2016: A Year in Photos

Welcome back to Musings of an Arthritic Artist! 

Today is going to be a post about photography. December 2020 was my five year anniversary of doing photography, so I thought I'd showcase the best photos I took in 2016. I don't really have enough photos from 2015 to show them here, since I began just before New Year's Day. 

I began photography when I was twelve years old. I had started by using an iPhone. I had photos that I would upload to MyShot, which was a National Geographic Kids photography social media platform. If I remember correctly, the platform closed in 2018. 

MyShot was my favorite site for the longest time, and my family knew it. It kickstarted my interest in photography and helped me grow my skills within the two and a half years I was on there (I took a lot of photos; in July 2016, I had already uploaded about 160 photos onto my account; I don't think I have all those photos, because there were quite a few that I deleted). One of the best parts about it was that if your photo was good enough, you would have it published in a National Geographic Kids issue. I was never published, though when I was younger it was a mini goal of mine. 

I was always interested in seeing the photos that were published in the issues, so when my family and I would go to the grocery store, I would look at the photos while we were standing in line.

Since I was 13 by the time MyShot closed, I started uploading photos onto Your Shot, which was the "adult" version of MyShot for ages 13 and up. I haven't had much luck in regards to sharing my photography within the past couple years because Your Shot closed in October 2019. They moved their photography community platforming to Instagram, which I don't have, so I'm very limited on my photo sharing at the moment. 

Therefore, I have decided to share some of my best photos on my blog. A few of these were edited, and I will specify which ones. I will include the edited and [mostly] unedited versions; I don't delete my photos unless they're accidental or blurry beyond redemption. Also, in case you are wondering, I don't use Photoshop to edit--I either use the built-in photo editor on my HP desktop or the editor of whatever I use to take the photo. Each photo has a caption, which includes the title, date taken, and model of camera. These photos were taken when I was 12-13 years old (before and after my birthday).

You may notice that these photos have names on them. I would've left the text out, but I don't trust the internet enough to leave them as is. This post has more photos than I initially intended so the post is a bit longer than I expected but I'm satisfied with the photos I chose to showcase. 

If you wish to see the photos a bit bigger, you can click on them. You can also click the first photo and scroll and see the photos in an online gallery format.

Let's look through my photo gallery!

Perception of Life. December 18, 2016. FujiFilm Finepix XP80.

I took this photo at Six Flags Fiesta Texas during a family vacation. This is an edited version. I edited it because at the time I was very interested in black & white photography (I still am). I had seen this sculpture (I don't remember who it was or if it was supposed to be a real person; I didn't pay attention to a potential plaque) and decided to make the photo look as if the sculpture/man was looking at the Superman Krypton Coaster.


I titled this photo Perception of Life. I'm honestly surprised this photo was so easy for me to name, because the most tedious part of this post was titling the photos I wanted to compile. I have always struggled with naming things, whether it be drawings, paintings, novels, short stories, poems, or, in this case, photographs.


The reason why I named this photo Perception of Life was because the more I looked at it, the more I saw it as an allegory for life. I envisioned this man (sculpture) seeing life as a roller coaster that has a lot of twists and turns.

Perception of Life. December 18, 2016. FujiFilm Finepix XP80.

This is the unedited version of Perception of Life. As you can tell, the main differences are that the photo above is black-and-white, while this one isn't and I added a vignette. Other than that, it's the same exact photo.

Window Gazer. October 8, 2016. iPhone 6.

This is a photo I took of my sister as we were driving past a local park. This photo isn't edited; I had a black and white filter applied. At the time I took this photo, I was pleasantly surprised. My sister had already been looking out the window and this tree came into the frame at the perfect time.


I had a difficult time naming this one. I had at least three other titles, none of which I liked. Thankfully, my sister is good at naming things, so I consulted her for names for about half the photos in this post.

Potterheart. November 19, 2016. Samsung WB1100F.

This was an experimental photo. I had been on Pinterest one day and had seen these DIY (do-it-yourself) lens filters. Some were of trees, hearts, and stars. I had attempted a tree, though I had failed epically. I think I tried to make a heart a few times, but it was either asymmetrical or too large. After a lot of trial and error, I was able to get it right, and decided to try it out by taking a photo of my sister's Harry Potter books, which I had been reading at the time.


I named this Potterheart because of the moniker for Harry Potter fans (Potterheads). I thought this name fit the mood I wanted to convey at the time.

