My last post with the video ‘looking back’ actually was made because of this post; My top 10 pictures of 2013.

It has been a great year for me on the subject of photography; It was the year that I started to take myself and my photography serious. It started with me getting a ‘proper’ wide angle lense, a website, contributing to a stock site, having a webshop over at werkaandemuur.nl, even some assignments for my work as a graphic designer and of course loads of new photographs! Looking back I can see how much I have learned over the year and realise how much I still have to learn.

Anyway here are my top 10 pictures of 2013 in no particular order. And with a little of my personal motivation.

Shadows & Stockings; For me i like this image because it was taken at a location that I really wanted to visit and had been planning to for a long time. So when I finally did I was amazed that the light was absolutely stunning and the location even better than I could have hoped for.

One Golden Morning: This image for me belongs in the top 10 because the conditions and the light were extraordinary. I pass this windmill every day on my way over to work and I tend to bring my camera along every once in a while. I have a lot of photo’s from this windmill and from this angle (see the other one in my top 10 from this windmill) but they are all different because of the conditions.

Tempus Fugit II: For me this image is special because it came from experimenting and going out on a photography trip without any plans. The weather wasn’t great, the location wasn’t either, so I had to make do with what was there, and in that, I find that I maximized the potential and surprised myself by creating this capture.

The Promise: Another shot with extraordinary conditions of my favorite windmill… I was allready taking pictures of the Windmill and the approching raincloud when i noticed the small rainbow. The cherry on the cake for me in this shot!

Get Lucky: I’ve visited this location three times in a week for this result, the other times the conditions were not playing along. Three time’s a charm right?

Enjoy the silence: Minimal, quiet and colorful… In my work as a graphic designer I’ve always been attracted by simplicity so naturally I’m drawn to these kind of images. Probably that’s why it’s in my top 10 ;)… 

Hybrid Pyramid: A proper Long exposure Architectural shot that really works well for me. Love the composition and how the direction of the wind enhances the feel of motion.

Path of the Petals: Even though I was too late to capture the image I really wanted to take. One doesn’t see the tulip fields like this very often. The path of the petals in-between the rows of tulips lead you into this image and it tells a little bit of the tale of cultivating the flowerbulbs…

Blue Rush: Again I surprised myself with this image, I had taken a similar image at the very same location in springtime but the colors of this one really contrast very nicely with each other. I still am not quite sure wether I like this one or the older version better… It won the ‘winter landscape image’ theme over at the photothemes community. And we don’t get those snowy conditions every winter over here. So definitly worthy top 10 material!

Fashion Funghi: Again surprised by myself, happy little incidents like these really add something new and extra to my images. In this case the flare was unintentional but when I noticed it happening I immediately knew that this was what I was looking for! One of the few of my macro shots that I actually like…

So there you have it, my top 10 images of 2013! I found it hard to select them and the result is somewhat arbitrary, if I would have to select them again the list might just be competely different. Or maybe I’m just picky or change my opinion to quickly.

Tell me what you think and why in the comments or maybe if you would have made a different choice i’d love to hear!

Hope you have a great New Year and a prosperous and photogenetic 2014!

take care

Martijn

(p.s. if you want to see more of 2013 check out my slideshow video post it even comes with it’s own music!)