Weekly Photo Challenge: My 2012 in Photos

I had a hard time deciding on only 12 favorite photos from the year. I took a lot of pictures in 2012!

I also couldn’t decide on just one category to choose my pictures from. I have created six galleries from my 6 favorite categories with 12 pictures (one for each month) in each gallery.

And that, believe it or not is as whittled down as much as I could. I realize this may not be exactly what this challenge calls for but I just did a Wrap It Up post and it is probably closer to what the instructions call for in this challenge.
Oh well, it’s my blog, I’ll post what I want.

To see the instructions that I did not comprehend and others who did follow this link:
http://dailypost.wordpress.com/category/photo-challenges/

I love black and white; but it’s got to be the right shot. I think these 12 are the right shots to make up my 2012 Best Black and White Gallery.

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I managed to combine mountains, valleys, hills, country roads, and train tracks into this Landscape Gallery.

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In 2012 I traveled to Florida, Pennsylvania, Maryland, West Virgina, and of course in my home state of Virginia. The Florida trip was a big one and took some time and money to pull off but we did it and were able to be there for all of Tropical Storm Debbie.

Harper’s Ferry West Virginia is only about an hour from me and one of my favorite places by far. But West Virginia has so many beautiful places it was hard to choose only two photographs. The first was a shot of a courthouse in a little town we were simply driving through. I’m very proud of the shot.

I love history and I feel I am very fortunate to live within two hours of three different presidential homes. I chose this shot of John Madison’s home, Montpelier in the spring, not only for it’s beauty but the awe I felt walking the grounds of this historic home. Skyline Drive is another one of my favorite destinations and it’s close by, only 20 minutes from my home in Virginia. I have many wonderful photographs from there but the one I included was more about the experience than the shot. When we spotted this field of ferns beginning to change color in late October it was exciting. I love seeing things I have never seen or noticed before. Carrying a camera gives me that JoY.

Washington DC is another one of my favorite destinations. It’s about an hour from me and we like to take day trips and even over night trips occasionally to explore the city. We are going again this week, I’m excited!

My siblings and some cousins live in Pennsylvania near Gettysburg so it’s a wonderful excuse to visit that state. We have family in Litiz Pennsylvania and Lancaster is a favorite destination also. I love bridges,and these two towns have lots of them!

Maryland is my home state and will always have a special place in my heart but we have been to so many different parts of Maryland it was difficult to find my favorites. I decided on the one from the C&O Canal which was a moment like finding the ferns on Skyline Drive; it just presented itself. The other is from Kent Island where my father lived until his death in February. My step mother is still there and I look forward to visiting soon.

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No culmination of favorite pictures of mine could be complete without a Sunrise Gallery.

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If we are going to have a sunrise gallery we also need one of Sunsets.

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If you follow my work you also know that I enjoy taking pictures of architecture. Some of my favorite forms of architecture are displayed in this gallery; churches, bridges, a mill, and of course barns. (Barns are kind of my thing)

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And there ya; go 2012 in a nut shell. Well it’s a little bigger than a nut shell, but you get my drift.