Dining with Shamu. May 30, 2016. Samsung WB1100F.

I took this at SeaWorld San Antonio. My sister's boyfriend had bought us tickets to Dine With Shamu, which I thought was really cool. This was taken at around noon I believe. I think it was a lunch experience. It was really enjoyable and I got to take this nice photo.

Orca Breach. June 16, 2016. iPhone 5s.

I took this photo at SeaWorld San Antonio. This photo was edited. The original photo was a bit darker. I lightened it. I don't remember exactly what I did, but I know I cropped it (there were people in the frame) and brightened it. This was an educational orca show that was at around 10 in the morning.

Orca Breach. June 16, 2016. iPhone 5s.

I'm cheating a bit. Technically this photo isn't the "original" because this is a cropped image. But I didn't like having the back of a stranger's head in the photo. I've excused it for another photo in this post, but this one was just too noticeable and distracting. Personally, I love both versions. I think the original has a softer edge and looks more natural, but I like the vividness of the edited one as well.

Royal King Penguin. December 31, 2016. Samsung WB1100F.

I took this at the penguin exhibit at SeaWorld San Antonio. The Penguin Encounter exhibit there has a slow moving conveyor belt that visitors can stand in and it will take them directly in front of the exhibit. This is how I took this. 

I'm honestly surprised it came out so well considering the exhibit glass is/was stained with water drops and stuff. I took dozens of other photos that day and all of them showed the glass.

You may partially recognize this photo. This is the one I use for all of my social media stuff (Google, Pinterest, and Goodreads) because I love it. Penguins are my favorite animals, and this is one of my favorite photos that I've ever taken. I was especially impressed because of how old I was. I took this photo when I was thirteen and this was around my one year photography anniversary.

Alley Strike. July 2, 2016. iPhone 6.

Around this time, I was really interested in taking toy photos (there are a couple more further down). This is a Lego figure that I believe is my sister's. I don't fully remember. It was almost 5 years ago. The bowling alley she is standing on was a wooden project that I made (I was doing kid's workshops at Home Depot and Lowe's; I think this was Home Depot, though I could be mistaken). The ball and bowling pins had come with the kit.

For this photo I believe I used a flashlight instead of flash (which I did many times in 2016; to this day, it's still an automatic technique of mine). I feel like if I used flash, the background would be a bit brighter, maybe to the point of being blinding.

Call of the Sea Lion. December 30, 2016. FujiFilm Finepix XP80.

Another photo from SeaWorld San Antonio. I took this one at the Sea Lion area. If you can't tell, I enjoy taking photos of animals. They're difficult to photograph because they constantly move, but that's also what makes them enjoyable to photograph. 

It's a bit of challenge, but if you take enough, chances are you'll end up with a gem. I enjoy photographing animals because very seldom are the photos ever the exact same. You tend to get some nice action shots.

Scaly Tint. December 30, 2016. FujiFilm Finepix XP80.

This was another one from SeaWorld San Antonio. I took this at the Animal Connections Conservation Center that was by the Penguin Encounter exhibit. I don't remember what kind of snake this was. I liked how the snake was coiled up in the frame, so I took a photo of it.

Sky Burst. December 31, 2016. Samsung WB1100F.

This is a photo of New Year's Eve fireworks I took at either Six Flags Fiesta Texas or SeaWorld San Antonio (I don't remember; we went to both parks for New Year's). This was the first time I was taking firework photos with this camera, so it was a process. 

Thankfully, it was a short process. The first 6-12 photos I took came out blurry and bad, but before the show was even close to being over I found a way to take the photos without them coming out blurry. 

It was difficult, to say the least. My family was just watching the show, while I was half watching and half fiddling with the camera. Somehow, I didn't miss any of the fireworks. 

Red-Tipped Fire Wheel. December 31, 2016. Samsung WB1100F.

This was taken around the same time as the previous one. I like the previous one more (personally, I think the firework smoke detracts from this photo), but I liked this one enough to include it here.

Chill-ion. December 30, 2016. FujiFilm Finepix XP80.

Another photo taken at Pacific Point Preserve (the Sea Lion area). I thought this one came out really well. I like how it almost looks as if the Sea Lion is posing for the camera. 

Sunny Dew. July 14, 2016. iPhone 6.

