2012 photographic year in review

2012 Photographic Year in Review!

I spent a lot of the "new year" working! Which was great, because I had some great sites and saw a lot of birds, and made some money! I even had the chance to take a few photos:

Short-eared Owl at Dusk - February

As strange as it may sound, things were very exciting in the late winter/early spring for me - as I finally had the chance to renew my "ugly gull" photography near a landfill in Waterloo. It had been a few years since I had a good gull spot like this, and I was darn excited. 

Adult Thayer's Gull - Waterloo - February

Not only was I seeing cool gulls, but I was getting QUALITY pics as well. It was Peeter Musta's hard work and dedication to this site that got me out to see these fantastic birds, and within a few visits - I had my first quality photo of an adult Thayer's Gull ever in Ontario! Many thanks Peeter!

Juvenile Thayer's Gull - Waterloo - February

Two Thayer's Gulls in particular stuck around for a long time, two very dark juveniles, that were fantastic for photography and study. As regular readers of the blog may remember, I actually gave them names I enjoyed them so much! Pictured above is Chocolate Milk, and below the striking Darkzilla !

Juvenile Thayer's Gull - Waterloo - February

It even helped spawn "Thayer's Week" on the blog - 5 straight days of Thayer's theory and photos. It was darn exciting... Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 

Dainty Sulphur - Pelee Island - May

2012 was the year of the Butterfly. I took this photo on May 3, 2012 at 9:16am. Starting in March and running through November, this was a mind boggling year for leps. This Dainty Sulphur was the first one seen in Ontario - a MEGA rarity, and by the end of the day, at least 4 individuals had been found between Pelee and Pelee Island. I took thousands of Butterfly photos in 2012, including numerous rare species I had never even expected to see in the province - but couldn't figure out how to fit them into the year in review. Instead, I went for this "record photo" as a feeble attempt to remember the spectacular events that took place with butterflies last year. 

Yellow-rumped Warbler - Pelee Island - May

My birding and photography in spring 2012 felt terrible. I mean, worst birding I've had in May since 2010 (also seemed terrible)... Maybe this is a trend, where I alternate years between great photography and birding? Looking forward to 2013... Thankfully I managed 2-3 days where the photography was actually really good! The above photo of a female Myrtle just seemed to "pop" in every way... 

Great Crested Flycatcher - Pelee Island, May

Is this my destiny? Like many a photographer out there, I end up really liking the fluke/random photos more than the "normal" ones - probably just because they're different. This Great Crested Flycatcher pic was the background on my computer for several weeks. 

Great Horned Owl - Point Pelee - May

Oh how my nemesis photography birds fell in 2012, without any concentrated effort on my part. There were perhaps none more glorious than this adult Great Horned Owl in May - a VERY difficult bird to get well in southern Ontario (of the local subspecies). 

Venus transit of the Sun. Composite at Sundown over Lake Superior. June

The first time a photo collage appears in the "end of year special"... Back in June I was up on Lake Superior and tried to photograph Venus transiting the sun... As the sun set, I captured the entire scene and put the images together. (and yes, that black spot on the sun is Venus!) Maybe sometime I'll get the whole series online. 

Thick-billed Kingbird - Presqu'ile Provincial Park - August

Could there have been a more exciting moment in the Ontario birding scene in 2012? A late night text from Josh Vandermeulen reads "TBKI at Presqu'ile"... What? Thick-billed Kingbird? Did he type the wrong code? I called him to ask what he actually meant, because he sure didn't mean Thick-billed Kingbird... By dawn the next morning I arrived at Presqu'ile with Josh and Ken/Mike Burrell for one of the best twitches that I could have imagined. What a bird. 

Rhein III - Dunville - September

My favourite photo of 2012, and if past history is any indication, I'll probably be the only one who likes it. But hey! When I saw this scene, I couldn't help but think of the most expensive photo ever sold - the Rhein II.... Here's some info if you're looking for it - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhein_II . And yeah... 4 million bucks for a picture? Seeing this turtle totally demolished (a conservation concern) on a freshly paved road - with a sharply manicured roadside - reminded me of just how stupid it can all be sometimes... 

Leach's Storm-Petrel - Hamilton - October

Superstorm Sandy? Frankenstorm? Hurricane Sandy? Can anticipation get any higher? The stats on my blog say "no" - as I peaked out at 1500 visits a day when Sandy began crashing ashore in late October, with birders looking for the latest storm updates I had managed to find on the interwebs... This Leach's Storm Petrel was essentially THEE individual bird of the entire event here in Ontario, although the 5-7 day period sorruounding the event was far and away some of the best birding in my life. 

Tufted Titmouse - Niagara - December

Every year when doing a post like this, I find myself with a limited selection of images taken in the last 3-4 months of the year. On top of that, I find each year that the quality of images in these post lowers in both numbers and quality... Not that I want to write a book on the subject, but I can very much say that I am also probably happier with my photography than in the past as well... A few years ago I started a "kick" to control the scene less and make everything "natural" (see my future book: "What IS natural?" - joking) ... The result - less photos that books and magazines want to buy (and less year in review material) - but a greater collection overall... Maybe I can create a post about this in the future, but I think it will be interesting to see what is "popular" with photography in the next 5, 10, 50 years etc... 

Hope you enjoyed the year in review and I hope you have a great 2013! 

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Check out past years:

2009: http://www.blog.peregrineprints.com/2012/09/2009-photographic-year-in-review.html

2010: http://www.blog.peregrineprints.com/2012/11/2010-photographic-year-in-review.html

2011: http://www.blog.peregrineprints.com/2011/12/2011-photographic-year-in-review.html

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