Happy Holidays from Photofocus! – Photofocus

Whatever holidays you celebrate in your neck of the woods, we at Photofocus would like to celebrate you, our readers. We appreciate you following and engaging in our articles, podcasts, webinars, community and social posts.

Sharing holiday images

Within the Photofocus community, we asked our members to share holiday images with us. Along with that a bit of the story behind the image. These are sure to get you into the holiday and winter spirit.

David McCarty

David McCarty shared this image of his mischievous cat ‘hiding’ in the tree.

He saw his cat climbing around the Christmas tree and the Manger they put up every year. When David went over to move her out she popped up. He had his phone with him and took advantage of the opportunity. David knew by the time he grabbed his camera the moment would be lost.

Andrea Steiner

Andrea Steiner was on her way home from a small photo tour near Reutlingen and decided to drive home via the Swabian Alb, southeast of Stuttgart, Germany. It was a few degrees colder up there (26°F/-3°C).

Then she saw the hoarfrost. So Andrea walked a few meters out of the car and then discovered these plants with frozen water/water droplets. Of course, there were a few more pictures at the end. You don’t get such great weather conditions every day.

Nigel Williams

This Christmas Nigel and his wife are staying with their daughter and her family in Doha, Qatar. They have been living there for over twelve years and the gingerbread house building is one of their Christmas traditions as well as Elfie the elf and the advent candles leading up to the Christmas period.

For the record, Nigel came third after a good start, but his roof will never leak.

Tony Hutchinson

This sculpture, one of many in Kew, is a favorite subject of Tony’s. It sits in a woodland garden that changes with the seasons. In the summer it recedes into the greenery and in the winter it is much more apparent. This image dressed with snow appears more severe and less benign than in summer.

Last week Kew was under a layer of snow, changing colors, shapes and textures. The gardens seemed stiller and quieter, despite the flights into Heathrow. Birds skittered on frozen ponds, gulls sat grumpily on the ice. This statute was stern, and resolute, with snow laying on its brow and nose.

Stefan Petitti

Stefano’s image was captured in Bardolino, on Lake Garda. During this period there are Christmas markets, and there are stations where small children can tell Santa Claus their wish, leave a letter and take a picture.

Stefano says, “What can I say, Santa Claus works a lot and sometimes he needs to rest, this is where the idea came from.” He asked as a grown child if he could satisfy his desire to photograph him by resting and looking at the lake.

The photo from behind makes sense of the resting idea, but keeps all the waiting and the mystery of Santa Claus pending. Waiting for his reindeer Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donner and Blitzen to arrive from the sky at any moment.