December wallpaper

Well, 2010 is on its last legs, and once again it seems like the year has flown by—but what a year this has been, at least for me. I'm planning a nice big year-end wrap up to talk about all of it, but want to take a moment here to say "thank you" to everyone who has contributed to my photographic journey over the last 12 months. Things have certainly changed and I hold you all personally responsible. :-)

Speaking of flying, this month's wallpaper is a photograph I made in 1987 while on vacation in Acadia National Park in Maine. Made with a Pentax 645 and Fujichrome Velvia 100 (I think), it reminds me of the past and of the future. I know that's a little sappy, but we really do need to do what we can to fly in a world that seems like it only wants to ground us, sometimes permanently. We all have responsibilities, true—but we occasionally need to take the time to push ourselves out into the air and soar. It feels good and it opens us up to so many possibilities out there.

I hope all of you have a great December and a great Christmas holiday. Perhaps this New Year, you'll add "soar" to your list of resolutions. Enjoy.

December wallpaper — Large Desktop (2560 x 1600) December wallpaper — Small Desktop (1280 x 800) December wallpaper — iPad (1024 x 1024) December wallpaper — iPhone HD (640 x 960)

And the winners are...

A couple of weeks ago, I asked you to take your turn and show me your best photograph made close to home. I hoped that we could continue the discussion I started in Close to Home: Finding Great Photographs in Your Own Back Yard and see how you put it to use in your towns, neighborhoods, and back yards. We've had some great entries into the "Close to Home eBook" Flickr group and well, we've got some cool prizes to give away too, so let's get to it.

We've put the entries through the Official Light Without Random Number Generator™ (well, actually this one) and we've selected the winners! So, without further adieu…

• The first winner is Tina Blum Photography and her entry, "Oh, what a beautiful morning!" Tina wins a Craft & Vision ebook of her choice, including the newest one, David duChemin's The Vision Driven Photographer, available soon from C&V.
• The second winner is third-dimension (whose real name is currently a mystery :-) ) with her entry, "Sunset on my balcony." Third-dimension wins a 10" x 15" signed print of any image from the Close to Home ebook.
• The third and final winner is Denise Worden and her entry "Sitting in Stillness." Denise wins a 16" x 24" APC Pro canvas of any image from the Close to Home ebook.

Congratulations to all the winners and many thanks to everyone who participated in the contest. There are some pretty cool images in the Flickr group, so if you haven't checked them out yet, you should. Also, starting today, I'm opening up the group so that you can post as many images as you want to (with a limit of three per day). I'd like to continue this group and start talking about your images and why you chose to make your photograph(s). I'm going to start it off by posting the story behind the first image in the Close to Home ebook that you see above.

So join us, would you? Let's see if we can talk a little about our craft (and vision :-) ) and maybe inspire others to do so too. Hope to see you there!

Your turn

I've gotta say, your response to Close to Home: Finding Great Photographs in Your Own Back Yard has been overwhelming. If it's possible to be proud and humbled at the same time, I am. Lots of great comments and reviews from a lot of people, and I'm very grateful for all of them. I'm very happy that many of you have found something in it to inspire you to explore your towns, neighborhoods, and back yards. Okay, now it's your turn.

I want you to show the rest of us those places near you where you've found great photographs—where you've found the extraordinary. So here's the deal. I've set up a Flickr group called "Close to Home eBook" (sadly, "Close to Home" has been taken) and I want you to post the best image you've taken close to home. I'd like to see a recent image, preferably after you read the book, so we can see how you might have applied the principles described in it. One image per person, so be sure it's your favorite. (You'll be able to replace your image if you change your mind, but you'll be able to have only one image at a time in the group.) I've added the one above, just to get us started. (You'll need a Flickr membership, too. The free one will work.) You have until until 11:59 p.m. on Sunday, November 21 to post your image in the Flickr group.

Each person who submits an image to the Flickr group and has purchased the Close to Home ebook will be registered to win one of three great prizes. Yes, you must do both of these to be eligible to win. On Monday, November 22, I'll randomly draw 3 winners from the Flickr pool entrants and the folks at Craft & Vision will verify that you have indeed purchased the ebook. If the stars align, here's what you can win:

• The first randomly-selected winner will receive a free Craft & Vision ebook of your choice
• The second randomly-selected winner will receive a signed 10" x 15" print (on 13" x 19" paper) of your choice of any photograph in the ebook, ready for matting and framing.
• The final randomly-selected winner will receive an 16" x 24" APC Pro canvas of your choice of any photograph in the book.

So take a good, slow walk around your neighborhood or town. Find that extraordinary moment and show us how it felt to you. Remember, great photographs are about life, and life happens everywhere.

UPDATE: There's been a little confusion about when the photographs should have been/be taken. My original intent, which was communicated badly, was that you would upload images taken between October 28 and November 21. Unfortunately, that wasn't clear in my original post, so I'm going to waive that as a requirement. I'd still prefer that you do that, because the point of it was to apply what you might have learned from the book to your photography close to home. So feel free to upload any image you want to share, but I'd really like you to share your more recent work. Sorry for the confusion.