included a lot of reading about exposure and ISO and depth of field. I took about 8,000 photos in the year, but very few I'd be comfortable to show.

I've moved on a lot from taking "photos of what I'm looking at" to actually composing photos, but there's a long, long way to go.

I think next year I'll get one or two that I'll be happy to frame and hang in my home. If I can do that, I'll be happy with my progress.

ThOnda

Funny year it was. Bought proper lense for new camera, found other job, left Ireland, gave up the job, came back to Ireland, was unemployed, got wonderful job, enjoyed a little more photography, did some studio work, helped to create some nice pictures, enjoyed nice company of people I know mostly from Boards, learned a little about processing, registered a domain and survived visit in my homeland
Photography wise, I shot less and less, but the less I shot, the more I could not wait to hear that sound of the shutter. Still took about 40,000 pictures at 25% delete rate.
It was a good year. Few things didn't went well, few things didn't happen, few things happened and my camera and lense proved that they are much better and more capable than I am.

pixbyjohn

I had a good year:
Upgraded to full frame in February Nikon D700
Triple bypass in March
Retired in June after 41 years in Public Service
2nd. grand daughter born in September
L(.)(.)king forward to 2010

RoryW

thebaz wrote: »

roll on 2010 and good riddance 2009

+1

AnCatDubh

hmnnnnn..... can i remind you all of what you said of 2008

2009 was interesting for me.

While some things stopped that I did in 2008 (didn't seek or entertain being published at all / lazy bugger that I am ), I am pleased that I am still moving on a grand photographic journey (in my terms) that I began a few years ago at this stage. I do get annoyed if I haven't been able to pick up the camera in a while - this is good.

My photographic liking is being refined - this is good.

I can't find the embarrassing link to the 2009 goals thread to poke fun at myself (or others ) but I know I did hope that I would take at least one photograph which I considered better than anything else that I had produced in the previous years. I think I achieved it with more than one photograph which has meant that I've photographed for me rather than for anyone else.

Photographing for me rather than what I may think others may think, is an interesting concept I review personally from time to time - should you do the popular thing for popular things sake or should you do what you like (accepted that this may actually be the popular thing too). This remains a goal for 2010, to produce at least one image better than anything else produced in previous years. And I hope to have a lot of fun trying.

I finally got around to coming out of the dark room as it were and finally meet a few of you. Some All were rather nice people too - Thank you for your company. I hope maybe to get involved with some photowalks during the year.

On boards, I've moved on from moderating this place and still figuring out what i'm actually doing across the entire category but I haven't broke it yet so i'm probably doing something reasonably ok.

I've a couple of ideas for projects in 2010. I like the concept of 20 people in 10 photographs - the end product being a short essay on relationships, Ireland, 2010???? (meh, I don't know if it will come off but at the moment I like the thought). Maybe a project 52 will get started hmnnnnn..... there's actually an awful lot that you can do if you put your mind to it.

spinandscribble

It has been a year of beginning photography and going through the mill trying to figure how to use things. Before 2009 I had a simple compact.

got a christmas present last year of a Diana F+, the hong kong edition


The flash broke, I hadn't a clue how to use it and only one photo from the role came out. It nearly crushed any thought i could pick this up as a hobby. the main reason i didn't continue using it was it took over two weeks for the film to be developed and shipped back.

I was working in the States and went for a weekend away to NYC. Met this lady, Laura Razzano, there. Shes a photographer who works sometimes in the soho market, taking peoples photos and transfering them onto watercolour paper as mementos. I was curious to see the process and this was her result.



found a cheapish old polaroid land camera on ebay, a 110b, and started trying to learn what all those numbers meant. after many black, dim or whiteout polaroids i finally got the hang of it. also picked up a few other models like the 800, 95 (neither of which work but i'm keeping with the goal of converting someday) and the modernish 600 film type. Had fun learning and playing with modifying the process.

came back to ireland to start a portfolio course with the aim of getting into a art college *fingers crossed*

Decided to get a film camera and picked up a nice easy to learn on AE-1 canon from the 80s. So far its been lots of fun but nothing as satisfying as a polaroid for that instant reassurance that i didn't mess up the exposure.

