As 2018 is coming to an end, I'm curious to hear what members of the user group consider their best shot taken over the past twelve months. I suggest keeping this informal at this point – however, please feel free to share some thoughts as well… I'll start:
This year, I've been experimenting with wildlife photos that reduce the animal to the essential (while also improving the cleanliness of the picture by separating the animal completely from the environment combined with heavy cropping; some people might think the results look too "sterile" – however, that's intended). I asked myself: what is the one aspect / body part / element that tells the story of this species best? For an elk, it might be the imposing combination of chest, head, and antlers. For a monkey like the one above, it could be the almost human-like pensive impression. Although, most of all, this is my favorite shot of the year because it reminds of some wonderful vacation days in the mountains of Nagano. --Frank Schulenburg (talk) 19:19, 30 December 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Thanks for the initiative, Frank! In 2018, I did not upload much. Here a picture taken with my Sony RX100 III, I have a love-hate-relationship with this camera. The picture was taken at the general assembly of Wikimedia Nederland, with some board members occupying a table. You can see the logo in the background and a visitor at the left; maybe disturbing the pureness of the scene, maybe adding some social context. The board members react all differently to the chairman, standing. I am happy about the picture because I like the people, the unassuming yet tidy atmosphere, the railway museum in Utrecht and... my satisfaction with the image quality produced by this tiny camera. Ziko (talk) 20:57, 30 December 2018 (UTC)[reply]
A sort of POTY 2018 preview! I always look for animals interacting and oxpeckers and plains animals offer frequent opportunities. I took quite a few of this young impala getting irriated by the oxpecker. I turned this picture into my Christmas card for 2018. Happy New Year everyone. Charles (talk) 21:14, 30 December 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Thanks, Frank! I usually don't take that many pictures of people. I have neither much experience nor patience, it's just not my genre. My daughter, however, might become my long-term tutor. --Martin Falbisoner (talk) 21:44, 30 December 2018 (UTC)[reply]
2018 was so hard for me, this picture reminds me that there alway hope. It was taken in the northernmost point of Africa after the WikiIndaba Conference. — D Y O L F 77[Talk]21:52, 30 December 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Certainly not my technically best shot of the year (had to shoot at ISO 1000 because there wasn't as much light as I'd like), but I was thrilled to have the opportunity to photograph the great Romanian actress Maia Morgenstern. I've admired her work for ages, but had never before had the chance to meet her or to photograph her. - Jmabel ! talk00:24, 31 December 2018 (UTC)[reply]
This photograph represents a challenge, make a panoramic hdr photograph (6 photos with 3 different exposures + 5,0, -5) with people in movement. I had never done anything like this, however, something I always seek is to make my photos have life, the power to represent the moment, my reality, what I felt when I was there and walk with these totally unknown people. I had to wait for the right time for an hour and around 50 photos.--Photographer02:54, 31 December 2018 (UTC)[reply]
This year have not really been a great year for me with my contributions here due to so many wiki bureaucracies.. But still this image is more like my POTY as it took me hours to shoot considering i used a prime 35mm lens and had to move very close till i got my perfect mating image. It kinda understudy the beauty of nature and its relation to the environment. Thanks Frank for the initiative. Kaizenify (talk) 09:21, 31 December 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Not many pictures this year. Interacting with these children was certainly a key moment. Thanks for the initiative, and Happy New Year to all! Yann (talk) 15:51, 31 December 2018 (UTC)[reply]
The best shot of 2018 … It's just a moment, it can be another photograph in the next moment. But there are only a few photographs a year as candidates. There one was a very mystic scenery. I was looking for an olive grove. I visited these one two times. Both are very sunny days, but within the grove it was very silent. No noise and mystic light. The ground with a touch of blue from the nets, very old olive trees. Wonderful. And thanks to Frank! --Dietmar Rabichtalk11:08, 31 December 2018 (UTC)[reply]
When you are near the biggest sheet of falling water in the world (Victoria Falls) you really feel insignificant trying to realize the strength of Mother Nature. If you have the privilege to contemplate it from the bird's view, and realize later on that your try to take a high resolution panorama (out of 5 images) from a helicopter of this wonder in its full amplitude actually worked, then you just feel happy to share it in this project with the world.
I wanted to visit this small railway station since seeing it on the cover of Britain's Best Railway Stations, which I got for Christmas last year. I got a chance in the summer as this station is also the ferry terminal for travelling to the Isle of Bute where I visited Mount Stuart House. I was fortunate with the weather, though I was there with family so did not have time to take a big stitched photo. My 10mm Samyang captured the wide view instead. -- Colin (talk) 11:47, 31 December 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Thanks Frank for the get together. I bagged my undergraduate degree October this year (thankful). While in my final year, I took this image of one of the several pounds of books, academic results, scripts and documents that were disposed from my department's store after being juicily snacked on by termites. Looking at the waste of several works; some were master copies, some had no replica, works that were once held in esteem by the lively minds that contributed them to the space of knowledge, I reflected on the framework Wikipedia and Commons had to hold up knowledge, not in dark termite store rooms, but in a place were they could be accessed, reused, expanded, improved and utilized for some very very serious good by anyone for the good of everyone.-- Danidamiobi (talk) 11:54, 31 December 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Thanks Frank . I waited around 1 hours to take this small video for Pholcus phalangioides (Skull spider) per an urban legend that Pholcidae are the most venomous spiders in the world but that it is nevertheless harmless to humans because its fangs cannot penetrate human skin. I shotted many nearby photos, and I hope to time to upload it on commons --Alaa :)..!12:11, 31 December 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Thanks Frank. I've flown way too many times in the past year. My ecological footprint is a disaster. This year it is supposed to get better. Last year I brought this photo of the temple in Garni (Armenia) with me. It reminds me again and again of a great time with nice Wikipedians from Yerevan. --Matthias Süßen (talk) 14:46, 31 December 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Not only is this photo something as rare and unexpected as a grape harvest up here in cold Sweden, it is also made in the grand tradition of photo journalism. It was not planned or contrived, I just happened to be in the right place, at the right time with a camera and I got very lucky. It also represents a new kind of photography for me that began this year, where I show up at a place or event and introduce myself as a Wiki-photographer. The welcome, access and help I get from people is astonishing. That tells me that the Wiki-project really is relevant to everybody and people are happy for what we do. It's inspiring. A Happy New Year to all of you! --Cart(talk)15:05, 31 December 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Nice idea, Frank! I didn't upload much this year because I was quite busy and my photographic interests have changed towards studio and portrait work these days. However, during my holidays in Denmark I had the chance to visit famous Rubjerg Knude Fyr on a beautiful evening. I took a lot of photographs but I think this five minutes exposure was the best. The long exposure was necessary to get all the people out of the picture that were walking around at this place. The light was very pleasing and I swear I did neither touch the saturation slider, nor did I change the vibrance. --Code (talk) 08:10, 1 January 2019 (UTC)[reply]
Hi, I also didn't upload much this year (just uploaded these few pictures). I just wanted to say that sports photography is still a thing. Happy New Year. --Ailura (talk) 19:48, 1 January 2019 (UTC)[reply]
I visited Lower Antelope Canyon in the fall, and it was packed with tourists as always. However, while making my way through the slot canyon I saw a glimmer of light and pointed my camera at an angle upwards, capturing this shot. It is an image about shapes and contours. -- King of♥♦♣ ♠ 01:59, 21 January 2020 (UTC)[reply]
Thanks Frank for this idea and Happy New Year 2019! Probably not the best shot here but for me and as a Tunisian living abroad it's not everyday that I have the occasion to taste a very good Couscous with stuffed squids prepared by my mother in my hometown Lamta :) . Yamen (talk) 00:51, 3 January 2019 (UTC)[reply]
What a year! Following Ailura's comment, that was also my sports year with the 2018 Summer Youth Olympic Games as the once-in-a-lifetime highlight (it's still 85,000 files to work on, though; this one shows a moment from the opening ceremony at the Obelisk in Buenos Aires). It was so much fun to run this project with Wikimedia Argentina and Wikimedia Deutschland jointly, with tandem photography and photo workshops at site. So many experiences with athletes, families, volunteers, and everything. Unforgettable. The climax of a long year with the clothing of the German Winter Olympic team, diving, trampolining, rowing, and a lotofswimming events in Germany. Being a fan of artistic gymnastics, the year ended perfectly with an intensive event in Austria with more favorite shots.
