Below are a few of my favorite images of the year.

This one from Ruby Beach in Olympic National Park was taken during my May workshop. It’s a blend of two images, one for the background and one for the foreground. I liked what was happening in the background but suspected it may not last long, so I got the shot for the background first. Then I set up the foreground for a longer shutter speed and took several shots then chose my favorite of the foreground shots to blend with the background.

From The Hall of Mosses in the Hoh rainforest. The curves with the glowing leaves and misty background was what caught my eye. The morning conditions were great, with a bit of mist and backlighting making this a bit surreal.

One day I needed to go to Port Angeles for an oil change on my Subaru. But I left early that morning to photograph along Lake Crescent. I still have yet to get my fantasy shot from this spot and on this morning, I started elsewhere first and got here well after sunrise. I ended up liking it better as a black and white.

This is one of my favorite locations in the Palouse and it works both for sunset as well as sunrise. This was a sunrise. I love the flow and direction and the lines of light.

Back in Olympic for a summer workshop, this is Second Beach. The clouds that night were incredible and the horizon opened up just before sunset to allow the beam of light to come through. As is typical of this beach, it was a bit crowded that night. I needed to clone out about a dozen people that were standing there also enjoying the sunset.

Our visit to Rialto Beach didn’t have the same quality of light that our visit to Second Beach did. I had decided ahead of time that because of the overcast, I’d probably be converting images to black and white.

I stood behind this rock for a while, waiting for waves to crash over the rock. The shutter speed was ½ second and I needed to use a neutral density filter to help create that longer shutter speed.

In this shot you can still see the mist from a pair of Humpback whale spouts. This was a particularly good morning on Sitka Sound.

This year for the Sitka trip,  I rented the Nikon 80-400 AF-S VR lens. I’m glad I did. It’s fast and sharp and I would probably not been able to get this shot of a Tufted Puffin without it.

North Seal Rocks near Newport Oregon is a great place to photograph waves crashing over rocks. What caught my eye initially was this little waterfall that was being created when the waves crashed over high enough to stream down the side. Having another wave crashing behind this waterfall at the same time was just icing on the cake.

These trees are just off the parking lot of Seal Rock State Park near Newport, OR. I’ve always been attracted to their bends and curves. On this morning I was hoping for mist in the trees. Instead, what we received was an extended golden hour due to smoke from wildfires being in the air.

What’s a “favorites” list without aurora pictures from my Yellowknife tours?

And from my last trip of the year to Silver Falls State Park in Oregon. The first picture is of North Falls. You can barely see it in the fog. The other is of Middle North Falls. I really like the curving branches covered with moss.