December 2013 • Milan Hutera Photography

The end of the Year is near and for the second time I’m putting together a list of best photos that I took over the past twelve months. I have to say the year 2013 was extremely challenging, but definitely better compared to 2012.

I had to finish my dissertation in Business Diagnostics in the first half of 2013. During this time, I decided to focus more on night photography. Most of my light-painting experiments turned out to be quite nice, and I showcased a small night-time portfolio on the anual Park exhibition. I finally got back my freedom on 4th of July, when I finished my doctoral studies.

During the May I met with Rob Tiley, the Seattle-based photographer, who was visiting Central Europe at that time. Rob had contacted me a few months before his trip via Twitter and suggested we should meet during his stay in Czech Republic. We’ve set the meeting place in south-east Moravia near the town of Kyjov, as was suggested by Rob’s friend, Mrs. Jana Vanourkova. The three of us met in the morning just outside of Kyjov and began to explore the countryside a bit. Unfortunately, the weather was not that great for photography. The photo of canola on the rolling hills was probably the only photo I was happy with. Nevertheless, I admire Rob’s dedication to photography and his will to work with every kind of available light. I was very happy to meet both Rob and Jana, even though I wasn’t able to fully enjoy the meeting due to dental difficulties I had around that time. I hope we’ll be able to meet again sometime.

The highlight of the year was my solo trip to Dolomites, Italy at the end of august. I spent four wonderful days in and around Cortina d’Ampezzo. My original plan was to travel sometime in september, but I had to travel sooner because of the job interview at my Alma Mater (which didn’t go well anyway). The weather was pretty ok for photography and I’m quite happy with the photos I took. Hopefully I’ll be able to get back sometime, preferably towards the end of september. The weather and light should be even better for photography.

Unfortunately, the fall season once again passed by so quickly. Due to business/work obligations I didn’t do any serious shooting during the fall. But, there’s always next year…

I also spent some time photographying tennis, equestrian events and theatre. Feel free to explore my blog to see the photos from these events.

Here are my top 10 landscape photos of the year 2013. Clicking on the photos will take you to the respective portfolio pages, where you’ll be able to see slightly larger versions.

Storm’s End

The Night of Wonders

Canola Spring

Bales And Stars

Cima Cadin Sunset

Averau Sunset

Dramatic Monte Pelmo

Icy Waters

Afternoon Light on Tre Cime

The Wheel of Time

Yesterday, I attended the 6th annual Tennis Classic Exhibition in Bratislava. This year’s participants were the former leader of WTA Ranking Martina Hingis from Switzerland, the French ATP tennis players Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Gael Monfils and the Slovak tennis star Daniela Hantuchova.

Because of the odd choice of lighting, I gave it a nick name “The Twilight Edition”. The lights were a lot dimmer than usual and they also used various colored spotlights. This created an intimate and visually interesting atmosphere for the fans, but it was a nightmare to shoot it due to darkness, changing lights and changing white balance.

The exhibition consisted of three matches and a charity auction. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Gael Monfils played the first singles match. Tsonga won the match in three sets. Daniela Hantuchova and Martina Hingis then played the short singles game. Hingis won the match 11:9. The traditional auction took place during the intermission. All players donated their autographed racquets, apparel and various other prices. The proceedings will support various charitable causes.

The mixed doubles was the last match of the exhibition. Even though Daniela and Martina started with their chosen partners, they ended up playing together and won the match. During the match, all players had microphones on them. I must say I’m not a fan of this “feature”. A lot of times, the words players say are pretty much inaudible. Two years ago, all the talking was downright annoying. This year it was surprisingly natural and it wasn’t very distracting. The hightlight of the mixed doubles was Daniela Hantuchova playing the piano.

My favorite photos from the event are below (click on the photos to see larger versions) and the whole gallery can be seen on my Slovak blog: http://hutera.blog.sme.sk/c/343916/Tennis-Classic-2013.html.

Martina Hingis, Daniela Hantuchova, Gael Monfils and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga