Your Top 5 from 2015

[Nik da Greek]

The photos on here are so good it's actually insulting to the previous posts to put any of mine here However...











Yep, as you've already noticed, I get by on an eye for a shot or complete fluke rather than any level of technical ability whatsoever

[Nightmare]

RobDickinson said:

Nightmare said:

Absolutely yeah - but how on earth can you take a photograph that comes out like Hidden Beauty? Sorry is meant to be a real question - it's amazing and looks like an impossible photo to me! I mean this in a totally complimentary way sir.

The astro stuff is pushing technology a bit. NZ has fantastic dark and clear skies, and is far south enough to get some aurora which helps. That photo is about 40-50 frames stitched together into a panorama, individual exposures are around iso 6400, 15 seconds, f2.5 or so, takes about 25min to shoot them all. Then its a simple job of stitching and processing.

I should have checked where you were in the world! Thanks very much and that makes some sense to me.

I am very very impressed by every picture on here - love the kingfisher one as well. I'm never gonna bother taking another photo!

[nellyleelephant]

Nightmare said:

I am very very impressed by every picture on here - love the kingfisher one as well. I'm never gonna bother taking another photo!

If you mean mine, then thanks!

[nre]

How quickly this thread comes round, where did another year go?

Some great stuff so far.

web by Nigel, on Flickr

Colony of Fungus by Nigel, on Flickr

common blue 7 by Nigel, on Flickr

Audi R8 Blancpain Sprint Series by Nigel, on Flickr

newhaven 15-8 by Nigel, on Flickr

Although if asked again tomorrow I'd probably pick a different top 5.

Happy new year all.

[2slo]

PBLP said:

A bit of a quiet year for me compared to previous years. First image has to be in my top 5, as I was lucky enough to get a commended, in this year’s Landscape photographer of the year.

LPOTY - commended by Paul Bullen, on Flickr

Morning Mist by Paul Bullen, on Flickr

Buttermere by Paul Bullen, on Flickr

Kelly Hall Sunset by Paul Bullen, on Flickr

Fletcher's Wood by Paul Bullen, on Flickr

Wonderful images, especially the first two.

[burton_ii]

my top five this year.

[pic] Bodenham lake by mark burnett, on Flickr[/pic]

[pic] churchfrontps by mark burnett, on Flickr[/pic]

[pic] DSC_5567 by mark burnett, on Flickr[/pic]

[pic] DSC_4547 by mark burnett, on Flickr[/pic]

[pic] DSC_5541 by mark burnett, on Flickr[/pic]

[jimmy156]

Some trull stunning images on here guys, all highly commendable. In particular Rob, GF Willaims, GetCarter, PLPB, Dibbly and 2Slo stood out to me.

I have barely clicked a shutter this year, very disappointed in myself. I blame it being my first full year as an "official" teacher taking up more time than i had bargained for.

Here are my top 5, picked from a very small pool i must say!

IMG_6429 by jimmyb156, on Flickr

IMG_7926-2 by jimmyb156, on Flickr

IMG_5037 by jimmyb156, on Flickr

IMG_7846 by jimmyb156, on Flickr

IMG_4731 by jimmyb156, on Flickr

[Rogue86]

Some absolutely beautiful photos shown so far (really talented bunch of landscape photogs we have on here!). Also really like the Spitfire shot on a previous page and the Reds above, great timing.

Been a fairly quiet year for me this year. Tempted to stick with what I'm good at in 2016 and go back to shooting aircraft - I know instagram isn't a great yardstick for feedback but its telling when your 'best nine' from 2015 are all reposts of aircraft from two years before!

[realjv]

Lets see...

Start the year at the Brooklands New Years Day gathering


Red Chevy by realjv, on Flickr

Then a quick trip to the Barbican


In Thought by realjv, on Flickr

Before heading across the pond for Indy 500 Scrutineering


Scrutineering by realjv, on Flickr

Returning home and its the ugliest building in London


The Walkie Talkie by realjv, on Flickr

and some lovely urban decay.


Spillers Millennium Mills by realjv, on Flickr

[nessiemac]

It's only when i look back over 2015 that i realise how many photos I've taken which is a huge amount and also how humbled i am to be part of such an amazing group of photographers on here.

Anyway, my contribution to lower the tone with some great memories from the year.

1.
CRABTREE. HALOWEEN-145.jpg by nessiemac1, on Flickr

2.
TALK PHOTOGRAPHY MUDFEST (1 of 5).jpg by nessiemac1, on Flickr

3.
WITTERING.XMAS 2015-124.jpg by nessiemac1, on Flickr

4.
***LR5***.jpg by nessiemac1, on Flickr

5.
***LR5***-4616.jpg by nessiemac1, on Flickr

I meant to include this as well but couldn't choose which one to drop!!!

IMG_8001.jpg by nessiemac1, on Flickr

Edited by nessiemac on Thursday 31st December 16:50

[DavidY]

150725 Salford Quays - Blue Hour Approaching sm by Mr Perceptive X100, on Flickr


150910 Admont Library 02 sm (explored) by Mr Perceptive X100, on Flickr


150530 Manchester Reflections 02 sm by Mr Perceptive X100, on Flickr


150513 Mountain Rail sm by Mr Perceptive X100, on Flickr


lonely pair sm by Mr Perceptive X100, on Flickr

[darrenw]

Five that I've not been too unhappy with this year:


Wagenwerk Porsche 911 outside Casino Velden by Retro-Motoring and WoertherseePics.com, on Flickr


Toyota GT86 - 86 - Richard Williams / Stefan Hodgetts - photo by Retro-Motoring


1959 Austin A35 865UXW - Crompton / Minshaw - photo by Retro-Motoring


Jonny Smith - Flux Capacitor - Enfield 8000 electric car - photo by Retro-Motoring


Sambasaurus - photo by Retro-Motoring

[Pete Baraka]

Some great images, folks! I've done quite a lot of commercial work this year <dogs, cats, interiors and livestock> but here are some travel and pet pics -

Nguni, Gariep Dam, South Africa -


Ivo the Collie -


West coast of Ireland -


uMoya the Labrador -


Mirabell Palace Gardens, Salzburg -




Pete

[jurbie]

My favourite 5.

