Best of 2021, for the Photography Lovers End of Year Contest

Yesterday I saw the contest announcement, posted by derangedvisions and I thought this is a very good idea not just because we get to search for the best photos we like, but also because we get to tell the story behind those photos. It's like a walk down memory lane.

2021 was a good year as far as photography is concerned, there were a lot of good moments and the fact that I was able to buy a new phone with a better camera is not something to neglect. Now that I think of, my old phone was almost as old as me on Hive. It served me very well, I can't complain.

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I took this photo in the last week of October as I was in the mission of capturing as many beautiful autumn photos as I can, as well as printing them in my memory, to last till spring arrives. I knew we're going to enter the gray season soon and needed to boost my good mood to last.

What I love about it is the colors mixing in the photo, as well as the red leaves. I love colorful leaves and there are not many red leaves like this, not even during autumn. I remember this scene as I took it yesterday. Obviously the leaves are all gone, but the memory is still fresh.

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Last month I was able to do a photo shoot of frost, which was a lot of fun because frost is not something we get every day here. It is rare and it is even more rare when you get some nice, frosty things to photograph. I was lucky that day because frost came early and the pink roses was not prepared to be sprinkled with frost. For me, this was the first year to catch some frosty flowers, which means I will remember these for the rest of my life.

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Animal photography has always been fascinating, but not accessible to me for various reasons, one of which was my lack of equipment. Without a good zoom option, there's not much you can do. However, I got lucky this summer when I visited the zoo and this sweetheart was resting near the fence, giving us the opportunity to not only take some good photos, but also to pet him.

It was a memorable day as I spent it with my niece, who left the country shortly after and I have only seen her a couple of times since then.

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This is an interesting one and I suppose the story behind it is more interesting then the photo itself. The photo means more to me than to anyone else, but let me tell you why it means a lot to me.

This photo was taken on the 10th of July this year. It was a hail storm and we got these ice pieces and even bigger ones than the one in my hand. I could not take photos of the biggest piece as i was afraid to go out. I thought my safety is more important than a photo that I can post on the blockchain.

This hail storm made a lot of damages in the garden, destroyed a good part of the vegetables, but I still consider us lucky as even with the damage, we still got plenty of vegetables.

Events like this can teach you to appreciate what you get even more. Waste is not our style, so we tried to limit the damage done by the hail storm and harvest, recycle and make the most of the crop that survived the disaster. I'm never going to forget this photo.

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Every year I'm waiting for these fruit trees to blossom. It's the most beautiful period of the season because these blossoms are not like the other flowers that grow on the ground. As a photographer, it's a pleasure and a privilege to be able to do a photo shoot and as nature lover, it's just wonderful to smell the scent of the flowers and admire them.

I remember this photo shoot in April, when I was struggling to get some decent shots. It was after a rain, there was not enough light and on top of that, the wind was blowing. It was a huge challenge, but in the end, half of my photos were (half)decent 😂. Next year I'm planning to do another one, this time with my new camera, which is way better than the old one.

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Last, but not least, there's this frost photo, that I love. It is from January, when the first frost happened. I went out photo hunting and was thrilled to see these tiny apples still in a decent shape. The most important thing about this scene was that it wasn't staged, it was all done by nature.

These photos have been posted before, therefore, there's a source for each of them. If you want to see the photo shoot these are from, please click the link below the photos.

Overall it was a good year, even though I had no possibility to travel. I'm still grateful for everything I was able to achieve and the experience I was able to accumulate will help me be a better person next year.

I'm not looking to win anything, but I'd like to thank @derangedvisions and the team for the opportunity to scroll through my old posts and looks for my favorite photos.