Camera: C750
One of my best models. This critter became quite trusting and downright friendly. It started following me around the patio, crawled up onto my hand for a while and then sat on the back of my neck. It was a unique experience. How can you take a bad shot with cooperation like that?!

Camera: C2100UZ
Sometimes you just have to go live your dream while you are still young enough to do it. This is not my best photo of 2005, but it is my favorite. Though it was taken with my Olympus C-2100UZ camera, I was not the photographer, I was the subject. My sister in-law took this shot of me driving a NASCAR race car at 160 MPH on the Kansas Speedway track in Kansas City, KS. A dream come true and quite a thrilling experience for a 65 year-old guy who's hobby car is a 40 MPH 1929 Model A Ford.

Camera: C770 w/Hoya Polarizer
This photo was taken from the roadside in rural Norfolk, UK. I like this image because the warm colour of the land contrasts well with the cool blue sky. The fluffy white clouds make the sky interesting. The clouds also diffused the harsh sunlight. I wanted to follow the rules of composition and placed the horizon at the bottom third of the picture. The tree was placed according to the 'Rule of thirds'. The contrast and brightness tweaked in Paintshop pro and Noiseware used to reduce the noise.

Camera: 2100UZ & A200
I took this picture at a local garden that had been private until recently purchase by the county and make into a park.

These swans were resting in the water and one drifted by the other very slowly, so I took a series of pictures and chose this one as the best of the lot. The water really was about that black, and the light was just right for the reflection. I metered on the white feathers of the swans, which made them pop out against the dark water. The Uzi did the rest.

I am proud to say that a few months ago it was a POTD on Steve’s digicam site, and also was chosen as Photo of the Month.

Camera: C2100UZ
Just out for a fall walk.

Good thing I brought my camera.

Camera: C2100UZ
After going through a few of my 'favorites' - and I hate to be a copy-cat (sorry JudyJo!), but this had to be one of the highlights of my 'photo-dabbling' for this year. This bromeliad was my winning entry for FCAS, taken in the soft, early morning Hawaiian sunlight, against a background of black foam core board, handheld, and tweaked in PS 7. I love the colors, the complexity, and the clarity of this beautiful, tropical flower. With the lessons I've learned this year, hopefully my future shots will be more like 'photography' & less like 'snapshots.

Camera: C-8080WZ
I'm just a beginner who hasn't taken anything worthy of being posted here. But I'm gonna post anyway! This shot is special to me. When I got my first digital camera this summer, I wanted a spectacular subject, so I went to the pavilion where a very special old (1915) carousel is kept. This is one of the first images I took with my 8080. There is no artistry to the photo technique, although I've played around with the image with PSE (for example, dropping the Gaussian blur on the background to make the horse pop). One thing led to another, and I became the photographer assigned to document this carousel for the National Carousel Association. I've made four trips and have taken about 200 images of this carousel. learning a lot about digital photography and the 8080 in the process. And although it might sound odd, I've fallen in love with this carousel. About 6,000 wooden carousels were created around the turn of the century, of which only 150 or so remain intact, and this is one of the most splendid of them all. It isn't a word usually associated with inanimate objects, but I admire this carousel for its integrity. It is beautiful and fun but still tasteful and dignified, and it never resorts to cheap tricks. I have learned so much from this carousel that I want to honor it--not my photo--by including it here.

Camera: C8080WZ
I was on my way to work, a little later than usual. It was a misty morning, and the sun was coming up from behind the mist. I saw the fiery ball of red fire rising from the mist, still very soft and very red - thanks to the mist, I was able to look straight into it. I realized I could catch a shot of it through this gate, a favourite place of mine, and got quickly in place - just in time to capture the sun´s first rays breaking through the gate. Just a minute or two later the sun was already above the mist, and the light became much stronger and harsher. I had been there, and been there in time.

Camera: C-750UZ
I seem to have used 'Levels' and a bit of sharpening on this one.

The weather was dull, the ship is bright, contrasting with the volcano 'Rangitoto' behind it, which, after all, has been extinct only for about 700 years. Out of all the ship-in-front-of-Rangitoto photos, this seems to me the most dramatic.

Camera: C2100UZ
Taken in my backyard….the light was just right to highlight these gorgeous Clematis blooms. The Lavender Clematis was a volunteer plant that grew in the midst of the White one. And the bug was a bonus, not seen till I opened it in my computer.

Camera: C-8080WZ
Well, I've only been shooting digital for a couple of months so finding a "Best of 2005" didn't involve looking through many pictures. I've picked this one because it reveals a world that's not normally seen - an earthstar ejecting its spores.

