Favorite Photographs Year-by-year

This month I've chosen a selection of my favorite photographs from trips that I've taken over the years. I originally chose this because I haven't been quite feeling up to writing much and thought that something nice and relaxing like nature photographs would be both a good diversion for me and for anyone reading this, but I ended up using the opportunity to look critically at why these are my favorites.

New Mexico, 2008

These are the oldest pictures I have available to me, because it was the first trip that I took a digital camera on - a point-and-shoot type pocket camera which did not do very well except in bright light. I was basically taking snapshots at this point; there are a lot of them, even in my 'favorites' folder, that I clearly put no thought into at all. This one I took the time to compose, and it's got a more-or-less straight horizon and some interesting cacti in the foreground.

Mackinac Island, 2009

Next year, I had my first DSLR: the Nikon D40, and I spent a lot more time trying to take good pictures. I think that actually my best one may have been of the cannon demonstration crew at the fort, but since those are people who I don't know, I'm not going to include that here. This butterfly drinking nectar in the butterfly house is the second best. I would've altered the composition a bit now, but it does work, the focus is fine, and it's doing something interesting.

Chicago, 2010

This wasn't a very good trip for me, photographically; I took a lot of pictures, few indeed turned out. This was the best of a sequence of this tiger carrying their big box toy around.

Mackinac Island, 2011

Similar tale from my second visit to Mackinac Island; the cannon demonstration photos were actually probably the best, with the runners up coming from the butterfly house. This is technically better than the first, although I might've gone a bit too close with the crop. I considered a different one of some flowers outside, but I think this one was a little better.

Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, 2012

I was somewhat hobbled on this trip because I was still recovering from shattering my left leg and ankle a few months back, but I managed to take some photos I still like, such as this sunset photo from the beach near where we were staying. Unlike some of the others from this trip, I didn't do anything weird in the processing (I was just learning how to process photos, and I overdid it on several). I like the sky and the quality of the water here, and I managed to get something at least in the foreground.

Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore, 2013

The weather didn't line up for a lot of what we were doing photographically on this trip, and I had no idea how to shoot waterfalls, so my most successful photos ended up being of sunsets. I didn't like this one much at the time - I thought the pier was a little cliche, I think - but it works better than the rest, because the others I had liked better were just lake, forest strip, and clouds.

Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, 2014

There was some nice light on this trip, and I have some shots from it that I really want to like, but they all have some pretty serious problems that I'm sure I'd know how to fix now but didn't then. Ultimately, I think this one is the most successful; the light is nice, the soft focus works okay.

Niagara Falls, 2015

This was a fun trip but the light was really harsh the whole time, so I think this squirrel photo is the best one.

Porcupine Mountains State Park, 2016

There was a lot of good fall color here, and the waterfalls were running high, but I didn't know how to shoot them; I didn't know how to take longer exposures at all. So this Lake of the Clouds photo then is the best! It does have the full cloudy effect.

Glacier National Park, 2017

It was snowier than we expected on this trip and we weren't able to get much into the park. I was also just struggling to take good photos, but I do like this one of a BNSF freight taken from along highway 2.

Hocking Hills State Park, 2017

I'd finally learnt how to photograph waterfalls, but it was super sunny almost the whole time we were there. This one of Hidden Falls worked out more or less; it's got more going on around it than the others I took.

Niagara Falls, 2018

This was a winter visit to see the frozen falls. I think I got a little too into trying not to show any of the man-made architecture here, because I didn't get many shots that include the frost-adorned trees or the interesting formations of ice near the tops of the falls, but this one has some color and variety down at the bottom, as well as a bird for scale.

Glacier National Park, 2018

We tried to hit the fall color, but ended up hitting the snow again; however, we were able to get a little bit more into the park, and I saw this trio of grizzly bears making their way up a mountain in the Many Glacier area. I had a very long lens, so I was able to photograph them; there was a closer one with all three, but they were a bit out of focus even with the long lens, and I like the progression of the three here.

Olympic National Park, 2019

There were more to chose from on this trip, but I really still like this one from the Hoh Rainforest; there's a nice windowed effect with one of the mossy branches, and the one on the right is leading in a bit. Plus, lots of ferns.

Upper Peninsula, 2020

Only one small, careful trip this year; fairly good fall color, some rain, and there were some waterfall pictures that I think in some ways I did better with, but I actually like the composition of this one best. Which is a cautionary tale that I should've kept my tripod set up on our way out, because I had already taken it down, so no long exposure here.

Mt. Rainier National Park, 2021

I neglected to name my picture with the correct information and we didn't revisit this particular fall when we returned, but I actually still like this one. I think the composition works and it has some interest to the sides, and the water is how I was hoping to get it. I wanted to like one of the starry evening photos over Tipsoo Lake the best, but they all have some issues. Maybe someday I'll return and better those.

Silver Lake Dunes, 2022

This was my first time using my current camera, the Nikon Z50, and there are actually several shots I like a lot form it in retrospect - probably because I just had all day to wander the dune and think about things, and I often don't think enough before I shoot. I like this one once the wind started blowing more where you can see the blowing sand in the background but the layered sand detail in the foreground.

Colorado Plateau, 2022

I had a hard time choosing one from this trip, because it including the Grand Canyon, Bryce Canyon, Arches, briefly Canyonlands, and a few little stops on the way. I remember I felt I hadn't taken very good photos for most of the trip, but looking back on it, that's clearly not true; I was just still really depressed after everything that happened in 2021. There were a lot of good ones. This one is my favorite, because the light is really nice, I think the composition works on several levels, and it was the start of my formations-as-castles interpretation that I ran with for the rest of the trip and enjoyed.

Columbia River Gorge, 2022

Despite the unrelenting blue skies while we were at the Gorge, I got quite a few photographs that I liked on this trip, both around the Gorge and also at Mt. Rainier which was also included, but I like this one of Multnomah Falls the best. The waterfall has a good progression through the image, and the rock shapes on the sides support the effect. There is a slight piece of dust on my lens that I didn't quite get rid of, but that's a minor thing. Some of the other waterfalls on this trip I got a little too close in on, and I wish I'd kept some better context; something to consider in future.

Glacier National Park, 2023

The trip where we were finally able to drive Going-to-the-Sun road and get all into the park! I got a lot of photographs I liked here, and it was tight between a view of Going-to-the-Sun mountain, a waterfall shot of Sacred Dancing Cascade, and this one, but this won out because I like the layering of the mountains combined with the counter-glow of the somewhat fading sunset. This was I believe the western side of Logan Pass.

Olympic National Park, 2024

There were several I liked a lot from this trip, including one with some really nice light in the coastal woods that is on some level my favorite, but this sunset from Cape Flattery is I think one of my best-composed wide landscape shots so far, and it has a lot of interesting wave motion and some nice light going for it.

Adirondacks, 2024

The light was my enemy on this trip, both in terms of photography and in terms of always having to have my darkest sunglasses and a hat at all times, but nonetheless I came away with some of my favorite waterfall photos so far. This is Climax Falls at High Falls Gorge, where the harsh light hit the spray and made a really nice effect (I also feel I did a good job of managing the tiers of the waterfall and the rocks here); other main contenders were one of the upper falls at Letchworth State park (appearing as the article image), and several from Watkins' Glen (the gorge, not the track).

And that does it, because it's 2025 now, and I've yet to take any trips this year! I probably won't do a huge round-up like this again, but I might post photographs here sometimes in the future.