My favorite 33 photos from 2013 (with 36.5 hours to go)

I decided to make a quick pass through my 2013 photos and pick a few personal favorites to share.

This turned out to be an interesting process.  I ended up with 33 images.  These aren't necessarily the best images, just a few personal favorites.

I selected five images from this year's Veteran's Parade.  The five combined make for an interesting and emotional sequence.  

There were several large groups of High School JROTC students marching in the parade.  I couldn't help but look at these young men and women passing by and wonder what their futures will hold, what they will do for our country, what our country will do with them, to them, and for them.  It makes me both proud and concerned in a mixed bag of emotions.

The Future:

The Present:

The Past:

poster carried in the parade -- "Have a great time in heaven.  You were awesome"

I'm proud of our military; less proud, at times, of what conflicts our civilians send them into.

Veterans for Peace marching in the Veteran's Day Parade.

ok, moving right along, trying not to bug anyone...  I really like old fluorescent signs that have survived time, including this one at a pest control company in Tucson.

I didn't do as much birding as I hoped to during 2013.  This is probably my best bird image of the year, a Great Horned Owl leaving it's perch during one of the Free Flight programs that the Arizona Sonora Desert Museum holds.  I like the intent focus of the eyes, it already knows where it is going and what it is going to do.  Check out the talons.   BTW, you can click on any of these pictures (no, not like a porpoise) to see a larger image.

I really like the lighting of this Belly Dancer performing at this year's MoctoberFest.  Great eyes and smile!

A couple and their dog enjoying the day during Cyclovia.  Smiles all around!

"The Messenger" in snow.  One of my favorite sculptures in Tucson.

It is not at all unusual to see architects, landscape architects, and artists have great initial concepts and then trip all over each other in what the passerby sees.  This house in downtown Tucson really blended colors nicely with the outside vegetation.  This is also one of the very nice things about The Messenger sculpture above: clean lines of sight of the sculpture and all the way back to the Santa Catalina Mountains, no utility lines or street lights in the way.

If you hear someone talking about the 'blooming desert" around here, they aren't talking about the heat.  Below, a night blooming cereus that blooms one night a year and looks like a dead stick much of the rest of the time.  Also called "The Queen of the Night".

Not a great technical shot, and no time to retake before the subjects shifted around, but I still like it.  I especially like the Corgi taking a drink out of the cup while folks enjoy violin music at one of the Armory Park PorchFest stops this year.  Adults, kids, musicians, and dogs all enjoying PorchFest -- the way things should be.

Another image from the Armory Park neighborhood PorchFest.  This one reminds me of what a great night that turned into with a very hot day turning into an event-threatening rainstorm which turned out to only show up long enough to cool things off;  the evening of porches and music proceeded spectacularly.  Classic example of the benefits of not letting weather discourage you from attending an event, especially in Tucson.

My night blooming Echinopsis cacti really outdid itself one night.  I captured this image with the patient help of a friend -- I handled the camera while she moved a light at different angles.  I really like the way it turned out.

A fun shot at this year's GLOW festival, a Circus Amperian performer standing on top of a Tesla coil holding an umbrella frame with one tip igniting.

Miss Frankie Stein and James Arr of the Mission Creeps performing downtown.  Always a good show with great music!

Having fun at the Cardboard Ball, where most everyone wore one or more pieces of cardboard.  This was such a fun evening among some very creative folks in Tucson.

This is one of my favorite shots of the year.  This was a quick candid shot during the Cardboard Ball and is just so strange.  What's that bright light come from the left?  Where do all these stairs head to?  Why the barricade?  What's death waiting on?

I took a number of pictures of Tucson Mayer Jonathan Rothschild at events over the year, but this is one of my favorites.  He is holding his hands up in victory after having just used an angle grinder to cut the steel metal ribbon bolted across the entry at Xerocraft's Grand Opening of their new Hackerspace home.  Several Xerocraft members are in the background, rightly pleased with how well their unique ribbon cutting ceremony went off.  The Mayer is a good sport.

Stiltwalkers performing in Armory Park at Dios de la Adrenalina 

This is a small portion of a wonderful long mural in the Dunbar Springs neighborhood.  I like the angle and lighting which conveys a wind blowing out of the shadows...

Performers at the second PorchFest in of the year in Tucson, this time in the Dunbar Springs neighborhood.  I love these informal community neighborhood events that bring people together, out of their own neighborhoods, out of their houses, out of their backyards.

A talented harp player with a great look -- at this year's Procession of Little Angels in Armory Park.

Roaming neighborhoods to celebrate the longest night -- during the Winter Solstice @ LumiNight.

A passerby during LumiNight holding his present, a small lit candle.  This photo could certainly be improved upon technically, but I still like it and what it captures for that evening of giving out small presents to strangers during the Winter Solstice.

The Festive Bike (aka The Loud Bike) which carries a 300 watt sound system and is a very popular addition to many small community events around town.  Seen below with Christmas lights at night during LumiNight.

I acquired the metal sculpture created by Erik Bang during this year's BICAS silent art auction and had a tremendous amount of fun building a temporary "world" for it on my kitchen counter with sand, sky, colors, lighting angles, etc.  I really like the way it came out and its was fun to be doing this in reality, not with Photoshop effects or anything.  I want to do more!  Moving and positioning lighting and angles on inanimate, non-blinking objects gave me a new appreciation of what my wedding/portrait photographer friends must go through with living, moving people.  :-)

And of course, I have to include a few images from Tucson's signature event, the All Souls Procession.  I really liked this trio's look.

as well as this trio -- simple face designs that look incredible

This one, because standing on it's own visual merits alone, it's pretty strange.  In a good way.

All Souls Procession Finale Performers, amazing as always!

. . .

Part of my to-do list for the coming year includes increasing my technical, composition, and photography related people skills in a variety of environments and settings.  

Stay tuned!   And thanks for visiting my blog!  :-)