I thought it’d be fun to go through what turned out to be my top content on social media for the year and that continues today. Mainly I’ll focus on Instagram but I’ll drop in a few others towards the end as when they get traction (e.g. Flickr) the stats go crazy. So, here’s number 1 in my most viewed posts of 2023… does that make them the BEST? Not so sure, but for whatever reason they connected with people, or the algorithm!
So, this is it… the second shuttle image in my top 10 posts from Instagram this year. As rated by their analytics. People love the shuttle… or maybe people love space. Probably both. I can’t remember what prompted the re-share and I was sure an image from Scotland would make the top spot as there were a bunch of those which are definitely in my favorite images I’ve ever taken but there you go!
Here’s a little baby snow monkey to brighten up your day.
I understand from my mom that Kuala Lumpur was also one of my grandfather’s favorite cities. He used to work for Exxon, back in the middle of the 20th century. It’s hard for me to imagine what it looked like back then. It’s too bad I wasn’t ever able to show him this photo to see his reaction. KL is called one of the Asian “small tigers” because of its booming economy in the last 20 years or so. Many Asian cities are very pretty with unique architecture. Since many of them are so “new”, the architecture is often much more modern than their Western counterparts. In this one, you can see the gargantuan twin Petronas towers looming high over the city, poking up into some clouds.
Sometimes I think I could make a whole blog just about horses in Iceland. I swear, I have So Many Photos of horses in Iceland, and they’re all pretty good! I can’t take much credit for them, you know, as the horses are just so darned photogenic. And then the whole country has a perfect backdrop… it’s just kind of hard to take a bad photo of them!
I also like that they all look a bit like Owen Wilson.
This is the road to Milford Sound/Piopiotahi. I took this photo on a moody autumn morning when the road was empty and quiet, except for the occasional sheep grazing by the side. I was captivated by the contrast between the rugged peaks and the smooth surface of the road mixed with the vibrant colors of nature.
Sakura is the Japanese word for the Cherry Blossom. I don’t know if I can explain how crazy the Japanese people are about this yearly bloom! For one thing, every local newscast has a big “Cherry Blossom” report that has in-depth descriptions of exactly where the trees are blooming in the country and upcoming predictions. The wave sweeps across the island of Japan and rich graphics cover the screen like a cold front, assaulting the countryside.
I took this photo with the Nikon D3S. Back then I’d recently taken to carrying two cameras with me. I’d take the Nikon D3X with me, and it’s usually attached to the tripod. This is the one that I used for 90% of my landscapes. While I carry that, slung around my neck and shoulder, Chewbacca-style, was the Nikon D3S, which I use for people shots, DOF shots, and videos. Nowadays I’m much more minimalist. I think the advances in mobile photography have very much helped that, and the “pro” cameras are way better handheld than they used to be.
This was taken at F/1.4 with a 50mm prime lens. The shutter was 1/8000 and the ISO 200.
I went over a high mountain pass that connects one remote part of the country into another. There’s always ice and snow up here. Well, really, it’s mostly ice and very little snow.
This little stone and wood-framed home stood desperately alone.
These snow monkeys are the greatest. I spent so long with them, we almost had a three-way.
They are all wild (in the natural sense, mind you), and they come down from the mountains near Nagano, Japan, for several hours a day to play in the natural hot springs. They gallivant around, have fights, play with their kids, have a bit of sweet carnal monkey fun, check their email, and pose for my camera.
These two monkeys spent a lot of time together… they were in maximum “relaxation mode”. They lounged around in every possible position and took occasional breaks to do a bit of mutual grooming.
… with a picture of a snow monkey. Enjoy!
