Another year gone by and its time to post my top images of the year. It’s sad to look back and see no postings for this year. It has been quite the year for us. Business has been booming and we’ve branched into some additional ventures that have taken up some time. I promise to get some more posts up soon as we have a ton of stuff we’ve been working and just haven’t posted!
With that, let’s get on to our top images of the year. Definitely not our strongest year, but photography has taken a back seat to travel with the kids, which is more important anyways.
#10: Starfish at Ruby Beach-Olympic National Park, Washington
We got to Ruby Beach a little too late in the morning to capture great lighting and we were stuck with blue bird skies, but finding this starfish perched in the foreground was too good to pass up.
#9: Mount Rainier from Point Robinson Lighthouse-Vashon, Washington
Another shot without decent light. This one was the victim of afternoon exploring, but I loved the view of the iconic mountain and was able to frame it with some driftwood and add a sailboat for a little extra.
#8: Marymere Falls-Olympic National Park, Washington
Starting the list off with three images from our week in Washington. This was our first hike in Olympic National Park and it did not disappoint. The funny part is I spent a half hour shooting this waterfall from the base and got plenty of images I am happy with, but this quick image I grabbed on our hike out ended up being my favorite.
#7: Waimoku Falls-Maui, Hawaii
Our first non-Washington image takes us to Hawaii. This was our first time visiting Maui and this beautiful view was the reward at the end of the long drive up the Road to Hanna and the hike up the Pipiwai Trail.
#6: Natural Falls-Natural Falls State Park, Oklahoma
Another shot where I had to battle bad lighting conditions, but I liked all the different strands of water. This place was a great little stop to break up our drive from Tulsa to Arkansas.
#5: Burrowing Owl at Rainbow Owl Preserve-Las Vegas, Nevada
The only image to make the list from somewhere close to home. I found out about this owl preserve while visiting our Natural History Museum. We decided to visit for a little outing and were sorely disappointed with the preserve, which was just a vacant piece of land in a neighborhood, but once we saw one of the little owls pop out of his burrow, it was well worth the visit. These little guys were pretty cool to see.
#4: Banyan Tree on Pipiwai Trail-Maui, Hawaii
Our second image from Hawaii is another one from the Pipiwai Trail. I think that makes the Road to Hana worth the time, but Mallory still vehemently disagrees! This Banyan Tree is gigantic and is easy to find early on in the trail.
#3: Humpback Whale-Maui, Hawaii
Our last shot from Hawaii is an awesome Humpback Whale. I shot this from a boat with a big lens and it isn’t quite as sharp as I hoped, but being able to shoot a breaching whale is just an awesome experience. Seeing this young whale playing for us salvaged our snorkeling tour. The whole reason we did the tour was to see the Molokini Crater, but bad winds kept us snorkeling around the coast of Maui, which was a big disappointment. Coming back to the harbor disappointed, we spotted this little guy and his mom swimming near the boat. He played for a us a little and it was pretty incredible.
#2: Sea stack at Rialto Beach-Olympic National Park, Washington
I easily could have had five images from Rialto Beach. Picking just one was the hardest part of compiling this list. The lighting on this one did it for me even though the waves weren’t as good as some of the others I had.
#1: Egg-Yolk Jellyfish-Puget Sound, Washington
I have wanted to capture a good jellyfish image for a long time. I tried in Ireland last year, but our ship was simply moving too fast. I saw some in the Puget Sound while we were out boating, but it wasn’t until we docked for dinner that I was able to get this guy just off the dock.