My favorites of 2013

As I was sitting down to compile my list of “the best of 2013” I realized that the images I kept coming back to where actually “my favorites of 2013.”  The reason I say this is that I actually made a lot more images than those I am going to share in this post that were “better” than these when it comes to the technical and compositional aspects of photography, but this collection is my favorites of the year, and because of that it is what I wanted to share. These are in not particular order, with the exception of the last one in this post that is far and away my favorite shot only only of this year, but of the last couple years.

Animals

The following few images are some images I made this year of animals.  They include the wild as well as the domestic.

Capital Lake Heron

Phil’s Dog

A Blue Heron standing guard over it’s perch at the Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge

And no group of my favorite animal images of the year would be complete without and image of my dog Ursa.

My dog Ursa in doggie bliss while running and playing

Weather and Storm Chasing

Obviously there is no way that a year would go by without at least a couple of my favorite images of the year being images of severe weather while storm chasing.  This year’s group includes images from both Arizona and Washington State.

Cloud to ground lightning from the Paseo Vista recreation area in Chandler Arizona

A lightning strike south of Olympia, WA over a green field

Sunset Lightning

Studio and Models

2013 marks my first ventures into shooting models in a studio environment.  I have a lot of learn about this, and it is way outside of my comfort zone, as I have blogged about recently, but I am having a blast doing it and I have even managed to capture a couple images I am quite proud of.  One of them is even in IR.

Carrie

Victoria in IR

The Aurora

Ok, this image doesn’t really fit into any other category so I am giving it one of its own.  I have been wanting to shoot the  Aurora Borealis for years.  I have some image on film/slides from decades ago, but this year marked my first opportunity to get a shot now that I am firmly in the digital realm.  It wasn’t a particularly strong Aurora over Olympia that night, but it was there and I was thrilled to capture it.

The Aurora Borealis over downtown Olympia, WA

Landscapes

My selection of landscape shots are typically the biggest collection from the year, but this year I am only including 2, and they were both captured with an IR converted camera.

Rainier Volcano

An IR pano image from the Capitol State Forest outside of Olympia Washington

Needles, Bridges and a Boat

Yeah, pretty much exactly what it sounds like.  A Space Needle, a big bridge and a boat.

A black and white image of the iconic Seattle Space Needle

The Tacoma Narrows bridges with sunset light

The sunsets on Elliot Bay in Seattle as a ferry approaches the dock

My favorite image of 2013

Amazing tonal seperation during sunset at Grand Canyon National Park in Arizon

Well, there you have it.  My favorite images of 2013.  I honestly didn’t get out shooting nearly as much as I wanted to, but I am happy and proud of this collection.  I hope you enjoy them nearly as much as I enjoyed shooting them, sharing them and then re-visiting them again to compile this blog post.