It’s that time again, when Mary and I reflect on all of our great trips from the past year.  We review all of our photos and edit and back them up.  I know Mary always wants me to get down to ten, but herewith, are my favorite 15 photos from 2013.  Which ones do you like best?

#15 We had a great trip to Death Valley with our artist/photographer friends Cat Larrea and Mark McDermott (check out their website links).  Death Valley sunrise blog.

#14 – I could shoot this barn a hundred times.  It never gets old (great pinot noir, too).  Colene Celmons barn blog.

#13 – There are thousands of photos of this tree on-line, but now I have my own (thanks Jack Graham).  Portland Japanese Garden blog.

#12 – summer in San Francisco means fog.  This is another “bucket list” and iconic shot.  San Francisco blog.

#11 – Mary’s parents live near Creede, Colorado.  The cemetery and church are historic.  Colorado blog.

#10 – this is the Mark Abbott Memorial light house in Santa Cruz, CA.  It was really crowded and I was lucky to get one without all of the people.  I did not like the bike until later when I processed the photo.  The lighthouse remains me of a Saturn V rocket.

#9 – this was a very cold morning and a great memory with Mary.  North Lake blog.

#8 – most people go to Pfeiffer State Beach in Big Sur to see the arch (see #1), but miss out on this composition which is just 50 yards north.  Another great night with Mary.  Pfeiffer Beach blog.

#7 – is this a good photo?  It just epitomizes the “beautiful desolation” of the Salton Sea.  Salton Sea blog.

#6 – this may not be a great photo, but it was a great moment.  We waited 45 minutes for a sandwich at Sebastian’s Cafe in San Simeon.  I used my new Sony RX 100 Mark II point and shoot, hand held, here.  When the horses walked up and started grazing, it was a “wow” moment for me.

#5 – Mary and I have been to Bodie twice and had stunning skies both times.  That is really important when you can not do a sunrise or sunset shoot.  Bodie blog.

#4 – as we were driving away, mid-morning around 10:30 AM, a fog bank rolled right in and stuck to the coast for just a few minutes.  This photo was taken north of the lighthouse with my infrared and processed in Nik’s Silver Efex Pro.

#3 – COVER PHOTO It was a really hot and windy day in Death Valley and Mary and I were just about to pack up and leave when I asked her to stay for a few more minutes.  I am certainly glad we did.  Badwater blog.

#2 – this was our first time to Santa Cruz, CA and we had a great time shooting sunset at the Natural Bridges State Beach.

AND finally, #1 – this is a very popular subject that we have shot a few times.  What I like most about this photo is knowing that just to the right of the image are about 25 people trying to photograph right through the arch.  This is a three image High Dynamic Range  composite processed with Nik’s HDR Efex Pro.  Pfieffer Beach blog.

To see more of our photos (and buy them), please go to www.pamphotography.com.