By Vladimir Brezina and Johna Till Johnson
We have a recent tradition: This year and last, we’ve created a wall calendar based on Vlad’s photos. It’s an enormous amount of fun to look through the photos and select the thirteen (including cover) that best capture our themes for the month, and the year.
We print the calendar using Shutterfly, which overall does a fine job for a reasonable price. The calendars are printed on heavy, glossy paper stock (they’re hanging on the walls now) and we’re able to customize each day of the year, adding holidays, birthdays, phases of the moon, and, of course, the times of tidal current change in Hell Gate! (Hell Gate is a good proxy for the current everywhere in the New York harbor—it basically tells us whether we’ll be kayaking north or south on a particular day).
We decided to share our 2013 photos with you. Please let us know your favorite shots. (There are some months that we’re already impatient for, because we like the photos so much!)
Cover
(Story is here.)
What are days for?Days are where we live.They come, they wake usTime and time over.They are to be happy in:Where can we live but days?
Philip Larkin, Days
January
(More photos are here.)
February
(More photos are here.)
March
(More photos are here.)
April
(More photos are here.)
May
(More photos are here.)
June
(Story is here.)
July
(Story is here.)
August
(Story is here.)
September
(Story is here.)
October
(More photos are here.)
November
(More photos are here.)
December
Happy 2013!
Vladimir Brezina (RIP) 
Johna Till Johnson
Wind Against Current 
All the pictures are very good and a pleasure for the eye. But my favourite has to be May. Second favourite – October. May – because it’s a very nice macro shot that combines cuteness and humour with just the right amount of weird. October, because it’s so energetic and colourful and captures the spirit of Autumn without declining into banality, which is easy.
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Excellent choice! Two of my favorites too…
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We love May, too–it always makes us laugh!
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february, july and september are my favorites. february is so very handsome.. july made me smile, and september – ah! it is a true winner!
z
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Thanks, Z! July was indeed the high point of the carefree summer. September, although very colorful, a bit more serious already…
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Thanks Z. Honestly, September was my pick. It has that late-summer sadness to it….
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Ah, so well I remember! We had our first four days of soft rain this week on Ecuador’s Pacific coast, and the air was quite cool. it reminded me of autumn, when the last fragments of nice weather were about to vanish.
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Surely it’s too early to be the end of summer there yet?
Here in September we don’t have rain, necessarily, and it’s still very warm—but the days are unmistakably shorter, and there is something that signals the end of summer…
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we have about five months of rainy season, and seven of dry. we have just reached the end of the dry season, and everything has been barren and dry for months! our daylight hours barely fluctuate – basically six am until six pm for daylight and equal amounts of darkness. february is usually the rainiest month, though i’m told that the el nino, which rolls around ever dozen or so years, gets toughest in march and april. we’re due an el nino, though ‘they’ are saying we’re ok for the first two months, according to ocean temperatures. z
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But isn’t the rainy season a change and a relief, at first? ;-)
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oh it’s great to see the landscape transform from barren to green! the climate gets more humid, and most people complain about the humidity.
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Great calendar guys. Just go into business and print them up yourself. Bravo!
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We’ve thought about it, and it may happen for 2014!
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Theese images are like a celebration of life near the sea!! Happy and joyful motives and colours, by December I had a big ear to ear smile on my face :-)
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Thanks so much! That’s the way it should be. When we were selecting the photos, Johna was insisting on making it a happy calendar :-)
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Fantastic shots – all of them. My favourites are April and September :)
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Thanks, Marianne! September is proving to be very popular…
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Fabulous calender! Beautiful twelve months ahead!
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Thanks, Amy!
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These photos are STUNNING! I liked all of them, but I think Sept was my favorite! I would buy this calendar if it were for sale! It’s beautiful. Thanks for the great idea too :)
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September is proving to be a hit! :-) Thanks, Becky!
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HI Becky,
We can probably get you a copy. We need to figure out how to let Shutterfly print our stuff to third parties—probably not hard! We’d love to get these for sale!
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Wonderful images. This is a calendar I’d happily have on my wall. January and April are my favourites. :-)
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Thanks!! Yes, we tried to make a calendar that we’ll be happy to live with all year :-)
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Oooh! Thanks for liking April! We went back and forth on that one. Vlad has a number of shots that are very dramatic, with the black background. I complained that if we used them all, the calendar would be “gloomy”. We compromised by using one, unless you count December, which also has a black background. Vlad was surprised when I lobbied hard to include one of the “gloomy” photographs!
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Fantastic Calendar !
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Thank you!! :-)
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Not a easy “job”… :-)
I would say january and november… :-)
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A different choice :-) That’s what makes a good calendar—everyone can have their own particular favorites…
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Beautiful calendar. Love September and October.
BE ENCOURAGED! BE BLESSED!
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Thanks, Francine! Two of the favorites… :-)
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Beautiful calendar. It was tough picking a favorite, but I finally had to settle on January because I love snow so much. Happy New Year. :)
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Yes, your snow shots in your recent posts are beautiful! We are envious, because here in NYC we are still waiting for our first serious snowstorm… Happy New Year, Robin!
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What a glorious year, Vlad & Johna. Fun to be reminded of yr past adventures, and to look forward to more.
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Yes, that’s one of the functions of a calendar, we figured :-) Thanks, Melissa!!
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March or May – I can’t decide.
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:-) Thanks, Robert!
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March–very cool! I think that’s one of Vlad’s favorites, but he won’t admit it.
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Too hard to pick one picture, I love them all. Thanks for sharing a wonder year with all of us!!
