Sunday Stills - Your Best Shot of 2010

Time for an archive challenge. Of all the shots you have taken in 2010, let's see your best :-).

I blog for several reasons and just like the photos below, it's hard to pick which reason is the best. I love having a photo journal. I love being able to go back and see pictures of big sheep as babies, remember driving home from New York with a Great Wheel and a sheep in the car, realize I've been "working" on the Jester sweater for far too long...

I enjoy sharing stories and photos of our farm life and love reading the comments posted by everyone. I appreciate the challenges set up by Ed and even myself to learn new things with my cameras. I hope some of my "educational" posts are truly helpful and encouraging. If someone can learn something from my mistakes...

I had fun reviewing my photos from 2010. I've posted ten finalists (by date order) and Pioneer Woman style, I'll say what I loved about each before picking the winner.



One of the first pictures I took with my big girl camera shortly after Christmas. I think this might be my favorite picture of Saint Tim. It might be only because I know these sheep so well, but I like the story this picture tells. I can see Ewen towering over everyone, Petunia in the foreground making sure she's in the picture, Big Ewenice pushing her way in to the food, Graham's still pretty young, Esther's nose in the upper left.



You might think I picked this one just because there's snow. Actually that's only part of it. Night feeding is my favorite time of day. The week we had snow last winter, I thoroughly enjoyed sitting down out there, leaned back on a fence post with Hank by my side, listening to the sheep rustle around eating their hay. I wanted to take a picture, but had to learn to use some manual settings and my tripod to get it. I got it. Another good story.



I like the stillness of the sheep and the blur of the shearer's hands. How it should be.



I like everything about this picture. I love the subject, the composition, the color. Stella was sitting out watching her newest bee swarm walk into their new home. I was off to the side talking to the folks that came down to meet foster dog, Roo Roo. I was glad I had my camera handy.



I had fun working hard to get the focus sharp on this. I like the depth of field as well. That was a huge web and one I don't want to forget.



From a photo standpoint, it's sharp, action packed, but with a good focal point. However, I think I like the reflection in the water best. I also remember being there with my friend Karol who was using my D40x. After each carriage passed, we'd quickly review what we'd taken, smile and move on to the next driver. WEG was fun.



I like Miss Ewenice's expression, the hay hanging out of her mouth, the lighting, the texture of her white short haired face fanning out to curly wool and hay.



I've taken several dark background pictures that I really like this year. I think Popcorn PeePee Pants' bright white face is especially striking.



Stillness. It's hard to explain - makes me want to take a deep breath. I can feel it in this picture and hope others can as well. If you were standing out there drinking a cup of coffee, you'd hear birds chirping, horses ripping mouthfuls of grass, maybe a truck starting next door, but still, it's so quiet.



This picture is a front runner not only for the color and composition, nice lighting, tells a good story, but also so we could say "Schwin Wins!". Almost nothing involving City Boy can be explained in 25 words or less, so we'll just leave that for another day ;-).

So, which one am I picking?



I can't really say why, but I kept coming back to this picture.

Leave me a comment and let me know which picture (from these or any others from the past year) was your favorite and why. I'll draw a winner and send out a 2011 Equinox Farm calendar (if you'd like). I'll leave the comments open until Tuesday morning.

For more Best of Sunday Stills...