BEST PHOTOGRAPHY WORK OF 2022
Now that the sun is about to set on 2022, it's time to reflect back on the past year, photographically speaking. Looking at your own work with a critical eye, can be an interesting exercise and actually more difficult than what most think. Interestingly, it is very common for these images to be very different from what is most popular on social media (Instagram, Facebook...).
Like every year, I try to come up with the best 3 images of each of the 4 categories I typically shoot;
Click on the respective links above, to check out the Portfolio galleries of these categories on my website.
Here we go:
STREET
Interestingly, my Top 3 Street Photography images, were all shot in the last month of 2022!
The image below was shot at the Al Marmoon, Camel Race track in Dubai; a perfect place to shoot silhouette images agains the setting sun. One could argue if this classifies as a Street Photography, but my own definition is: "Capturing everyday human life and society, generally shot candidly, in a public place. So, I guess it is.
The second image is a good example of how to shoot Street Photography with stricter privacy laws, like here in the UAE. Irrespective of photography laws, my number one rule, is always to shoot with respect and common sense. Never shoot scenes, where you wouldn't like to be part of yourself as well. The image below, shows a proud mum walking along a promenade in Jumeriah, Dubai. While remaining anonymous, I find it a great motherhood moment.
The third Street photo is inspired by Liam Wong, who is known for his "Sci-Fi" street photos. I helped funding his second book and have just received my copy; just like TO:KY:OO another remarkable photo-book. The night image was shot in Melbourne, Australia and is pretty much Straight Out Of Camera (SOOC), using a modified Film recipe by FujiXWeekly, called Jeff Davenport.
AERIAL
Focus on the World below, is one of my favorite photography genres. Whether you use a drone or shoot from an aircraft with a classic camera system, it shows the world in a completely different perspective. Unfortunately drone flying in the UAE as for non-commercial purposes, is no longer allowed. Let's hope this gets changed in the coming year...
The first image was shot in the last week of the year, during a flight from Dubai to Brussels. I often say, the best In-Flight Entertainment (IFE) on an airliner is your window seat! While traveling on a short break to my home country Belgium, I witnessed some amazing scenery as we were cruising along at 34000ft over the Northwestern part of Iran. The snowy mountains were bathing in purple morning light, while the Caspian Sea coastline could just be seen at the top of the image. Several volcanos can also be seen. It was a surreal experience.
I often get the remark that one can't take good images from the passenger cabin of an airliner. The images above and below, show something different I guess! Let's share a few useful tips... 1/ Always try and shoot at a right angle to the window; when sitting on the right, try to frame an image when the aircraft is banking to the right; opposite for the left hand side. 2/ Prime lenses seem to work much better for shooting through airliner windows which consist of several layers of plastic and glass.
When it comes to Fine-Art aerial work, interesting patterns often make for an interesting photograph. This was the case when I shot the image below over Jordan, from an airliner. The Black and White conversion was clearly inspired by the striking Black and White work of Sebastian Salgado.
Shooting a thunderstorm from a moving aircraft has become a whole lot easier with the "Pre-shot" function found on the newer Fujifilm X-series cameras. It basically saves the last second or so, just before you click the shutter, as long as the shutter is continually half pressed before. In order to have fast enough shutter speeds, one needs to of course use a "fast lens" (large aperture) to frame images like this. The image almost look like an atomic bom going off; sometimes we will hopefully never see for real!
TRAVEL
2022, Was the year where we saw most Travel destinations open up again to travellers. Flying as an airline captain, we are able to go out and explore again, which of course great!
On a personal note, beside a few trips to Central Europe (Belgium and France), I had two more extensive travel trips over the course of the year. The first one was a ski trip to Austria, which always adds a few interesting images to the Travel section.
Later in the year, we set off on a two week photo-adventure to Northern Vietnam. Not unexpected the best Travel work came from that trip.
One of the highlights of the trip was a cruise along the Halong bay area; a Unesco World heritage site, which is a must see if you are in the area. The image below, is a silhouette shot from the boat of one of the many majestic lime stone islands.
During the cruise, we also had the opportunity to a go kayaking in one of the many caves. Seeing all of the yellow kayaks grouped together made for an interesting image.
When one thinks about Vietnam, we often picture people working in the rice fields wearing the typical Vietnamese hats. Although we were a few weeks late for the peak colour of the rice fields, we did an interesting cycling trip in a valley where the rice harvest was still in full swing. I have a series of images of people working in the field but my favorite remains this one of a lady on a bike.
AVIATION
As a pilot, I'm always on the look-out to do some kind of Aviation photography. Sometimes that's by attending an airshow, fly our 1954 vintage Piper Super Cub to Ono of the many "Fly-ins" (get togethers) or photograph business aircraft and airliners whenever I see an opportunity.
The first image comes from the 2022 Moorsele Fly-in (Belgium), which I helped organizing. The 2-day event was a huge success and saw more than 100 visiting aircraft, of which some very special warbirds like the Mk XVI Spitfire below. Like previous years, the BBQ spot on Saturday night is always a great place for some spectacular sunset images.
I'm not an aircraft spotter, but do enjoy photographing large airliners around the world. The image below of an Airbus A380, the world's largest aircraft, is a good example of this. This year, I've just passed flying the A380 for 10 consecutive years; the longest I've flown a single type since I started flying for a living in 1995. A proud moment.
The last image is of a Twin Otter coming in to land at the Skydive Dubai runway near Dubai Marina. A spectacular site and always full of aviation photography opportunities!
CLOSING THOUGHTS
End of 2021, I decided to end my Pic(k) of the week series; a project initially started in 2010, where I blogged about a certain image shot over the course of the week. Lasting 12 years, I never did miss a single week, leading to a nice collection which can be found here.
Since that project was ended, the blog has become a lot less active. As a New Year resolution, I do want to increase the number of blogposts over the course of the New year and I'm presently playing with a few ideas...
My 2022 Lightroom catalog is presently holding 11.000 images which is completely in line with previous years. Of these, I've tagged just over 400 images as "five stars" images; a classification of an image which makes it portfolio worthy. Call it the best of the catalog!
After having used the new Fujifilm X-T5 for a couple of months now, one can expect a review at the start of the new year.
Lastly, I wish all my readers, Happy Holidays!
See you on the other side!
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