I’m late again for my annual reflection on the past year of my photographic work. Hmmm, thinking through this some more I think we’ll go with “fashionably late” instead. Yeah, that sounds better! Anyways, 2023, it was quite the year. A year with a lot of new firsts! First and foremost Kim and I got married in March, which you can read all about, and our new family adventures here. There were some great outdoor adventures this year as we were bonding as a new family. Here are my 10 favorites, and as usual there is no particular order. If you’d prefer to skip all my stories and look at the gallery, click here.
Autumnal Morning Light
Anyone who has followed me for a while knows I have a soft spot for bristlecone trees. They make for such fascinating subjects. This past fall I wanted to introduce them to Kim on our trip up through the Eastern Sierra Nevada so we did a quick little early morning hike where I discovered this beautiful tree. I have probably walked past this tree 10-15 times before, but for whatever reason it caught my attention this trip, and I am grateful to have stopped. It was such a peaceful morning in the grove that I won’t soon forget.
Raucous Tranquility
This photo was part of a post from back in March of ’23 after our very wet winter. I had visited one of my favorite local spots to explore and was blown away to see so much water there. Back in 2018, I feared this location was lost during the Woolsey fire that raged through the Santa Monica Mountains. I was so grateful to see the waterfalls in this small little canyon overflowing with water last year.
Morning Frost
A memorable image from a memorable day. Smack dab in the middle of our honeymoon in Olympic National Park we were driving from the Hoh rainforest up to Port Angeles when we stumbled into the scene. One of the last winter storms was breaking up over the Olympics coating the area in a light dusting of snow.
Ascending
One of my favorite macro shots from last year. It made me think of switchbacks on a trail. One of the things I love about macro photography is all the beautiful undiscovered worlds that are out there just under our noses, sometimes from the most mundane things.
Afternoon Light in the Grove
This one was a treasured moment from one of our family adventures. Over the summer Kim and I took our girls on a “Family-moon” to celebrate our new family. I was so excited to show them some of my favorite places in Sequoia and Kings Canyon. We found this scene wandering one of the meadows in the giant forest.
Steadfast
Another favorite from our family adventures which I wrote about in a blog post last year. I fell into this scene. We were looking for the best place to watch the Perseid meteor shower when I noticed the thunderheads lining up along the saddle between two hills and perfectly framing this lone Joshua tree.
Aspens in Morning Reflected Light
From our fall trip to the Eastern Sierra Nevada. I wanted to show her the region in one of my favorite seasons. The aspens were gorgeous as they were just starting to turn color. This was one of my favorite images from one of my favorite canyons.
Alabama Hills
Yet another image from our fall adventures on the Eastern Sierra. As we were heading back home we stopped so I could show Kim the Alabama Hills. They looked quite ominous as smoke from a control burn further up the valley lingered over them as the afternoon sun was starting to set. I hadn’t intended to photograph the hills that day but I couldn’t pass up this scene.
The Ascetic
I have photographed this lone hermit of a tree several times, and none of them worked out when I worked on them in post. This time though it all worked. The clarity of the sky and water and the early morning light illuminated the tree just right.
Busted Up
Last and by no means least a favorite from one of my favorite local spots to explore. It was another serendipitous moment from 2023. I had planned a different trip up in the nearby mountains, however, that was washed away when Hurricane Hillary knocked out the road up to my destination. So instead I spent my weekend doing little day trips to some of my favorite locales. This motif is a little patch of rock at one of my favorite beaches. The intricate crack patterns keep drawing me in.
Conclusion
I hope you have enjoyed this recap of my best photos of 2023. Thank you so much for investing the time to explore my recap. I am curious to hear which ones you liked! Here are my past recaps: 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 | 2015
As for what 2024 has in store for me, well it seems quite a bit. That’s one of the reasons this list is so late. I had a trip in January that was quite memorable (more on that soon), and Kim and I have been quite busy planning a very big trip later this year. So stay tuned!