This photo was the subject of an experiment. My family and I had grown some sunflowers in the backyard of our old house and my mother had just watered them. I liked the way the water drops looked, plus I wanted to take some photos. I didn't want to use the flash; it was around 8 or 10 at night and the flash would be bright and potentially reflect off the windows (and the white balance tends to make the subject really bright and obscured), so this photo didn't utilize flash at all. Instead, I grabbed a flashlight and aimed it just right so I could take this photo. 

This was definitely one of the many photos on here that I uploaded to MyShot. I remember because I had gotten a comment on it from one of the Nat Geo Kids photography moderators about how smart this was because the flashlight creates a softer light than flash, which tends to be harsher.

Kaleidoscope. December 25, 2016. FujiFilm Finepix XP80.

I took this one inside the hotel we were staying in. This was a little tree that we had bought to put in our room for the holidays. If I remember correctly, we had just come back from buying ice cream at Target. Either that, or we had just returned from SeaWorld. One of the two. I like how this one turned out. It looks very festive and bright, which is exactly the mood I wanted to convey.

Sonata de Beethoven. November 19, 2016. Samsung WB1100F.

This is an edited photo. I edited it because the moon photos I tend to take have to be edited to get a nice image. The camera I use (the one I prefer is the Samsung WB1100F; the aperture [how much light enters the camera] can't be adjusted; it isn't quite a DSLR [digital single-lens reflex; in layman's terms, digital camera], but it isn't quite a point-and-shoot; it's a hybrid of the two) isn't suited for moon or star photos (I could probably find a more natural way to make it work, but I just haven't been able to as of yet), nor is it really great for nighttime (though it's fantastic for fireworks).

Sonata de Beethoven. November 19, 2016. Samsung WB1100F.

This is the unedited photo. It still looks like the moon, but I still preferred the look of the one above. I just wish the sky on the edited photo didn't have to become so Aegean Teal (shade of blue produced by the Benjamin Moore paint company).

Shell of Life. May 26, 2016. iPhone 6.

I took this photo on my backyard porch. This is technically edited but not edited. This was a black-and-white filter that I applied. I took many photos across different dates of this nest, which was resting on a planter where my mother had been trying to grow grapes (they didn't grow). A baby bird had hatched out of this egg at some point, and I thought it would look cool in black-and-white, so I took a photo of it.

Gated Gator. December 31, 2016. Samsung WB1100F.

This was taken at Alligator Alley at SeaWorld San Antonio, which is right by Rosita's Cafe Pizza and Pasta Buffet. For this photo, I got down at the gator's eye level and took a photo through the fence. I positioned it so the alligator's eye was framed inside of the grids. Lucky for me, the fence ended up being blurred instead of the gator. 

Serpentine. December 29, 2016. FujiFilm Finepix XP80.

I also took this at the Animal Connections Conservation Center at SeaWorld San Antonio. I took this the day before the other one, hence why the snake is in a different position. I liked how it looked as if it was staring at something in its exhibit (it probably was). One of my favorite things about this photo is just how much definition the camera picked up regarding the snake's scales.

Holly Jolly Holiday. November 25, 2016. Samsung WB1100F.

I took this photo at Target. My family and I had gone there for some reason. Chances are it was related to the holidays. This photo was edited. If I remember correctly, I only did two things. I added a vignette (the black shadowing around the edges) and darkened it. 

This was taken in the section of the store where they keep the Christmas tree displays in November and December. I had stopped while my family kept walking, took this photo, and quickly ran back to the cart. I used to take quite a few photos in stores, until I realized that some stores don't allow this and discourage it (that's a photography story for another time).

Holly Jolly Holiday. November 25, 2016. Samsung WB1100F.

This is the unedited version of Holly Jolly Holiday. As you can see, there's a lot of white due to the fake snow on the trees and ground, which was the main thing I wasn't a big fan of, hence why I edited it. I still like this version, but I prefer the edited to this one.

The First Task. November 18, 2016. iPhone 6.

This was a photo I took through a toy magnifying glass (I don't remember if it was mine or my sister's). I took a lot of Harry Potter photos this day. I had a mini HP photoshoot. If you've read the books, then you know that I was reading Goblet of Fire. 

I like how this one came out. For some reason, I enjoy taking photos while experimenting with magnifying glasses (I've done something similar to this at least four more times; it seems to be a recurring theme).

Black Beauty. November 19, 2016. Samsung WB1100F.

I took this photo at one of my local stores (I think it was Sam's Club). This is an edited version. I added a black and white filter and darkened it.

Black Beauty. November 19, 2016. Samsung WB1100F.

