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.
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Wow, these are amazing shots! Beautiful. Love #13.
Thanks Ed. Appreciate the comment. That tree is only 4 feet high. You have to almost crawl underneath it. Its an amazing tree.
Ah, difficult to choose a favorite–they all have that something special, but, for me, it’s the fall color reflection…although I wouldn’t mind claiming #1 as my own! Thank you both for the continued inspiration.
Thanks Loretta. The morning at North Lake was really special.