With the week spanning Christmas day through New Year’s Eve the influx of Instagram photos seems to be at an all-time high, while shooting live music took a short breather (don’t worry, there will be plenty more in 2012).  Now here’s Tom with the weather…

2011-12-25 Merry Christmas: A shot taken by wifey of me shoving a piece of Indian food in my mouth on Christmas day over at the in-laws.  A quick edit in juxtaposer let me hang those reindeer antlers outside of the frame.

2011-12-25 I’d like to propose a toast: The famous chihuahua which even gets a seat at the head table for holiday dinners, Pixie, called attention to herself by toasting to friends, family and all that we have to be thankful for going into the new year.

2011-12-27 #beforeandaftertuesday_1227 icamerahdr fxphotostudio cameraplus squaready: This was an entry into the #beforeandaftertuesday festivity on Instagram.  Entrants can use that hashtag followed by an underscore and the 4-digit month-date format.  My first involvement in the fun shows what I did to the skyline at Meadowood Mall a couple evenings prior.

2011-12-27 #beforeandaftertuesday_1227 submission no2-fxphotostudio picfx squaready: Another before and after Tuesday entry; a cool edit showing how I ‘spruced’ up a light installment in the neighbor’s lawn.  Steam, masking and space-themed effects make the edit stand apart from the original.

2011-12-27 Wusthof blades from Germany: The knife set finally came!  Finding these sturdy, German-made knives on sale (over 50% off) at Amazon.com made my day.  Here’s the photographic evidence for our renter’s insurance (oh, and it’s kinda artistic too).

2011-12-28 lovely weather were having here today: A snapshot taken from a cool weather app I have installed on the iPad in our office.  How can it be in the mid-60’s here in Reno while it’s half the temperature in other (usually warmer) locations?  Strange stuff, but I’m not complaining.

2011-12-29 Yesterdays clouds are todays dreams: Speaking of strange weather… Here come the ‘cloudporn’ shots!

2011-12-29 More cloudporn: Don’t say I didn’t warn you … the cloudporn is here!

2011-12-29 Baby’s on fire: The sky literally looked as if it were on fire.  Here’s an HDR representation of what I saw.

2011-12-30 shake a beer and it will explode: Sierra Nevada Porter + Explosion.  Need I say more?

2011-12-30 Alaskan Stout: Getting crafty with some craft beer and the Frame Magic iOS app.

2011-12-31 how do you see the sun?: This wasn’t meant to be an amazing photo, it just turned out that way.  Taken through wifey’s windshield, HDR-ized, brightened, selectively desaturated, masked and filtered, we have something that has already been requested to be painted.  Happy dance!

2011-12-31 Ringing in the newyear with wifey and hookah: Sitting on the back porch, smoking hookah with wifey on New Year’s Eve … I love my life!

2011-12-31 I saw these kids sneak up to the fence in our back yard: While smoking hookah, these kids snuck up near our balcony and went up to the fence, turned around and stood there for a while.  Urinating?  Perhaps.  As @battleborn said … trouble is near, lol!

2011-12-31 Happy New Year: A fine bottle of champagne (Cristal Brut; 2000), my Nikon D7000 and an explosion!  Welcome to 2012!

2011-12-31 Cristal logo mashup: This logo manipulation was simply too much fun to create.  I hope you enjoy it as much as I have!

2011-12-31 Champagne Cristal: The last photo posted to Instagram in 2011.  A combination of juxtaposer and picfx apps.  Totally fun!