Favorite Photos of 2017
It's cliche to say another year has flown by so I won't say it... whoops. One thing for sure is that I seem to fall behind on my processing more as each year goes by. I find myself still digging up nuggets of treasure to process from 2016 and prior years. Looking at my work in this post there definitely seems to be a theme of simplification outside of a few photos. By that I mean looking for cleaner more straight forward compositions with fewer elements. It will be interesting to see how this manifests in the future yet I am guessing we will see more because it's the type of work that intrigues me the most right now.
I also noticed myself taking more photos on my iPhone that I really like. It by no means will replace my mirror-less or DSLR camera systems yet the quality continues to amaze me in the right shooting situations. With this mind I decided for the first time to put a few of my iPhone photos in this post. We all know the saying that the best camera is the camera you have on you at the moment.
Looking back further than 2017 I processed a number of photos from prior years that I never worked on or released before. Although they were photographed before this year I am including some of them here as I consider them new work for the year.
Lastly, I can say this year was not filled with a tremendous amount of travel outside of close by trips. Some years just work out that way. Outside of one trip the rest of my photography related escapades were all in Oregon and Washington. While I can never travel enough regardless if it's a family trip or photography, or both, this year did show I can still capture new and creative work locally. There are always opportunities if you go out looking.
I hope you had a fantastic 2017. I appreciate all the support from my family, my peers in the photography community and my customers. Although I would still take photos if I had no one to share them with I must say having the support, social and business pieces are appreciated and rarely taken for granted. Here is to a stellar 2018 wherever it takes your photography or otherwise!
TAKEN AND PROCESSED IN 2017
"Pebble Waves" - Northern Oregon Coast at sunset looking down from a cliff. Not a drone photo even though the vantage point suggests it could be. The lines from the setting sun light along with the clean looking beach drew me in.
"Oasis Island" - While photographing the John Dellenback Dunes on the Central Oregon coast we had some spectacular conditions during the workshop I was co-leading with my good friend David Cobb. This is one of a few intriguing shots from the morning.
"Snow Glow" - On the way to our annual Photo Cascadia meetup David, Kevin and I spotted nice light along the highway going to the Central Oregon Coast. Eventually this scene came up and we took an immediate u-turn to grab it before the light faded on the tree.
"One Eye" - The rocky Oregon Coast is a treasure trove of abstracts just waiting to be discovered.
"Cloud Trance" - I really enjoy scenes like this when I come across them. Isolating a few key elements and nothing more. I could get lost in a cloud day dream with this one. Along the Central Oregon Coast sand dunes.
"Burning Fog" - As the sunrise burns through the fog across the dunes it creates for a short yet magical scene at the Central Oregon Coast dunes.
"A Dry Minute" - The view from Cape Horn in Washington between two intense downpours. The one you see in the distance included hail. The timing could not have been better. I was here only about 5 minutes before the sky rained down on me again.
"Fractured" - This particular rock I had passed before on Bandon beach yet only this time glistening from the rain that had just stopped did it stand out to me. The wide array of colors was intriguing.
"Shine On" - Traveling along the highway in Montana shortly before true winter started, I came across this winter feeling scene. The thick frozen fog was burning off quickly from these white encrusted evergreen trees. It was a race to capture this before the light changed.
"Feel The Warmth" - I have grown up going to Sunriver from summer biking to winter snowboarding. I never really thought of this place as one I would seek landscape photos without plenty of man made elements. Yet on this trip near the edge of the resort I passed this scene on bike and came back to capture during the trip when the sunset looked promising.
TAKEN PRIOR TO 2017 - NOT PROCESSED UNTIL THIS YEAR
The next four are all from the Alvord Desert from a trip a few years back. For some reason I had a day where I felt like processing variations of cracked or peeling mud which truth be told I like photographing these as they fill my need for abstracts staring at the earth's floor. It's really is fascinating how different the colors, textures and look can be of the desert floor just roaming around to different spots. These are from the same trip.
"Crackle"
"No. 2 Pencil Shavings"
"Drying Chocolate"
"Cracked Leather"
"Spring Curves" - The greens of spring time glow even on a mostly cloudy day in the Columbia River Gorge.
"Sand Bars" - Tide pools making for nice patterns and lines along the North Oregon Coast at sunset while camping.
"Around The Corner" - This year brought the unfortunate devastation to large areas of the Columbia River Gorge from a human caused wildfire. This area is near Triple Falls and based on footage around the falls this area was greatly impacted. I remember this morning vividly. It was a quiet winter morning years ago during the week with almost no one around.
"Another World" - 2017 brought politic shifts threatening our national lands preserved for future generations to enjoy when none of us will be around. This photo is from Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument which has been recommended to be cut in half. Let's hope this doesn't ultimately happen. I can say exploring this area felt like being another planet. Simply amazing scenery.
iPHONE PHOTOS TAKEN IN 2017
Unprompted my daughter got up on the fence and was using it as a seat to see through the view finder at the composition being setup. I let her snap the photo and take others during our outing together.
My daughters with synchronized hand stands along the beach at sunset under a sliver of a moon during a family camping trip.
On a bike ride into downtown Portland during sunrise the sky exploded into color all around me. I stopped for a minute to soak it in and snap this photo with my phone.
After a heavy rain shower rolled through the storm light came out just before sunset against the dark clouds with a lone biker in yellow. It was the kind of light you have to pause for regardless where you are just to stop and enjoy it.
