October Image of the Month

October was a good photo month for me, leading to another tough choice for Image of the Month. (I love these tough choices!) You may have seen all 16 of the contenders a couple days ago here. You get a rant there as well, if you missed it, so take a few minutes. I'll still be here.

I got it down to 4 photos as finalists kind of sort of easily. They stood out that extra little bit. Curtis is here, helping me choose and write it up.

Second Runner up
Normally I'm not big on sunrise or sunset shots in competition for the image of the month, but this one is a bit of an exception. It really did look like this, a giant spaceship or asteroid coming in to crush Calgary, pushing out streamers of clouds all around it. This is a 5 shot panorama looking north during sunrise.

First Runner up (the toughest choice)
Taken on Elbow Island with my buddy Amy. This is purely a reflection shot, no dry land at all. It is twin to another similar shot that I like just as much, 1769 in this post, if you're curious. All the reflection photos from that day are really good, and I've spent some time looking them over in detail. I'm particularly taken with reflection shots these days. You might recall the September Image of the Month was a reflection shot as well.

Image of the Month
Sean and I had just got to Beaver Dam flats, did a quick bit of scouting, and set up. I had a couple trial shots, then set up for this HDR image to try to get some detail along the water line on the other side of the pond since it was still fairly dark. As we were setting up the water was completely calm, but during these longer exposures the faintest breeze came up, giving the reflection a lovely shimmering quality. I'm pretty sure this one will be high on the list for Image of the Year.