The Feather in the Cap that is 2011 by AllenGray

Over the course of the last couple of months, due to training commitments as a Volunteer Fire Fighter with the Country Fire Authority, I’ve missed quite a few club nights, so I made the effort to attend the last club competition night for 2011, as I had a few Electronic images in for submission. So I sat there quietly, watching the parade of images as the judge gave his comments, and disagreeing with his comments about my work (as one is often to prone to do!) and recieving only a merit, not a placing for one of my images. The evening drew to a close, and then Madam President stepped up to make a few announcements and to hand out a number of awards to members who had been absent over the past few weeks, and I sat there, half listening, as another idea for a image popped into my head (club nights always seem to do that to me for some reason!) when I heard my name being called. I looked up as the President announced to the club that I had taken Second place with the interclub competition between us, Geelong, and the Ballarat Camera Club. Second?! Me?! Which image could that be I wonder?……..oh hang on, let me guess, it was THAT one! Yes, once again what has quickly become my most famous image, Tired that had claimed second place, and what has to be the first ever medal that I’ve won for photography! I almost quipped that it was the first medal that I had won that didn’t involve hard work, but that’s not true, as it was a hard three days of fire fighting when I took that image, and we all felt like young James sitting there on the truck. The medal now hangs proudly on one corner of the framed copy of this image in my lounge room, and is what has to be the feather in my cap for 2011. The journey that this one image has taken me on over the course of the year has been nothing short of amazing, and I can only wonder if the journey will continue in 2012, but now the hunt is on, as amazing and joyful the journey has been with this image, I don’t want to rest on my laruels and be known only for this one image. Somewhere out there is my next great image, that will lead me on another journey just as amazing and enjoyable as this one has been. If anything, this image has created the drive to find the next, which, when I think about it, is the ultimate journey, and may the ride never end.