Best of 2011 in Andy Marfia Photography

I'm calling my Best of 2011 set complete. I've whittled it down to an eclectic set of 56 photos.  All but two are from Chicago-- there's one Wisconsin photograph and one photograph from Toronto.  Sadly, I have three days worth of Toronto photos that I never had time to look through and post.  Hopefully in 2012!

You can view the full set on flickr, or see it as a slideshow. Thanks to everyone who commented here, on flickr, twitter, or anywhere else in 2011. Your support and encouragement is appreciated.

Also, if you missed my 2011 Flickr Favorites post, I suggest checking that out to see some excellent photography by others in 2011.

Favorites
I thought I'd call attention to four of my personal favorites.  This first photo was taken at the demolition of 1230 N. Burling Street, aka: the last of the Cabrini Green high rises.  I had to stand on top of a large pile of dirt, lens zoomed to 135mm, to make this composition work:


Nikon D7000 w/ 70-300mm lens, 1/800sec at f8, ISO200. © Andy Marfia 2011 All Rights Reserved.

I titled this next one "21st Century Chicago", and I love the combination of old (the Chicago background) and new (everyone using their smart phones or cameras):


Nikon D7000 w/ 70-300mm lens, 1/800sec f6.3, ISO6400. © Andy Marfia 2011 All Rights Reserved.

One of my first photos taken during the blizzard in February 2011, this was on my commute home that evening:


Nikon D7000 w/16-85mm lens, 1/125sec at f5.6, ISO400. © Andy Marfia 2011 All Rights Reserved.

Lastly, this photo was taken at the Printers Row Lit Fest.  It's a shot through the side window and out the back of a car filled with books:


Nikon D7000 w/ 35mm lens, 1/1000sec at f2, ISO100. © Andy Marfia 2011 All Rights Reserved.

Stats
This may only interest me, but I like to look through my flickr stats at the end of each year.  In 2011, I posted exactly 351 photos, which averages out to 6.75 photos per week.  This surprised me, as it was considerably more than previous years.  I posted 205 photos in 2010, 186 in 2009, and only 178 photos in 2008.  Looking through my stream, what's clear is that certain events in 2011 really boosted the stats-- the blizzard in February, the Chicago Pride Parade, and the demolition of Cabrini Green all resulted in a great deal of photos.  Also, I just seem to be working on photography more consistently.  So three cheers to that!

If you think I missed any photographs, or have a particular one that you like, feel free to leave a comment and let me know.