My Best Photography of 2016

2016, as I mentioned in my previous roundup post, was my year for photography. I bought my first (and, um, second) DSLR and really threw myself into improving my craft.

So, I decided I'd pick out a few of my best/favourite pictures from the past year! Without further ado, here they are, in roughly chronological order:

Winter/Spring

I took this one early into the winter, while out snowshoeing. It's in some sense luck, as I was quickly taking photos trying to capture at least one foot in the air without worrying too much about composition. But...I'm still quite proud of it. It's probably my best pre-buying-my-own camera photo (shot on my brother's camera...thanks for lending it to me!)

2016 in Review

Well, my 2016 was a pretty wild year (then again, my life never gets boring, and I find myself saying that about every year...).

Without further ado, here's a quick recap!

Countries visited: 6 (including Canada)
New countries: 3 (Liechtenstein, Switzerland, and Italy)

World Heritage Sites: 5 (4 new)
Swiss Tectonic Area Sardona, Switzerland
Old City of Berne, Switzerland
Swiss Alps Jungfrau-Aletsch, Switzerland
Sacri Monti of Piedmont and Lombardy
Wartburg Castle, Germany (this one I've visited before, several times)

Back in Winnipeg: Photos of Oak Hammock Marsh

I must once again apologize for belated and lacking posts. There have been some things in my personal life that have prevented me from writing. With that not necessarily being resolved and exams coming up, I can't promise that next week's post will be on time either, so please bear with me.

A few weeks ago, several of us headed out to Oak Hammock Marsh for the day, to do some hiking and get out of the city for a bit. Oak Hammock is a nature centre and bird sanctuary, not far north of the city. It's isolated enough that you really feel that you're in nature, but close enough that a day trip is perfectly viable.

Baden in Pictures

I've already posted pictures of Brugg, the next larger town from PSI. Baden is one train stop further from Brugg, and somewhat bigger.

The town of Baden would most likely not have appeared on my radar at all had not Michael, one of my closest friends from the guesthouse (where I was living while in Switzerland), moved there about a month after I came to the country.

A Second Day of Hiking in the Sardona Tectonic Area

This is, as the title says, the second day of hiking in this region; the first day can be found here. This post is going up a day late due to midterms - I'm still working at keeping a consistent posting schedule!

When I woke up on Sunday morning in the Segneshütte, I took my time getting out of bed, still revelling in the luxury of a private room and the joy of staying in this hut high in the amazingly beautiful Swiss alps.

Walking in a World Heritage Site: Hiking the Sardona Tectonic Area in Eastern Switzerland

The week after my amazing first weekend in the Alps, I found myself simultaneously still riding the high from that lovely experience and eager for a repeat. But where to go?

Coffee and Weirdness: A Visit to the Giger Bar in Chur

I did some reading on sights to see in Switzerland before I left. Now, I promptly forgot the vast majority when I got there (most were either mountains or castles and I could get better tips from my coworkers on those anyways), but one did stick with me and I was determined to go see it.

To the presumably great surprise of those of you who know me and/or read my blog regularly, this sight had nothing to do with either old buildings nor with mountains.

No, this sight was the Giger bar.

Pictures of Brugg

In my last post, mentioned the nearby town of Brugg and promised you guys some pictures from the time I spent wandering and photographing the city.

Impressions of Montreal

Finding that people were a lot friendlier than I'd expected.

People everywhere I walked nodding or smiling at me, or even calling out greetings.

Huge, lushly green trees, red brick buildings, spiral staircases, and gorgeous colourful doors everywhere.

The indescribable freedom of being completely alone, having no plans (other than going to the Swiss consulate, which was the impetus behind the trip), and being beholden to no one. I could follow my whims and do whatever I felt like doing at any given point in time (how often do we actually get that chance?).

Walking around my old area, looking for something, a memory or a spark of recognition, feeling like I was chasing ghosts, like I was trying to grasp a dream.

Finding it, finally, once I'd nearly given up.

Doing the same at the Westmount library.

Going down to the old port at 9 am with my camera, because I'd been up early and the light was good and I wanted to take pictures. Thinking I'd look like the ultimate tourist, but deciding I'd go regardless. Finding no tourists there (it was too early, I guess), only some locals going for runs or walks and a few who were filming something. Judging by the friendly nods and greetings I received, I appeared - to my surprise - to be read as a local photographer and not as a tourist.

The old man who paused to tell me he liked my hat (I was wearing my favourite hat, a grey wool-felt trilby).

The best car paint job I've ever seen.

The jolly bus driver and the random bus-taker who, with friendly grins and not-unkind laughter, helped me heft my giant bag into and out of the bus's luggage storage.

Trying to practice my French and getting responses mostly in English.

And, most of all, replacing my old bitter, negative associations towards this city with something better and finding, to my own great shock, that I like it.

I may even, one day, learn to love it.

Like Hiking Through a Fairy Tale: Pictures of the Saxony Switzerland

I've decided to mix up the order of the Saxon Switzerland posts, as I've been frantically writing an essay (that's due today *coughs*). My last post was day 1, and this post is day 3 of our time in the Saxon Switzerland. I'll be writing about day 2 hopefully next week.

The hike we did on the third day was a continuation of the hike we'd started on our first day. If you recall, we'd planned to hike from Stadt Wehlen all the way to Hohnstein, but ended up cutting the hike short in Rathen instead. This time, we took the bus back to Bastei and then continued the hike from there (we really didn't mind another opportunity to admire the Bastei bridge!).

Mist over the rocks near Bastei. Hard to capture with a camera, so please forgive the quality!

It had rained the night before, so there was mist rising as we started the hike. The mists in this region are famous - the painters I talked about last time loved them, as I'm sure you can imagine.

Mists or not, I'd argue that this section was the most beautiful one of the hike. We also loved that it was quite varied, from Bastei through to different valleys and over the heights in between. I'm sure you'll agree as you look through the pictures :). Since all the pictures make the post long, you'll find the remainder behind the cut.

Mist as seen from the Bastei bridge.

Winter pictures part 2

I've been really busy the last few days with housecleaning and finishing crochet projects and this and that, so I didn't have the chance to write up the next part of our trip. Instead, I'm going to continue my series of photography from the winter. I'll try and get the next part of the trip written up in the next two or three days.

These pictures were taken at King's Park (in the south of the city, near the U of M) while snowshoeing. I believe this was in early January. These were taken with the DSLR that was at the time borrowed but that I've since purchased. I hope you enjoy!

I'd say there's been some improvement since my last post on photography, would you agree?

What did you think? I welcome any feedback on my photography! (Just don't be a jerk, obviously)

Early Winter Photos

Here are some pictures I took near the beginning of the winter (mid- to late November, as you can see by the poppy). Since part of the intent of this blog is to track my improvements in photography, I thought I'd start with these!

 Looking back at these, I can definitely say I've improved, even over the course of the winter (which is a nice thing to see!). I have to admit, going to a proper DSLR also helped, so I can't credit all of the improvement to my becoming more skillful (all of these were, obviously, taken pre-DSLR).

 The one above (with the poppy) is my favourite of the bunch. Someone had left it on the tree after Remembrance Day, and it was such a lovely pop of colour in the bleak winter-y forest.

  I'll be posting more, newer pictures at some point in the future, so you can see my improvement!