I know that I should be giving up on the New Year by this point.  It’s old news and time to move on.  Still I found myself this past weekend checking out BBC News’ “Best Reader Photographs of 2013.”  So I am hoping that you will excuse me one more trip down the memory lane that was 2013.

One of the nice things about that BBC is that they feature readers’ photos.  So it’s not just about professional photographers from this and that news agency.  I was amazed at how many pictures from this past year’s BBC series I loved, that is even if i exclude the cute cuddly animal photos.

My top like from BBC 2013 is Samina Farooq’s “Puzzles and Riddles.”  I like the dramatic colors, the gesture of the hands, the enigmatic numbers on the fingers, and the black background.  It all brings new life to the Rubick’s Cube.

Then there is the wonderful photo by Manisha on the theme of “Hands.” This is a very well done and excellently composed example of perspective shift and ambiguity.  The transfer from the two size reference frames is seemless.  And I think that the floor tiles and the stairs really add to the drama of the photograph.  Placing them diagonally in the image adds a very dramatic effect that I do not believe would be there if they were pependicular or parallel to the image.  The complement the theme.

Next there is Alan Walker’s “Just a pink hat on a sunny day – to take your mind off winter.”  Frankly, I really need this about now!  It is truly freezing here.  I just love the way that the lip gloss matches the hat and the little sparkles of sunlight on the woman’s face.

I’d like to also mention the Zara Sumpton’s “A frame within a frame A self portrait taken with a disposable camera in the jungle, Ecuador.”   A hypocrite would also mention the kitten peering over the edge of a table in N Sishat’s “My kitten Prof. Piddles eavesdropping on a private conversation between my husband and me.” But, of course, I will not!