Technically not the best, but one of my favorite 2018 shots: a view of a small mosque in the neighborhood of the Egyptian town of Esna. It was taken from a moving car and thus a lucky shot. In such cases you have to decide in less than one second to press the button... and to hope that the result will be successfull. The photo was tilted and needed correction, but was otherwise not bad. I like this picture for the light (which is not too harsh), the colors and the nice subject. In foreign countries I always try to take also pictures of places that are not touristic or obvious. -- MJJR (talk) 11:25, 5 January 2019 (UTC)[reply]
This is not a great image technically but this haystack located near the road inside the village was so surprising that made me immediately take a shot of it. --Kiril Simeonovski (talk) 12:40, 8 January 2019 (UTC)[reply]
I spent a good amount of time taking pictures at New York-area marches and protests in the last couple years. This isn't a FP, but it's one of my favorites from 2018. This was the March for Our Lives demonstration, which was particularly inspiring in the way it was driven largely by passionate young people like the subject here. — Rhododendritestalk | 02:11, 9 January 2019 (UTC)[reply]
File:Brandenburg Gate during Festival of Lights 2018 04.jpgThank you for the invitation, Frank. I didn't get to respond until now. I'll let the best shot of 2018 be the photo I took of the Brandenburg Gate during Festival of Lights 2018 in Berlin. The photo shows the "language of love" by the light artist Daniel Bandke. In this the word love is projected in almost all languages onto Brandenburg gate, which is to this day a symbol of division in the world ending through the fall of the Berlin wall. I will submit other photos I took of it for the Wiki Loves Love competition in February.--Sparrow (麻雀) (talk) 12:17, 14 January 2019 (UTC)[reply]
This photo is very simple, but it conveys the atmosphere and emotions just after a rain. Water droplets on flower petals looks very nice IMO. For me personally, this photo is also a symbol of the house, because the picture was taken on the lawn in front of my house.
On Christmas Day, I happened to climb Ben Lawers, the highest mountain of the southern Scottish Highlands. I started well before sunrise, with a headlamp on my head and an ice axe and crampons in my backpack. It was -12 degrees Celsius but no wind. When the sun started to go up, I was already on top, enjoying magnificent views to all sides. It is very rare in this part of the world to get such nice views in the winter. When that happens, it's a deep experience to be out there! --Podzemnik (talk) 07:54, 6 February 2019 (UTC)[reply]
I take a lot of documentary flower shots to illustrate Wikipedia articles, but this, while not so technically proficient, stuck in my memory.
I noticed that this daffodil, in my garden, was backlit by an LED street light. It's taken with my cheap mobile phone, and other then cropping, it's straight from the camera. The exposure was 1/6 sec, hand-held. I ended up kneeling on cold, wet grass, on a freezing night, to get the right angle. I wonder if my neighbours saw me, and what they made of the event?
. I waited around 1 hours to take this small video for Pholcus phalangioides (Skull spider) per an urban legend that Pholcidae are the most venomous spiders in the world but that it is nevertheless harmless to humans because its fangs cannot penetrate human skin. I shotted many nearby photos, and I hope to time to upload it on commons --Alaa :)..! 12:11, 31 December 2018 (UTC)
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