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You are most welcome, Vicki—glad you like them! (And of course we also have the paddling.net calendar in a prominent place ;-) )
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April – Sep – Nov are my favorites. Love all of them though.
I’ve been doing my own calendars for a couple of years too… it’s fun putting them together and yes, like you, I look forward to the pictures on certain months.
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They make good little gifts, too…. Thanks! :-)
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neat concept-beautiful
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Thank you!!
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April is my favorite! You should sell these beautiful calendars – it will be in great demand.
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We did have that thought. Won’t happen for 2013, but maybe for 2014? Thanks, Shaanthz!
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I hope I can buy one when you are ready to market the Vlad-Johna calendar!
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You’ll get one of the very first ones, Shaanthz!
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Oh wow! You just made me feel so special :) Thanks Vlad.
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You are most welcome, Shaanthz! :-)
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Wow a calendar! That’s an awesome idea. Especially that your photos are always so beautiful!
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Thanks so much, Evil Nymph! :-)
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Every month is lovely, but January is my favorite, and May is the coolest shot. You should market this!
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We’ve thought about it… Thanks, Tahira!
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January and February are my two favorites. What a nice calendar!
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Thank you!
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Absolutely Beautiful! Palladian Traveler is right…print them up and sell them. You truly have talent Vladimir!
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Thanks so much for your encouragement! :-)
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If I really had to choose, I would say January. (Yes, I love the snow even though it gets cold). :)
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So do we, Colline! Hope we get to see some soon…
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We had a bit :) but now with the few warm days we have had, it has all melted. Hopefully we will get some more this week when the temperatures drop.
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No snow to speak of yet in NYC…
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:( Hope you get some soon.
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I really like that January image and I really miss the snow! Best wishes for 2013.
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Thank you, and same to you!
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These images are so thematic to the seasons…pictures of exciting months to look forward to. A tricky question to select a favorite, because I like the following equally: January, March, July, November. Thanks for the delights!
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Thanks for posting! Glad you mentioned July–it’s a bit of an atypical photo for us, but we were so enraptured by the sheer happiness of the guys on the boat….
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I love August!!!
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Me too–doesn’t that just capture the essence of summer? Relaxed, sunny….
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Every picture takes you to somewhere beautiful and amazing. What a year of priceless adventures!
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We hope so, Traveler! And best wishes to you for the same…
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What a wonderful post!! Thanks so much for sharing it!
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Glad you enjoyed it!
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My favorites are January and May. My friends kept telling me how beautifiul Central Park is when it is covered with snow. Too bad I didn’t get to experience it. All beautiful pictures!
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So glad you like them!
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May of course and my other favorite is the cover — it sums up your outward bound attitude to a T I think. A great selection over all — must be nice to use all through the year.
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Thanks Frank! I always try to get at least one photo of Vlad in there–even if it’s just the tip of his kayak! :-). It’s difficult because he usually has the camera–and doesn’t like most of the photos of him.
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This is fun to put together, isn’t it? I used to make one every year but each month’s photo was a picture of my husband and I, usually travel photos. It a real smile-generator to flip to the next month and think about the story behind the photo.
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Yes, that’s where home-made calendars are so much more fun than the commercial ones… ten months later you’ve almost forgotten the story until you flip the calendar to a new page, and it all comes back… :-)
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Oh, I love this idea! My favs are October and December!! Great idea! :)
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Thank you! It’s not too late to make your own for 2013… :-)
And thanks for following our blog!!
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Yes, I think I just might try this out!! Thank you for the idea! :)
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I like a lot!!!
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Excellent—we are happy that you do! :-)
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This is such a great idea, you two. What a tough choice for to pick favorites, but I would say January (it looks like a painting) and September.
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September is by far the crowd favorite, it seems :-)
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You won’t be surprised that I particularly like November…and September – and August makes me think of the Adirondacks. I’ve been doing Shutterfly calendars too, the last few years. I had fun making one for a friend as a Christmas gift as well. Now I have to think about whether I want to do what you did here, and display this year’s calendar pictures.
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Let’s see them! :-)
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January and August are just stunning….it’s so good to find ways if using and displaying photos…otherwise they just sit on the hard drive feeling lonely :-)
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They would if it weren’t for blogs!
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Indeed – that’s mostly why I started back in August. Its so wonderful having people, who also love photography, look and comment :-)
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January and April are my favorites. All the shots are good though :)
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Thank you! :-)
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January is amazing and the May close up of the shell with it’s inhabitant still inside is wonderful
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Thank you!!
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Love this masterpost -September, April and November are my favorites :D
Great work!
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Thank you so much—and thanks for following our blog! :-)
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You’re welcome, you take amazing pictures!
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Great info and photos!!
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Thanks, Bjoern!
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Pingback: 2013 Calendar « Paffy's Photography
My boyfriend and I bought a couple of kayaks at the end of last summer and instantly caught “the bug”. We love to take them out to local ponds and rivers. I have a 5 yr old daughter and we wanted to include her in our fun. After trying to fit her in the cockpit of the Dagger, we realized it wasn’t big enough. She ended up getting hit in the head every time we moved the paddle. Then we thought about buying a tandem for her to have her own seat. We rented a Loon, but found that you really need to have two able paddlers to be able to control and move the tandem. This year was the first time I saw the America and it’s extra large cockpit. It’s big enough to fit me and my daughter, but not so big that I can’t paddle it on my own. The price was easy to handle too. We love it! Now the whole family is included and we go kayaking as often as we can.
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Sounds wonderful—enjoy it! :-)
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