This kind of photo is normally taken with an ultra-high speed camera and a strobe-flash, so I guess its other merit is the sheer difficulty I had in getting the shot: standing over the fungi dribbling carefully aimed drops out of my mouth while simultaneously pressing the shutter and crossing the fingers on my other hand.

I've cropped the original to eliminate some distracting grass in the foreground and to emphasise
the fungi.

Camera: C750UZ + TCON17
I love the gold tones and the way the pelicans are accompanying to the fishers, additionally the soft silhouette of the city and mountain in the background complete what for me is a nice and moody composition. I know it has some CA/PF problems, but for me this is by far the best composition I've obtained.

It was taken during a weekend trip with my family to Lecherias (here in Venezuela).

Camera: E-1
My photo came after two weeks of failed attempts, prior to this I got everything from claws to beaks and nothing in between, sure this would have benefited from the claws but I was so pleased to get 99% of the Heron, I had the SIGMA 55-200mm lens on the E1 set to manual focus, it was also my first successful attempt at panning.

Camera: C770UZ
I like this one because it is in the backyard of our summer house in Aegina island (Greece). I was holding the camera and thinking what to shoot when I discovered many Tiger Swallowtail Butterflies on the lantana bush we have. I particularly liked this one because of the DOF, the colors and the sharpness. Apart from cropping, resizing and a little sharpening for web no other PP has been done !

Camera: C750
I visited a small Croatian village this autumn to visit the wife's family. The village is right where the Serb's and Croat's stood their ground until the UN ventured in. This tank is in a small outdoor museum being put together.

Camera: C730UZ
I thought it amazing that this hawk sat calmly in the tree not 20 feet from me and posed happily for me. It's the first time a hawk ever sat for so long while I took shot after shot. I thought the focus and eye in this version was almost perfect. And the dark blue sky seemed to be an excellent backdrop.

Camera: E-1 & Sigma 55-200 Zoom
I like the shot because I was about to leave the beach - bemoaning the overcast day - heck, bemoaning the overcast July - and then this guy just spead his wings and took off, pretty as you please - I swung the E-1 and as soon as the shutter clicked I just ‘knew’ I had the shot. A
sunnier day would've burned out all those white feathers for sure - the overcast was the perfect 'diffuser'. What a Gift!

Camera: E-300
Our "Mock" family at Canadian Thanksgiving in Midland, Michigan hosted by our youngest son Gordon who has been doing this for the last 17 years but this one is really special to all of the family.
In June, Mrs. CC, (Isabel) had a minor stroke and after long hospital treatment and rehab, which is still continuing today, she was in good enough health to make the 125 mile trip to celebrate with family.

I've taken many pictures this year but I can think of none that is more rewarding than this one.

Life is good, Family is good.

Camera: C750
The C750 is not known to be a very good camera for infrared photography but I found a way to make it work. A lot is in the post processing and I'm happy about the unique color I was able to produce in this shot.

Camera: C5050Z
This is my favorite because the subject - FDR (surname), so named because he was born on the day that president was elected, portrays the lifestyle of the Appalachian hill folk. He is in the basement of the house his father built by hand. His whole family are coal miners. A visit entails sitting on the porch, eating fresh fruit from one of his trees, and listening to an hour long geneology of the black dogs which date back at least 10 generations and all have the genetic disposition to catch snakes.

Camera: C750
I introduced my 84 year old father to digital photography two years ago. We have since spent many "quality" hours together, thanks to this wonderful hobby. He is often the subject of many of my pictures, such as this sunset/moonset shot.

Camera: C770
I like the progressive blue-ish overlay of the morning mist over the vine-coloured landscape
Every ridge and valley seems to add another delicate veil of blue over the greens. ( no PP)

Camera: C2100UZ
Shot 8-7-05 @ 5:28 AM, with the UZI, A-priority, 1/320, f5, ISO 100, 19.3 mm, three image Pano stiched in PSE2 with Photo Merge.

I like it for the colors, DR and subject matter.

Camera: C770
This was taken with foam-core as a background and enhanced with Photoshop 7. This shot was taken after I won my FCAS badge (a thrilling moment for me) with the original rendition of the same Lily. The camera was mounted on a tripod and natural lighting was used.

Camera: E-1
I guess its is the expression on this guys face and then the lighting was just outsdanding. To me it looks like a studio shot. The light coming over the sholder just a little to light up the side of his head and then the light on its face from the flash.

Camera: C2100UZ
This picture is special to me because I love the expression on our "beloved" Spikey's face. It was also my first POTD. I took it handheld through an insulated double pane window during our first snow of the season.