To be honest, 2022 wasn’t my favorite year. I spent most of it in the blahs with a few exceptions. Now John has tasked us with the challenge to pick our favorite images of what was my blah year! To do this, I decided to pick one favorite from each month.
January: Laura and I went to the Point Reyes National Seashore. The Tule Elk were out. What is this one trying to tell me?
February: An outing to Grass Valley in the Sierra Nevada Foothills yielded this pine cone in perfect light.
March: Ray and I made our yearly pilgrimage to Lincoln to photograph Great Egrets and Blue Herons nesting in three trees.
April: Again another yearly visit to Ananda Village and their Tulip Festival. It’s the same each year and it’s always beautiful.
May: My year can’t be complete without showing you a visit to the Sacramento Zoo. One of my favorites is the pelican who lives with the flamingos. He’s missing a wing and can’t fly. This time he was close.
June: Our yearly trip to the Land Park pond to photograph the Lotus wasn’t as spectacular as previous years, but you never give up.
July: My wanting to get Downtown Sacramento building images ended with me getting a flat tire and the AAA driver getting lost! But I was able to get a few photographs.
August: brought us down the the Amtrak station in Sacramento. I tried in-camera double exposures and got one fairly good shot.
September: Another annual event, Chalk It Up. This artist’s piece of Gene Wilder was amazing.
October: I finally had the opportunity to photograph outside of my local area. I joined friends on a New England cruise. Before the cruise we spent time in Virginia. Here’s an image from the Luray Caverns.
November: My photo buddies and I went to the California Museum. It’s a place I need to return to without my camera. I spent a lot of time photographing angles and lines.
December: We were staying with the grandkids in Reno, Nevada when a snow storm hit. This is a picture of the sun rising on the mountains with houses and Reno below.
So that was my year in pictures. Thank you John for helping me realize it wasn’t a blah year after all. I’m anxious to see all of your favorites. When you post please remember to link to John’s post and use the Lens Artists tag. Next week Sofia leads the challenge so look for her post.
For more information on joining the challenge each week, check here.
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I loved your annual summary in photographs, perfect for a calendar full of memories.
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Thanks Ana!
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I don’t know if I could do a pic for every month, especially with the quality that you have shown us. Hard to pick a favourite, they are all exquisite. A better 2023 for you, Anne with plenty of lovely photos to inspire us too.
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Thanks Sofia! I’m looking forward to a better year for all of us. Right now California seems to be heading out of the drought stage with rain storm following rain storm. We asked for it and we’re getting it!
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It’s the same in Portugal, my parents try not to complaint too much 😀
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We are also trying not to complain! We’ve had 3 deaths so far, maybe more, with people caught in their cars after not heeding warning signs. A lot of property damage due to extremely high winds. We had sunshine yesterday and now it will be raining through this week. Mother Nature is wicked!
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Indeed. One thing I’ve noticed it’s always windy, regardless of the season, both here and in Portugal. Just not as it used to be, that’s for sure.
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Best wishes, Anne, for a better 2023. Your favorites by the month is a great way to share for this challenge.
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Thanks John! Doing a pick of the month helped me narrow down my selections.
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I can see why these are favourites. Loved them all.
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Thank you VJ! I’m glad you enjoyed them.
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My pleasure, Anne
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LOL Anne, your closing sentence was exactly my thought as I read through your post and enjoyed your marvelous images!! Sometimes hindsight really is 20-20! I admire your commitment to photography and trying new things, and applaud your willingness to try new things. I’d say you had a wonderful year and I enjoyed every one of your beautiful captures.
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Thanks Tina! Wouldn’t it be great if hindsight could be our foresight!
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Sorry to hear you had a bit of a blah year – or did you?! As you yourself say, these lovely images suggest you found quite a lot to enjoy among the blahness! I love the egret in the tree, the lotus and the cavern in particular 🙂
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Thank you Sarah! Photography always helps the blahs. And so do regular photo buddies. Our weekly outings are always fun. Well, maybe not when you get a flat tire!
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Love your month-by-month series, Anne! These are beautiful photo slections. Beautiful pine cone in perfect light. The last one is breathtaking!
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Thanks Amy! Waking up to 3 feet of snow in Reno was unreal.
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My first thought was that 2022 was not a blah year regarding photography. The places and scene you captured are beautiful and amazing 😀
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Thanks Cee! Remember, these are the favorites and that means usually the best. 😁
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Gorgeous particularly the lotus flower
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Thank you Karina! Each year I love going to the park to photograph Lotus.
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🙂
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Great great photos. Quite a year!
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Thanks John! 2023 has had a stormy start. I wonder what else it has in store for us.
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I kind of chuckled at your intro of a blah year. While we had some great travel, we had challenge after challenge. That’s life…I guess. I loved that you found a photo for each month that you loved. I always love your visits to the zoo. So 👍🏼. I think my favorite is of the tulip festival. The meandering walk is curious. Happy New Year. Cheers to a better 2023.
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Thanks Terri! The new year came in with a blast. They won’t say we’re out of the drought, but almost. We had some sun today, but instead of grabbing my camera, I did much needed shopping.
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…and the Chalk it up must have been fun! Quality work in Gene Wilder for sure.
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Chalk It Up is always fun. I’m amazed at the art and talent there. So much work goes into each piece and then it disappears.
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Was that a blah year? Can’t tell by your photos. I’ve admired your last photo before, and I’m happy to see you close with that.
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Thanks I. J.! I think I’ve sorted out that the blahs were regarding my attitude and not so much photography. I’m glad you like the sunrise and snow scene. It’s a favorite of mine too. I’ll have to put it in my camera club’s competition so the judge can tell me what’s wrong with it!! 😊 Seriously, I’ve learned a lot from having my images judged.
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If that’s from what you call a blah year Anne, then you are making me very very curious about what a good year would yield 😀. It’s perfect that with the exercise you realized that it wasn’t such a “blah” year as you thought!
All great shots but I find the Elk with his tongue out very funny 😂!
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Thank you PR! Animals faces are fun and expressive when you catch the moment. My blahs were mainly for the year and not photography. But even then, shooting locally most of the time was blah!! And, yes, this exercise showed me that all was not that blah, but maybe my attitude.😉
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Great pictures, Anne! I liked the comedian elk and stalagmites and stalactites in Luray Cavern. Wow!
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Thank you Siobhan! I like that you called the elk a comedian elk. I wonder what they would call us!!
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Beautiful photography, and I always love this challenge, because it makes me see the good things too! This year was not a favourite with me either, but it helps going back for a look! Happy 2023!
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Thank you Ann-Christine! It seems that 2022 wasn’t a favorite of many people. We’ve started 2023 with a series of storms that have caused a few deaths, downed trees, and caused electric outages. We are okay. Maybe the good times will start in February! Hope your 2023 started out better and continues to be great.
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Let’s hope for the better. We read about your heavy storms, and now we have storms and floodings too. February!
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I agree with you…not a blah year at all! Lovely photos and memories, Anne. One of my favorites is Reno in the snow. Incredible shot.
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Thanks Patti! That snow storm was a wonderful way to end the year.
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What a nice set of photos of so many various topics. I enjoyed looking at them, and I would agree that they were not “blah.”
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Thanks Kathy! I’m glad you liked the photos. They may not be blah, I was.
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Anne, it was great seeing your favorite photo from each month, such a nice selection!
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Thank you Sylvia!
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