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Here it is New Years Day and I have yet to post my thoughts on my best photos of 2013. It has been a very busy year photographically, with near-weekly photo journeys for the first few months, followed by a 3 week drive trip to and around Nova Scotia in May. The summer was quiet, but I welcomed Fall with a trip to beautiful Vermont. I did not get back to Ireland this year, but a trip in the Spring may be in the works. I apologize that there will be redundancy for now – these images also start my galleries. But as time goes on there will be new images to supersede those first spaces and so this post will mark a celebration of 2013. I will provide a little background information for each of these images as well as technical details, and in so doing I am completing twelve little blog posts that I should have done throughout the year. Hope you enjoy my selection of “bests”, arranged in no particular order.

Portland Head Light, Cape Elizabeth, Maine: Despite getting up before dawn on two consecutive mid-May mornings to catch this lighthouse at dawn, my favorite image was taken at sunset. The clouds were just perfect, the bottoms reflecting the sunset’s warm glow, and I set the shutter speed to slightly blur the movement of the waves for a bit of a painterly effect, but all done in-camera. Technical data: Canon 5D MkII with Canon EF24-105mm f/4L IS USM lens at focal length of 24mm, 1.6 seconds at f/20, ISO 100, on Manfrotto tripod.

Fog Lifting at Marshfield Pond, Vermont: Now, THIS is pre-dawn. I traveled to the pond in the dark of night, my eyes could barely make out the silhouettes of rock and trees through the rising, swirling mist and fog. I instantly spotted my composition, set up my tripod, and began to wait for enough light to capture this scene. The wait was well rewarded – this is one of my favorites from my Vermont exploration in late September. Technical data: Canon 5D MkII with Canon EF70-300 f/4-5.6 IS USM lens at focal length of 135mm, 1/8th second at f/10, ISO 100, on Manfrotto tripod.

Golden Dawn at Blue Rocks fishing village, Nova Scotia: The color of dawn on this first of seven days to stay in Lunenburg in late May was amazing, and then the remainder of the time was rainy, foggy, drizzly, overcast and dull. But the trip still feels worthwhile for the opportunity to capture this brilliantly colored dawn. The golds turned to pinks and blues as time went on, making it hard to leave this little gem of a fishing village. Technical data: Canon 5D MkII with Canon EF70-300 f/4-5.6 IS USM lens at focal length of 300mm, 1/125th second at f/11, ISO 100, on Manfrotto tripod.

Peggy’s Cove Lighthouse and Boy, Nova Scotia: I couldn’t believe my luck. Here I was in the famed Peggy’s Cove, at the top or near top of my “photography bucket list” for years, and the day was dull and dreary. At least, we thought, we’d wait for the sunset, but as the sun was setting the sky was still dull, and many of my companions had already packed up to go home. A little break in the clouds appeared so I wandered back to find a vantage point to shoot when I saw this boy in a brightly colored shirt exploring the rocky outcrop. I set up my tripod on a boulder to avoid taking the time to extend the legs, and shot. I love this photo for the comedic, cartoon-like element that the curious boy adds. Technical data: Canon 5D MkII with Canon EF24-105mm f/4L IS USM lens at focal length of 105mm, 1/30 seconds at f/10, ISO 100, on Manfrotto tripod.

Dawn’s Early Light, Jefferson Memorial with Capitol Dome, Washington DC: This was supposed to be a trip to photograph the cherry blossoms. Unfortunately mother nature decided to delay blooming this year, so my carefully planned 3-night hotel reservations near the National Mall brought me there for “cherry buds”. This image has neither, yet it is my most favorited and purchased image from that trip at the very end of March. I was up again well before dawn, and walked to the Tidal Basin in the dark to capture a variety of images before this one. Perhaps what appeals to people is the balance of artificial and natural light that occurs in the blue hour to bring out details of the architecture and the rosy glow of dawn. Technical data: Canon 5D MkII with Canon EF24-105mm f/4L IS USM lens at focal length of 80mm, 0.8 seconds at f/22, ISO 400, on Manfrotto tripod.