I've just took the plunge and got a Digital slr, a canon 50d with a nifty fifty lens. I'm waiting on the postman and cant wait!

My main aim for 2010 is to learn some darkroom skills and learn how these digital slr's work :P

positivenote

been an eventful year,
photography wise:

started learning post processing in PS, didnt really get to the stage i thought id get to.
started shooting alot more digital and sadly havent shot any b/w film this whole year (disgusted on reflection)
discovered that i could spend hours browsing and being inspired by wonderful photos and stories from photographers on Flikr that i just stumble across
finally exhibited work to the public and actually sold a photo (only for a fiver but that dont matter) through peoples photography
recieved some constructive criticism and good advice from some on boards

njburke

I'm sitting here having a glass of whiskey from the bottle my neighbour gave me for fixing her burst pipe today whilst Paolo Nutini belts out on the Mission765s, so far 2010 is shaping up much better than 2009.

'09 is going down as one of the worst years I have experienced, I started the year on the live register, after 20 odd years continous employment, my 2008 job was in semiconductor opticical equipment, Machine Vision is my paricular expertise.
Early in the year I had plenty of time take phographs, I tricked around with DIY pinholes and some macro stuff, mainly because it was cheap. I also managed some good shots with the d70 and a 70-210D of my eldest boys' soccer games.

In April I got to do my first commercial photography, I sold a few prints taken at the punchestown racing festival to visting punters, which felt good, not the cash, but the accomplishment, that I could produce a print that folks would dig into their pockets in order to own.
I also took some frames of an elderly punter at his wifes request probably his last trip to Punchestown, he has cancer, she was in tears when I gave her the prints, so was I, I lost my Mam to cancer. I've never experienced anything like that whilst I was imaging semiconductor wafers.

The F100 arrived around the same time, sweet.
In June, I joined a new venture, sub sea imaging systems, mainly for Oiliand Gas exploration, a return to the long days filled with quanum effiency,Jerlov minimums and the lumen.
Upgraded the d70 to a D90, but by now I'ld no time for photography with he new job and all.

In May, I managed to squeeze off what I think is my best shot of the year, et voila.



Well from there the photography took a backseat, the D90 went to it second owner afer only a few hundred snaps, and the pharmacy off Meath St stopped developing rolls for next to nothing, well the clicks just stopped for a few months whilst I perfected ways of making sealing wax.

Anyhoo,looking towards 2010, Santa brought an FG which is a real fun camera, wind,twist this,turn that, push that, hold it, click.
I've a few rolls ready to print, I'm also awaiting a few litres of this developer stuff, in the meantime this whiskey ain't so bad.

NJ

xia

2009 was my first year that I really thought about photography. All the years before I was more like snaps - some say good ones but still...
Had a lot of time on my hands the first 10 month and enjoyed that a lot, especially with everything around photography.
Learned a lot, met very nice and interesting people, got some postcards printed and some of them sold - but should be much more active in selling them.
Don't think I took very remarkable pictures but some people like them. But first of all I take them for myself.
Got a job in November and treated myself to my first SLR - digital but someone here on boards thought he doesn't need one of his film SLR anymore so gave it to me. And got the old film camera my father bought about 50 years ago.

So a lot to learn in 2010 - especially with the SLR. I'm not happy at all with my results at the moment (am most of the time in manual mode). Probably I'm not patient enough and am taking pictures still in the habit of using a compact. And the fact that I'm too busy in the job to take pictures I don't like either.

So hoping to find the balance in 2010 - looking forward to it. And even though I liked my 2009 a lot I think 2010 will be even better - just hope photographywise as well;)