This is the unedited version of Black Beauty. Ignore the fact that once this photo is shown SOOC (Straight Out Of Camera), the name doesn't really apply anymore. This was a bouquet of roses. 

Around this time, I was really interested in photos of flowers (the photos I'm interested in taking at a certain time changes pretty frequently, but I'm sure you noticed). I liked the composition of this photo, particularly the break in color with the white. 

Steel Eel. December 25, 2016. FujiFilm Finepix XP80.

Another one taken at SeaWorld San Antonio. We had either been walking to the Penguin Encounter exhibit, or walking from it. I don't remember, but either way, I looked up and saw how high the Steel Eel was and how the posts looked, so I took a quick photo.

Twist and Turns. December 28, 2016. FujiFilm Finepix XP80.

I took this one at Six Flags Fiesta Texas. I believe I had taken this one while inside a restaurant, though I could be mistaken. This is the Superman Krypton Coaster (which I didn't ride; my family and I don't do roller coasters much). There isn't much to say about this one. I just zoomed in and took the shot and this was the result.

Clarice and Rudolph. December 29, 2016. FujiFilm Finepix XP80.

This was another photo taken at SeaWorld San Antonio. Since we had gone during the holidays, we did a couple dinners. One of them was a Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer dinner where you could (obviously) take pictures with Rudolph and Clarice. It was very enjoyable. 

I took other photos with flash that didn't have a blue tint (my mother had asked me because she wanted Rudolph and Clarice to not be tinted blue), but I personally like this one more. It's unique and different.

The Quibbler. November 18, 2016. iPhone 6.

In 2016, I had my big Harry Potter craze. I had started reading the books for the first time. At this time I was reading Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, but I had been watching the movies (for the millionth time). When I got sorted on Pottermore, I got sorted into Ravenclaw. 

I really liked Luna Lovegood and the Spectrespecs, so I drew my own Quibbler magazine and made my own Spectrespecs, though you can't see them in this photo.

This is technically edited, but the only edit was cropping it. I cropped it just before I included it in this post because I didn't like the background, so I'm not going to show the original.

Remember the Alamo. June 18, 2016. Probably iPhone 5s.

My family and I had gone down to San Antonio after one of my appointments (my appointments were in Dallas), and we had gone to see the Alamo. I took this photo while we were there. There's nothing particularly special about it, but I wanted to include it because I like the framing. It reminds me of a postcard.

Platform 9 and 3/4. November 21, 2016. iPhone 6.

I took this one at my local theater. My family and I had gone to see Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them and my theater had a little Harry Potter display. They had this, along with paper banners of each house and letters from Hogwarts hanging from the ceiling. I told my sister that I wanted to get some photos, so she posed for me. I angled it to give it more depth.

Bobble Rocket. July 15, 2016. iPhone 6.

I took this photo outside (obviously) in my backyard. This was a bobblehead Funko Pop of Rocket Raccoon that I had gotten the year before for my 12th birthday. I positioned him on top of a little bird decoration we used to have. 

This was my first attempt at bokeh (an aesthetic blur behind the subject; the background usually appears as little bubbles). It was a failed attempt, but an attempt nonetheless.

Captain Hook. July 2, 2016. iPhone 6.

This is another toy photo. I had been taking a lot of photos of Legos at this time, so I took this photo of a Captain Hook Lego figure that I got from a blind pack (Peter Pan has been my favorite Disney movie since I was pretty much born). In the background is a Lego set for The Little Mermaid.

Greenlight. June 4, 2016. iPhone 5s.

This was another photo that I took at SeaWorld San Antonio. This was Light Up the Night, which was the last show before closing. This is unedited. I was proud of how this photo came out. Most of the other photos I took at shows would come out blurry, so this one was a pleasant surprise.

Aqua-Reef. May 31, 2016. iPhone 5s.

I took this photo at Explorer's Reef, SeaWorld San Antonio's little aquarium where they keep sharks, other fish, and poison dart frogs. I don't remember what kind of fish this is. This one wasn't edited; the water color just didn't come out right on the camera.

I hope you enjoyed my 2016 photo gallery! 

I intend to do more posts similar to this one in the future. Hopefully, the future installments are more organized (I want to showcase the photos in order from oldest to newest). This was more chaotic than I intended, but I didn't think about ordering them until I had already inserted the photos and I didn't feel like deleting them just to put them back.

See you Thursday,

Lexi K🖌