CITY DAILY PHOTO JANUARY THEME - PICTURE OF THE YEAR

From a post in November, looking up at the sunset sky from within the spiral of Richard Serra's monumental steel sculpture, Joe. It is located in the courtyard shared by the Pulitzer Arts Foundation and our Contemporary Art Museum. Not to everyone's taste but it's my favorite of the year.

And so to 2024. May the people of Gaza, Israel, Ukraine--and you--find peace. May Trump go away forever and may the skies be clear for the total eclipse in April. May artificial intelligence not become overlord and may Twitter/X fold. May we have enough water and shelter from the heat. May we learn our lessons, so many lessons. 

 

SAINT LOUIS DAILY PHOTO - 2019 PHOTO OF THE YEAR CLOSE RUNNER-UP

It was really hard to choose from this and the photo I posted yesterday. Bit of good luck here - my reflexes aren't that fast. Taken off Samara, Costa Rica, last February.              

SAINT LOUIS DAILY PHOTO - 2019 PHOTO OF THE YEAR

From the 2019 St. Lou Fringe Festival last August. These performers were aerialists, acrobats, trapeze artists and dancers in a show called When Women Were Birds. It was breathtaking.

There is another photo I came this close to choosing. I think I'll run some runners-up for a bit.          

Photo(s) Of The Year

On New Year's Day City Daily Photo members show off their best picture of the year. I'm a prolific snapper and don't seem to be able to limit myself to one image. As Oscar Wilde said, nothing succeeds like excess. And so:

Favorite picture of the year, and maybe best travel photo - Denali National Park in Alaska on a bleak day.

                             

Best Arch picture. There were not many this year because of the mess from the renovations of the grounds.

Best architecture. 120 Wall Street in New York, where my father worked for most of his career, followed by a club on the edge of downtown STL.

 

 

Best portrait - my friend, the artist Henryk Ptasiewicz.

Best urban landscape - snow in front of the St. Louis Art Museum.

Best flora, at the Missouri Botanical Garden.

Best fauna. Sorry, three way tie. A millipede in a Costa Rican rain forest, rolled up in a defensive position; the koi pond in the Botanical Garden; and a puffin in Seward, Alaska.

 

 

Best travel photo, besides the other ones. Dinner on the beach in Tamarindo, Costa Rica.

Best local shots - the Great Forest Park Balloon Race, followed by dusk on Gravois Avenue.

Best picture of Madeleine. Not so much cute as deep. There is a lot going on behind those eyes.

So happy 2016 to one and all. Oh, and you may have heard that it's been raining a bit here. Pix of the Mississippi tomorrow.

And check the best images of CDP members from around the world here.

Photo(s) Of The Year

On New Year's Day, City Daily photobloggers post their best work from the year just ended. The photo above is my favorite of 2014. It was taken in Paris from the clock tower of the Orsay Museum, looking back across the Seine to The Louvre.

But I'm greedy and I have to allow myself some runners-up. Your opinion may differ but here is what I think is my best stuff in various categories.


Best portrait: music student in Liberia, Costa Rica.                           

Best landscape: railroad crossing near Marysville, Kansas.

Best picture of a performance: member of Alarm Will Sound in the new Media Commons.

Best architecture shot: STL's new bridge over the Mississippi.

Best black and white for its own sake: Desert Botanical Garden in Phoenix.

Best humor shot: tourists in the Louvre.

Best travel shot other than the top one: Mirror of Nice.

Best wedding photo: my son and his new bride in the CTA.

Best attempt at self-immolation: St. Louis Renaissance Faire.

Best picture of Madeleine: introduction to guacamole.

Okay, I admitted I was greedy. Happy New Year to all you shooters. See all the other CDP photos of the year by clicking here.

Photos Of The Year

Another year behind the viewfinder. Followers of this blog know I am unable to limit myself to a single picture for the CDP January 1 theme. Thus, a selection of my favorite shots from 2013.

First, the most important event of the year and one of the most important of my life, the birth of my first grandchild, Madeleine. She is three hours old in the first shot. The second picture is the Crowe family a few weeks earlier at Emily's baby shower. (I set it up and had someone push the button.)

Third, my favorite street shot of the year, taken at Grovefest.

Fourth, my niece and nephew's wedding in Chicago last June. They live in New York now and we visited their apartment last Saturday before dinner at the restaurant in yesterday's post.

Fifth, my favorite B&W of the year, Lake Shore Drive in Chicago at the northern end of I 55. It was shot from the front seat of a bus taking guests back downtown after the wedding on the University of Chicago's campus.

Sixth, seventh and eighth, my favorite Arch pictures of 2013.

Ninth, favorite local shot. St. Louis summons up a rainbow from the top of Art Hill.

Last, well, it's just the blues.

Happy New Year to all.