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It has been an interesting year and this is my fifth year sharing my favorite photos! In a nutshell, I headed to the American west three separate times to satisfy my photography “bucket list”, but unfortunately, with unexpected medical testing and expenses, I cut back on extended photo trips to locales on the east coast. My trips out west were not entirely successful. While I took over 4000 photos early June in the Palouse, a major agricultural region of eastern Washington and central Idaho, only one image stands out as a portfolio best. My excursion to Glacier National Park in Montana late July met with a fire that closed the area I had anticipated seeing for so many years – the Going to the Sun Road that cuts from east to west across the park was closed! Only my trip to Colorado to photograph Aspens displaying their fall yellows in late September, early October met my expectations, but I have barely started to process those images, the last few months have been so busy. Early in 2015 I developed a clearer idea of my photography “style” and made a commitment to only share images that conveyed that style, so although I re-visited Dolly Sods and Blackwater Falls SP in West Virginia, made overnight trips into Pennsylvania and distant Virginia locations, and countless day trips, most of those images have not “made the cut” for publication. I also made a concentrated effort to blog more, but only when I have something to say! There is so much photography “how-to” literature on the internet now it is hard to find a subject that has not already been covered by everyone. My blog is a work in progress and I strive to find a unique voice worthy of your time. Thank you so much for your continued support and viewing of my images and content – I hope to continue to earn your attention and time!

If I were to choose my one favorite image of 2015 this would be it! The two “fourteener” peaks in the Elk Mountains are called “Maroon Bells” for the color of the metamorphic sedimentary mudstone that has hardened into rock over millions of years. This image was created shortly after sunrise near Aspen, Colorado and fortunately at the peak of fall color from the aspen trees. On site about an hour before sunrise after over an hour drive, with the composition set in the viewfinder and ready to fire, the wait was difficult because not only did I wait for sunrise, but also came the wait for the sun’s rays to climb above mountain peaks to the east to finally bathe the tops with this short-lived copper-color glow. This was the second morning I came to shoot sunrise, the first day the sky was clear blue and uninspiring. I was able to scout the Maroon Creek valley on that visit and decide where I would stand on my second, hopefully less crowded, visit. To me, the time expended was worth it!

Finally a winning image from Glacier National Park on the last day of my 8 day stay! As mentioned in the introduction, my timing for this visit was not fortuitous, a fire raging at the St Mary’s entrance to the park closed the Going to the Sun Road. Try as I might, I could not shake my disappointment, especially after the 3-leg, 12-hour flight path to Kalispell, Montana. The Two Medicine Lake entrance into the park is the southern-most eastern side entrance, and with the closed short-cut across the park, it was on the way from the east side to the west side of the park and the airport in Kalispell. Once again the wake up was 3:15AM with final packing and loading the vehicle, and the drive south and set up to capture sunrise. It was raining lightly on the drive, but just as the sun hit Mt Sinopah it began to downpour creating this double rainbow which was visually stronger than this image suggests. Most noticeable was how the rainbow came down through the small peak and was so strong all the way to the water surface – I could see it so strongly with my eyes but it is missed on the camera sensor! I’m not sure I’ve ever seen that before. The rain made it difficult to shoot, requiring constant wiping of the lens to remove water droplets –I needed a third hand at this point! This image is the testament to durability!

Here it is – my best image from the Palouse! Now if I had to put a value on this image, I would have to add up my flight, hotel stay, rental car, meals and the rain pants I bought for this trip and didn’t need…. Of course, it doesn’t work that way but I do get the pleasure of looking at the rich greens and yellows of rolling wheat, chick pea and canola fields with freshly ploughed pink soil from windblown glacial silt or loess settled into the dune-like pattern. This image was created just before sunset from Crested Butte, looking towards the west (into the setting sun) to get the backlighting that creates the contrast within the scene.

The smoke from the fires at Glacier National Park had not yet pushed to the west or come down from equally large fires in Canada when I took this photo of a Lake McDonald sunrise on the west side of the park. As is always the case, I arrived in the darkness to set up, having scouted the area the night before. Thankfully there were clouds to reflect the light and create this deep vivid blood red color that is reflected in the lake. The “icing” on the cake came with the cone of sunbeams from the soon-to-rise sun.

After returning from a jeep trip to Crystal Mill from Marble, Colorado, and heading back to Aspen, I stopped at this lovely beaver pond for sunset. Whitehouse Mountain and a brilliant blue cloud-filled sky is reflected in the clear water. If you look closely you will see leaves floating on the glass-like surface. The yellow aspens contrast nicely with the deep green spruce lining the pond. This photo conjures up happy thoughts!

From the western entrance to Glacier National Park it is possible to drive up the Going to the Sun road as far as the Trail of the Cedars trailhead where a short hike takes you Avalanche Gorge – a narrow and deep gorge that Avalanche Creek has carved into the argillite. Smooth, rounded channels provide a swirling home for the glacial melt whitewater rushing down the gorge. To create this image I climbed down into the gorge to a small natural platform just above the churning water.

The Palouse was my first choice for 2015 photography trips, and indeed I had made reservations for my stay way back in November 2014. The area had been a bucket list staple for about 12 years. What intrigued me was the simplicity of the scenes I envisioned – abandoned farmhouses in fields of green with a blue sky and puffy clouds, patterns in farm fields created by variety in crops and tracks of the farm equipment. So imagine my delight to discover exactly what I expected – an abandoned farmhouse with a blue sky and puffy clouds. The windmill was the extra surprise!

Back to Glacier National Park and this time the Many Glacier entrance into the park from the east side of the park. This particular morning the smoke had descended into the park as the winds abated creating a scene of shapes rather than the details I usually like to photograph. My hotel was near the Many Glacier entrance and thus I spent four days in this area of the park. The St Mary’s entrance was completely closed. I have photos of this lineup of, from left to right, Mt Gould, the Garden Wall, Mt Grinnell (center) and Mt Wilbur, with and without smoke, sunrise and sunset, black and white and in color, from many angles and perspectives. This is a four-photo vertical panorama.

It isn’t often that I would consider a skyline photo a “best” image, but I am a little biased towards this image, perhaps because I took it only a few weeks ago. The floodwall in Richmond Virginia is well known as a great place to take skyline photos, but only if you go with a crowd of friends and stick with them in this dangerous part of town at night. When I first arrived the low angle of the sun was creating giant reflections of itself in the many mirrored buildings, creating a very contrasty scene. I created this image just as the very last light of the sun still reflected golden but the sky had started to take on the pink hues of post-sunset light. The combination of golden reflections with a pink and blue sky has made it a favorite, at least for now.

This last image was also taken about two weeks ago and perhaps has more emotion attached to it than any other image. A visit to Arlington National Cemetery is always filled with reverence for those who lost their lives in battles for our country or who have served a long career in honor of our country. Wreaths had been lain upon every grave, all 400,000 and counting, with about 25 burials every day except Sunday. That alone is worthy of a trip to see the cemetery but on this day the timing could not have been better because the Ginkgo trees had just dropped their yellow leaves the day before. Mother Nature had added her decorations to the graves of our brave men and women of the armed services.

Thank you so much for viewing!