[widebloke]

Wow is it really time for this again? Always an interesting thread this one and as usual the standard of work here is very high, well done all!
heres my five, not got out much this year, work and family commitments taking priority, but a cracking holiday in Wales made up for that and high on the list of new year resolutions is take more pictures!!

B25 Mitchell by Mark Randall, on Flickr

Holiday-North-Wales-2015--28-Jul-23.jpg by Mark Randall, on Flickr

Holiday-North-Wales-2015--02-Aug-26.jpg by Mark Randall, on Flickr

Sunset, North Wales. by Mark Randall, on Flickr

Moonrise Over Maesglase by Mark Randall, on Flickr

Heres to the 2016 thread

[Chris71]

DibblyDobbler said:

Chris71 said:

DibblyDobbler said:

Hmm - well somebody has got to follow Rob and Baz, might as well be me! Great work gents

In chronological order.

1. Was in Venice earlier this year and wow what a place - photography heaven. Could have chosen all 5 from that trip but here's my favorite.


Grand Canal, Venice by Mike Smith, on Flickr
3. Bit of a fluke this one - right place at the right time. No filters, tripod etc so was balancing the camera on a wall and the sunset went mad for 10 minutes, great fun



Forth Bridges (Explored) by Mike Smith, on Flickr

Nice shots. Did you use HDR or any post-processing on those?

Always intrigued to see how people get these results. Maybe some of the experienced snappers on here could start a thread showcasing some of their shots and the techniques/settings used?

Well - it's a can of worms but here's my personal thinking. I use post processing on literally every shot so the shot answer is yes! I virtually always shoot in RAW so to get a viewable file you need to apply 'processing' so for me it's standard and not 'cheating' or whatever. It's personal preference of course but I read somewhere that the human eye can see 6 stops of dynamic range so even if you're only trying to recreate what the eye can see (rather than produce 'art' which is also valid) then you need to make adjustments to the raw data the camera captures. This has always been the case even before the electronic age with Photoshop and the like.

In the two shots above - the bridge I did very little to, maybe a bit of cropping and levelling, probably added contrast to give it a bit of punch, and maybe a wee bit of sharpening. This is about the minimum I would do to a shot.

The Venice shot was quite a tricky one so needed a lot. In summary I took a series of long exposure shots with the camera on a tripod then blended all the ones with nice light trails - overlaying them effectively to produce a composite. Then a lot of tidying up of messy areas in the water and sorting the verticals on the buildings. This one is definitely closer to the 'art' end of the spectrum.

Most of the guys who post on 'Random' are usually happy to explain so you or anybody else should feel free to ask

Cheers.

For what it's worth, I've never understood the idea that post-processing is cheating. It's a creative tool like any other and I'm a sucker for well-executed HDR.

[bullies180]

2slo said:

PBLP said:

A bit of a quiet year for me compared to previous years. First image has to be in my top 5, as I was lucky enough to get a commended, in this year’s Landscape photographer of the year.

LPOTY - commended by Paul Bullen, on Flickr

Morning Mist by Paul Bullen, on Flickr

Buttermere by Paul Bullen, on Flickr

Kelly Hall Sunset by Paul Bullen, on Flickr

Fletcher&#x27;s Wood by Paul Bullen, on Flickr

Wonderful images, especially the first two.

Really like 3 and 4 myself, where were these taken?

[DIW35]

Well I can muster a couple. One is definitely safe, but hopefully the second is innocent enough not to offend the moderators.







At worst, the rest of my top 5 only show boobies, but I have no wish to offend anyone so will opt not to post them.

[RenesisEvo]

Some absolutely stunning work here everyone, makes me more determined to improve!

Here are a few I'm happy with (I've got others I prefer but they're not up on Flickr), can't hold a candle to any of the above mind.

Vulcan XH558 and The Red Arrows by M Banham, on Flickr

Aston Martin Vantage V8 GT3 by M Banham, on Flickr

Untitled by M Banham, on Flickr

Black Kawasaki by M Banham, on Flickr

Atomic Lights by M Banham, on Flickr

[PBLP]

bullies180 said:

2slo said:

PBLP said:

A bit of a quiet year for me compared to previous years. First image has to be in my top 5, as I was lucky enough to get a commended, in this year’s Landscape photographer of the year.

LPOTY - commended by Paul Bullen, on Flickr

Morning Mist by Paul Bullen, on Flickr

Buttermere by Paul Bullen, on Flickr

Kelly Hall Sunset by Paul Bullen, on Flickr

Fletcher&#x27;s Wood by Paul Bullen, on Flickr

Wonderful images, especially the first two.

Really like 3 and 4 myself, where were these taken?

Cheers 2slo

All are taken in Cumbria (Lake District).
1 Derwent Water
2 St John’s in the Vale from Latrigg
3 Buttermere
4 Kelly Hall tarn near Torver
5 Fletchers Wood from Loughrigg Fell