No, I'm not ready

I'm never ready for Christmas. It always sneaks up on me and takes me by surprise. And yet it's the 22nd as I write this. We've had a really mild winter, barely worthy of the name. The ice rink crew worked really hard to get the pleasure rink in for the Skate with Santa event the community association puts on. (Those photos are over in the photoblog if you're interested.) But it's well above zero during the day lately, and today is forecast to be double digits. The odds of a white Christmas seem really small. Yes, I barbecued yesterday, and might again today. I didn't even have to wear a jacket.

So if it's Christmas, that means the year is almost done. I'm having a hard time processing that. Maybe it's because I'm enjoying life that it seems to be going by so quickly. What with community association activities, photography, some travel, a semblance of a social life, and regular day to day activities, the days zoom by.

The latest project is two book commissions. I'd known about one of them as a possibility for a while, but we recently nailed down the specifics. The client is providing some images, and I'll be providing a selection of Alberta landscapes. I'm building that one in my head as I write this.

Then there was a surprise commission. It took a few days to build it in my head, but then the images went together quite quickly to come up with a first draft. The client is reviewing over the weekend, and I'll add or subtract images, tune the groups and sequences as indicated, and make a pass through doing the fussy step of making sure all the photos are aligned with each other. 

The selection process for image of 2023 has started. There are 148 images that have 4 or 5 stars, and I'm thinking a few of those ratings will change. There's about 2200 photos with 3 stars to review, meaning I edited them, out of about 19000 photos taken this year. Of course, some of those are photos of old negatives, but I've decided they still count and a few of them are in the running for image of the year.

Maybe what I'll do over next week or two is share some of the 4 and 5 star photos that haven't been blogged for whatever reason, and are probably not in the running for the podium. Sort of an honourable mention, if you will. 

So this one is one of my all time favourite photos of Linda. It's from our film point and shoot camera days, so probably late 80's. This is also the Film (old) Of the Day image.

And a couple tranquil sunrise over the St. Lawrence from the deck at Linda's sister's place, as I waited for ships to emerge from the mist.

Of the Day

Driftwood (NZ)

and a downtown night ramble from 2016.

Driftwood (BC)

Flower and Film (new)

Yukon

Plus a NZ driftwood serendipity that sort of reminds me of an octopus.