2018 Photos of the Year

It's time to review our year's work and pick a favorite. Being greedy, I can't limit myself to just one. There could be lots more but these are my besties. People notice that I shy away from pretty pictures. There are some in my portfolio but what interests me is the ironic, the street, the theater and personalities. So...

TIE FOR FIRST PLACE 

         

Night walk in a forest near Monteverde, Costa Rica. How the guide found this tiny lizard I cannot say. Lit by only a flashlight.

A scene from a play called Pain during the St. Louis Fringe Festival . Actually, this is my favorite but I thought it would put people off if I placed it first.

THIRD PLACE

Fourth of July fireworks at the Arch.

ELLIE 

Utter concentration while building a Lego tower. At the Magic House, our area's children's science museum.

STL LOCAL

Autumn in Forest Park. Okay, I guess this qualifies as a pretty picture.



BEST ARCH PICTURE

First published just a few fays ago.

THEATER

The irrepressible Lola van Ella at the St. Louis Fringe's fundraiser Act Your Pants Off.

TRAVEL

Specials at Ricky's Cafe, Hanover, Kansas.

Golden Gate Bridge, San Francisco, taken from the north shore of the bay.

Part of The  Heidelberg Project, Detroit. Look it up!

A happy new year and good shooting to all our City Daily Photo colleagues. Take a look at of our members' best work here. It's starting to go up.

Pictures Of The Year

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The New Year's Day theme is traditionally picture of the year. Insisting on a single image brings out my dislike for authority so I have assembled a small assortment.

The top photo is the obvious first choice. It's the picture of the stairwell at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago that won first prize in a major annual photography show here. They actually gave me money.

The shots below reflect the periods of very wet weather we had in 2010. First, the approaches to the now defunct riverboat casino Admiral under the floodwaters of the Mississippi. Middle, a damp day in Forest Park in an image where I thought everything fell together perfectly. Bottom, the flood completely over the levee and just covering the bike path on the street closest to the river.

Click here to view thumbnails for all participants in theme day. Best wishes for a happy and healthy 2011 from the Crowes.

BUT WAIT, THERE'S MORE! Today marks the opening of my new year-long blog project, Downtown St. Louis 365. Stop by and join the fun!

2009 Photo of the Year

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Hi from 32,000 feet over west Texas. I think it's so cool that we're starting to get WiFi on airplanes. When this is posted I'll be asleep in Las Vegas, soon to head out into the desert. I've got 30 or 40 pounds of photo equipment in my carry on. I brought the works.

Today's the day we're supposed to show our best picture of 2009. I can't decide - it's one of these two. The first was shot in Lhasa, the second in Kathmandu. One of my photography teachers, someone who I respect greatly, said that the first might be the best picture I've ever made. So take your pick.

Click here to view thumbnails for all participants.

CDPB Theme Day: Picture of the Year

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Okay, after much consultation with friends and colleagues, I declare that my personal best of the year was this portrait of Novice Sister Kristi Kreams, Abbess, Gateway Sisters of Indulgence, St. Louis, MO, taken at the St. Louis Pridefest and posted on June 30. The group is apparently part of the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, an organization whose web site describes it as "a leading-edge Order of queer nuns" that made its first appearance in San Francisco on Easter Sunday, 1979. I love the kabuki makeup. All Japanese kabuki roles, male and female, are played by men. Why not also on the streets of St. Louis?

RUNNERS-UP

My favorite Arch picture of the year, posted on June 26.

Best St. Louis neighborhood shot, on Manchester Ave. in The Grove.

Posted November 19.

Very close second-best portrait of the year: Joseph Ades, a locally famous Englishman
who sells vegetable peelers on the streets of New York City.
Posted July 6.

151 City Daily Photobloggers around the world are showing off there very best stuff today. Click here to view thumbnails for all participants

THE THURSDAY ARCH SERIES IS OFFICIALLY OFF TODAY FOR THE NEW YEAR'S HOLIDAY, BUT IF YOU JUST CAN'T LIVE WITHOUT IT, CLICK HERE. One thousand bonus points for anyone who can identify the approximate season and time of day.

WHAT I'M KICKING MYSELF FOR: why didn't I do any HDRs of lower Manhatten and the Brooklyn Bridge? The idea never entered my empty head.

TOMORROW: the last picture I took in 2008.