Ivan Makarov Blog

Before I outline some of the goals I have for my photography for 2010, I thought I’d share with you some of my favorite images from 2009. As I share these, you can see what kind of things I found myself photographing during this past year.

It’s been an interesting year for me. In terms of subject matter, I photographed just about everything there is to photograph – landscapes, seascape, portraits, street, urban, architecture, night photography, sports, macro, street and even firedancers. A lot of it came as a result of attending photowalks and meetups that tend to focus on different things, but overall I wanted to spend some time exploring various styles of photography to see which direction I want to go next. It was almost a self-discovery for me, and in the process, I’ve learned a lot, both about photography and myself. With that, let’s go ahead and jump in to cover some of my favorite pictures from the last year. They’ll be presented in the order I took them.

1. Rising Storm and the Tree

For some reason I was home early from work that day, and seeing some powerful clouds outside, I rushed to the hills behind my house to see if I can catch some clouds. We don’t get storms very often in this area of California, but I managed to catch one just on time.

2. The Alien Shore – in Memory of Dennis Cyncor-McMillan

The sad background behind this image is that I took this photo on the night Dennis Cyncor-McMillan, a local high school student, drowned at the nearby beach while partying with some friends late at night. This photo represented his last sunset. His family was in contact with me since the accident, and they’ve used this image during Dennis’ memorial service. This was perhaps the most meaningful image.

3. Arriving in the Motherland

I wanted to take this photo for years now. We finally made the track back to Moscow where I introduced our son Maksim to his extended family and to his Motherland. He had a blast hanging out at the Red Square.

4. Loneliness of Leadership

Not only did I get to see Michael Phelps swim live this last year, I was also lucky to photograph him and get this image of him, all alone, as usual, ahead of everyone else in this race.

5. Alpen glow on Mount Timpanogos

While visiting in Utah, I got up early for sunrise one morning to be treated with beautiful mountain light on Mt Timpanogos of Wasatch Range. Standing there all alone, I left one with nature as time seemed to disappear.

6. Links into the Past

Sometimes fog can present some of the best photographic opportunities. Wanting to catch a new view of these remains of Davenport Pier, I hiked down there in this bad weather and with the help of the long exposure captured the mood of that cold August morning.

7. Nimitz Street

Mare Island is one of the more favorite locations of mine where I photographed all of last year. An old shipyard played one of the key roles in World War II and walking there at night I kept trying to imagine what a different place that have been 65 years ago.

8. Her First Smile

I will of course remember year 2009 mostly for new addition to our growing family, our daughter Nadya, who was born back in October. Of all the hundreds of photos I have taken of her, this one is my favorite. She’s truly an angel.

9. Feeling Dizzy

Last year I’ve shot a lot of architecture, and this is something I’d like to continue doing. This image is a nice reminder of why I love Embarcadero Center in San Francisco.

10. Changing Light Over Garrapata Beach

My last nature shoot of the year took place at the Garrapata Beach at Big Sur, where I witnessed perhaps the most dramatic light I have seen in that part of California.

Bonus Photo – Jordan and Jen

In May I had the honor to be a photographer at my friends’ wedding out in North Carolina. Beautiful location and a beautiful couple.

I’d love to hear what are some of your favorite images of mine – from this group or those that I’ve shared elsewhere.