Overall I think 2016 was a good year for me. I got to go to some amazing places including three of Wonders of the World: The Coliseum, Machu Picchu, and The Great Wall. It was a busy year and travel in many ways felt like my only escape. Work was incredibly busy. We also moved at the beginning of the year into a townhouse in NW Portland. I’m still extremely excited about our new place but it took a lot of energy moving in and getting situated. Between the move and work, I didn’t get time to do much personal photography other than what happened during travel which was a little bit of a bummer. In 2017 I am going to try and find time to improve my personal photos. I recently purchased a drone and I’m excited to do some aerial photography with it.
During this past year, I spent time tweaking my photography kit. I added a Lumix GX8 Micro4/3rds camera to my arsenal. It actually was a birthday present from my amazing wife, Casey. The Lumix camera is much smaller than my DSLR and great for travel, street, and personal photography. Back in May, I spent a week traveling to Italy and Greece. I carried around my DSLR camera. As I carried the camera around I hurt my shoulder from lifting and carrying my old camera and gear around. It took months before my shoulder started to feel better again. Since then the smaller camera has been really nice to carry around and travel with. I still use my DSLR for many projects but the micro4/3rds has been a great addition to my camera kit.
Before I look forward to the coming year I want to reflect on the images from 2016. Below are 10 of my favorite images from the past year… plus 1 bonus image. The images are in order chronologically through the year.
Lost. Somewhere in the Arizona Desert.
Somewhere in the desert on the road to Antelope Canyon in Page, AZ, something I’ve wanted to do for years now. The light was beautiful so we pulled off the road and I ran into the tumbleweeds to capture the dessert.
Antelope Canyon. Located just outside Page, Arizona
This was my favorite image from Antelope canyon. I call this image, “Scars”. I love the gradations of texture and color. The light is beautiful as it falls from the opening of the canyon above. The trip to Antelope Canyon had a ton of wonderful images and it was hard to choose a favorite. If you are interested in others here’s a link to the post about the trip.
Paris Metro Station / BW Street Photography
Every time we get the opportunity to visit Paris we love to jump on it. It’s one of my favorite cities. I loved this style B/W image of my wife Casey as we were leaving the metro. She is walking a few steps ahead leading the way. She organizes and plans all of our trips. This trip had a lot of highs and lows.
Machu Picchu, Peru.
For my 30th birthday, Casey planned a trip to Peru to visit Machu Picchu. South America was our 6th continent and our last beside Antarctica. The ruins truly were a wonder of the world, sitting quietly on top of the mountain. Probably one of the most amazing travel experiences I’ve ever had. This image was taken on the first day of our two days on the mountain.
Ferrari Shoot
This was a really fun shoot I did. A friend of mine has a friend with a Ferrari. He brought it down to my office and we borrowed some space in the warehouse across the street to shoot some images of this really cool car. The engine is in the back and I loved this view from the rear.
Skogafoss, Iceland.
We got to go back to Iceland to explore some of the areas we’ve never been before. I’ve always wanted to photograph the Skogafoss waterfall in the South of Iceland. I loved this dramatic black and white long exposure image from our shoot. The falls are pretty amazing in person. I liked this tight composition; I feel like it conveys the power and grace of the falls quite well.
Icelandic Horses.
Casey’s favorite thing about Iceland is the Icelandic Horses. They are all over the place. We pulled over on the side of the road. They came over for attention. I love the long shaggy manes they have.
Autumn in Vermont
This Fall we spent a few days in Vermont to see the Autumn colors. We probably missed peak Fall color by a couple of weeks but this out of the way road near Woodstock, Vermont had such a great charm to it. I love the colors, falling leaves, and leading lines into the unknown.
The Great Wall, China.
This was our final journey of the year. We spent a week during the Thanksgiving holiday traveling to China and Japan. It’s been on our bucket list for a while. When we got to the wall we were one of only a couple of people there. It felt entirely empty and stunning. The snow added a really neat touch to the atmosphere. However, the snow also made the wall extremely slippery and dangerous. After a while, more tour groups came and multiple tourists slipped and almost knocked me and Casey over. It was pretty crazy. This was taken while things were still quiet.
Kaminarimon (Thunder Gate). The First Gate (01 of 02) to the Sensoji Temple. Tokyo.
Japan became my sleeper hit of the year. I had always wanted to go, but I had very little expectations. I absolutely fell in love with the kindness of the people. The city was clean, polite and wonderful. There is something about this image I love. The bold colors, lines and framing of the lantern in the doorway. I can’t wait to go back to Japan to explore more of this country.
Casey on a boat in Alaska
This is a bonus image. I always like to share one image of Casey. She makes it possible for us to travel. She supports me and my photography more than anyone else in this world. This image was taken while she was looking out over the waters of Alaska. I believe there were eagles or some kind of animal out in the distance. She might not look it but she was so giddy during this outing. I just loved this memory and resulting image.
HERE’S TO AN AMAZING YEAR AHEAD FOR YOU.
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If you enjoyed this you might also enjoy the Favorite images of 2015
