Best of 2024
I have counted landscape photography as my passion since 2008. The level of passion, however, has ebbed and flowed with time. I would go weeks, if not months, with no desire to pick up my camera at all, followed by times when I wanted to quit my job and “chase the dream.”
To help level out those ups and downs, in 2025 I hope to utilize another creative tool that I have enjoyed in the past, although on a more limited basis — writing. I can share more about that in future entries, but with a new year comes a refreshed website with a place to share more of my thoughts in written form and post more images I capture with my camera. How that shapes out is yet to be determined, but let this first blog post of this new, beautiful year be a great step in holding true to that desire.
So with that, allow me to share with you my favorite images of 2024!
These are in no particular order, but the twelve images convey a little snapshot (ha, get it?) of some of the scenes I encountered last year.
Tunnel View on a Misty, cloudy morning - Yosemite National Park
One of my most favorite places to be, and a location that I am fortunate to travel to in a relatively short distance. There had to be twenty other photographers at this viewpoint, all with their tripods lined up one after the other. The fog in the valley would come and go, providing wide choices for different compositions.
Snow on the Scene - Yosemite National Park
New camera technology certainly allows a variety of options to compose a shot. A moderate zoom lens was used here to get up close and personal with a scene that would be out of reach on foot. Yosemite National Park, like so many other places, has iconic shots wherever you look. I have certainly found great enjoyment in finding scenes that are not seen as often, like this one.
Dogwoods and Yosemite Falls - Yosemite National Park
Springtime is magical in Yosemite National Park, especially in the Valley when the dogwoods are in bloom. Timing is important - too early and the flowers have a green hue; too late and they turn yellowish and fall to the ground. When I visited, I was a little on the early side, so the trick as a photographer is to shoot in black and white!!! This dogwood tree is behind The Ahwanee Hotel, a good distance away from the portion of Upper Yosemite Falls seen here. A focal length of 270mm helped to compress the image, making them seem closer than they actually are.
Vineyards in Spring - Sonoma County
This image itself may not be a home run, but it is one of my favorites of 2024 due to the elements in the photo. Springtime provides a carpet of flowering mustard in many of the vineyards. The backdrop in the image is the wall of oak trees draped in a light fog. All of it together makes the image what it is to me.
Footsteps on the Beach - Sonoma Coast
One of the many great things about living where we do is that a forty-minute drive brings us right to the ocean. I have always been attracted to water, whether a lake, an ocean, or a small creek. I think it is the movement of water that intrigues me the most. On this beach on an early morning, the tide was quite low, exposing a lot of the beach. With the tide low, the foam on the slowly breaking and receding waves created quite a visual presentation. I took this shot after turning around and looking back at my footprints. Those footprints were washed away in just a few moments.
Sunset and Gulls - South Haven, Michigan
A visit to my hometown provides a daily visual feast when the sun begins to set on Lake Michigan. This is especially true when a break behind a bank of eastward-moving clouds allows the setting sun to paint the clearing sky a vibrant orange color. When the sun illuminates the underside of the clouds, the indescribable color lasts only a couple of minutes - you need to be quick on the shutter. I was firing off the camera at a pretty rapid pace and just luckily happened to capture a bunch of gulls flying through the frame. Did I plan that? I didn’t see them until I got home and viewed the images on my computer! Sometime nature gives you wonderful surprises!
Ribbons of Autumn - Monitor Pass
By far, autumn is my favorite season of the year. Over the last five or six years, I have attempted to make an annual trip to the Eastern Sierra to take in the magnificent change of season among the groves of aspen trees that dot the east-facing slopes of the Sierra Mountains. This image is taken from the pullout on Hwy 395 just north of Lee Vining, CA. The sun was beginning its descent behind the mountains, casting a washed out glow on the trees that were just shy of peaking in the color.
Grove of Aspens - Eastern Sierra
Walking off the beaten path sometimes yields terrific compositions. I did not see this one at first glance. Only after putting my camera bag on the ground and just slowly taking in the scene, did I discover what could be possible here. I have learned, at great frustration at times, to take my time when looking for subjects to capture. Beautiful scenes are not always evident at first glance.
Simply Tuolumne Meadows - Yosemite National Park
On my visit to the Eastern Sierras, I had time to drive up Tioga Road to the relatively close-by Tuolomne Meadows. I love being in Yosemite Valley, where a lot of the iconic views (and crowds) tend to gather, and rightly so. But being in the high-country of Yosemite offers a respite from the hords of tourists found in the Valley. This huge meadow is right off of Tioga Road and a simple walk through it allowed a time of rejuvenation after searching for scenes earlier that day.
Autumn Beauty and the Merced River
This is my favorite image of the year for far more reasons than the natural beauty scene along the Merced River. Even though this can be a popular location for photographers for obvious reasons, it had taken me multiple visits over the course of years to find the conditions I sought. The low level of the Merced River in the fall allows more of the river bottom to be exposed, adding texture and character as you look through the frame. Autumn color creates a border on both sides of the river to help guide one through the image as well. El Capitan, a dominant fixture in many viewpoints in the Valley, creates a resting place for the eye after you have visually“walked” through the scene.
Capturing these images was a part of many journies that I may talk about in future posts. Thank you for reading this and viewing my images.
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