Chincoteague Island and Assateague National Wildlife Refuge, Virginia Eastern Shore Marsh: I have to admit this was my first visit to the famed Chincoteague/Assateague area. Best known for the annual pony swim that occurs in July, we were treated in mid-April to many views of the wild ponies and a few colts that live in this refuge. A bird-photographer paradise, I was out “gunned” by the camouflage-wearing giant tripod-carrying photographers with the 600-800 prime lenses, but still was content with this sunrise image. Funny thing – there is a road through the marsh, and in the morning you can shoot to one side of the road for the sun rising, and then in the evening the sun sets on the other side of the road. Starting to see a pattern here – this image is pre-dawn. Technical data: Canon 5D MkII with Canon EF24-105mm f/4L IS USM lens at focal length of 105mm, 1/10th second at f/16, ISO 160, on Manfrotto tripod.

Nags Head Pier, North Carolina: Late March in Nags Head, North Carolina – what could be sweeter! We were up and ready to go to the beach well before dawn, but just couldn’t get the lead out because it looked like it would be a dull overcast day with that heavy cloud cover. And then the color formed in the sky – out the door and to the beach in a gallop! What a color display, and this photo has been de-saturated just a bit because otherwise no one would believe me!
Technical data: Canon 5D MkII with Canon EF24-105mm f/4L IS USM lens at focal length of 85mm, 1.6 seconds at f/14, ISO 100, on Manfrotto tripod.

Boat on Seyon Pond, Vermont: This turned out to be one of my favorite photos from Vermont. I had the camera on my tripod and was looking for interesting compositions along the pier with many of these boats attached. I aimed at the bow of this boat, then tilted the lens down to capture the reflection. I knew instantly that I loved this composition. I love the way the join of boat to it’s reflection is hidden. Technical data: Canon 5D MkII with Canon EF70-300mm f/4-5.6 IS USM lens at focal length of 70mm, 0.8 seconds at f/11, ISO 100, on Manfrotto tripod.

Awakening, Marshfield Pond, Vermont: Patience pays off. I had photographed a similar scene just an hour earlier, before the sun had made an appearance. For this image the sun had risen yet the air was still cool creating this mysterious mist. Love the display of Fall color! Technical data: Canon 5D MkII with Canon EF24-105mm f/4L IS USM lens at focal length of 93mm, 1/60th second at f/10, ISO 100, on Manfrotto tripod.

Cell Block 7, Eastern State Penitentiary, Philadelphia: An early March trip to Philadelphia resulted in two images that I wanted to share as my favorites. This image of Cell Block 7 at the Eastern State Penitentiary appeals to me and my followers because of the symmetry, but also the cold, steely-blue ones depicts life so well in such a hard place. Technical data: Canon 5D MkII with Canon EF17-40mm f/4L USM lens at focal length of 27mm, 1/20th second at f/13, ISO 320, on Manfrotto tripod.

Glimmering Phily: It was a toss-up between this sunset image of Philadelphia or one at night which received more attention and sales, but this is about my favorites and I just love the detail in the buildings in this image, and the golden tones of sunset reflected in the glass. Technical data: Canon 5D MkII with Canon EF24-105mm f/4L IS USM lens at focal length of 50mm, 1/15th second at f/10, ISO 100, on Manfrotto tripod.

Main Street Station in the Fog, Richmond VA: This is an image that has created a bit of a buzz, with so many people contacting me to know where I stood to take the shot and the details, so I thought I would include it here. It also is a bit different from my other images. The typical reaction when seeing such heavy fog is to pack up and go home, but I am glad I persevered and was well rewarded. Technical data: Canon 5D MkII with Canon EF24-105mm f/4L IS USM lens at focal length of 75mm, 8 seconds at f/18, ISO 250, on Manfrotto tripod.

Fishermen at Blue Rocks, Nova Scotia: I almost forgot to include this image, although I feel it is one of my strongest. As seems to be the pattern, I was at Blue Rocks very early in the morning. This was the second to last morning of my 7 day stay in Lunenburg, and as mentioned above, beyond the first morning every day had been overcast and dull. This was no exception, so I was composing for black and white images on this date. Up until these two fishermen returned to the pier I had only been getting landscape images. I was about half a mile away when I saw this boat return to the shore so I ran to get to the right spot, and started shooting on the tripod…. so hard to track a moving boat while on a tripod and MANUALLY focus (I only manually focus). But I am delighted with this image – they are searching for their tie-up rope with a hook. Technical data: Canon 5D MkII with Canon EF70-300mm f/4 USM lens at focal length of 95mm, 1/80th second at f/16, ISO 320, on Manfrotto tripod.

Now all I have to fear is that the photos from 2013 that I have not yet processed….. are more worthy of this blog than these!