I thought I’d share some of my favorite images for 2018. These were necessarily the most popular, but were my favorite adventure images for the year. Some had meaning for one reason or another and some were just breakthrough images for me. Hope you had a wonderful 2018. Looking forward to more adventures in 2019!
This image was taken in the Mt. Evans Wilderness and the weather didn’t really cooperate. it was just kinda grey and overcast, but these purple blooms stood out. Just a simple shot taken with my Fuji X100F.
The spur of the moment trip to the Black Hills turned out to be one of my favorite trips of the year. While my wife and I really wanted to see the moments we had never seen before, the trip through Custer State Park was an amazing find! The rolling red hills and some bursts of fall color spread through out. It was a gem of a find and definitely on our places to go back and visit. This clump of cottonwoods just stood out in the middle of open prairie along a dry river bed just spoke to me.
Normally I’m with other people on my adventures to the back country but this year I decided to go on my own and just spend some time with myself and shoot and stop where I wanted to and just discover the San Juan Mountains. Turning down a dirt road and finding this valley full of wildflowers was a treat. Not a sole around and just a blanket of wildflowers covering the valley.
I love the leaves of the corn lilies, but it seams like every-time I go to capture them, there are major blemishes and I can never seem to find the right composition. I was just capturing some snapshots along the side of the road when I spotted this field of corn lilies among the aspens. I just had my Fuji X100F. I loving having this camera. It allows me to get some close up shots and seeing this plant with the Acros Film simulation brought out the details of the leaves. Such amazing detail in the delicate leaves.
Usually pronghorn antelope are very jittery and will sprint off at when humans come close. I’ve never really been able to capture them so up close and personal. This image was captured in Custer State Park in South Dakota and just saw this large heard of prong horn grazing not too far from the road. I just pulled over and was able to watch this heard for close to an hour. They are such beautiful animals. This was one of my on my bucket list of animals to capture with my camera. I’m ecstatic about seeing them this year.
A large bull moose was also on my bucket list to capture on film. I’ve seen male moose before, but they have been very young and didn’t have the horns like this bull. Not only did I see this bull, but it was in a heard of six other bulls along Miller Landing outside of Grand Teton National park. This one actually surprised me. I was taking pictures of the other 6 when this one walked by within about 12 feet to get to the rest of the heard. It was so big! Amazing animals.
This is technically not the best image, but along Kebler Pass I spotted this stand of aspens and just loved the bright greens and yellows along with the brilliant earth tones of the brush oak that was brought out by the rainy conditions.
Reg and I were grabbing breakfast at McGill’s. It was really early and McGill’s had just opened up. For some reason no one was around in town. I went back out to my truck, since I had left my phone in the cab and this amazing sunrise showed itself over Crested Butte! I popped on my Moment wide lens and captured this image. They always say the best camera is the one you have with you. It seems like I’ve had my smartphone with me a number of times this year.
This image was from another last minute trip to Jackson, Wyoming. I’ve always wanted to see Grand Teton in the winter and with a perfect window of good driving conditions (at least on the way up) Reg and I decided to go for it. This image just brings about wonderful memories walking along the banks of the Snake River at Oxbow Bend and just enjoying the crisp winter days and the slow moving water underneath the frozen river toward Mt. Moran. It was so peaceful. No one else around.
This was one of those perfect days with color in the sky. Boy it was cold. As we drove up on Mormon Row, the crowd of photographers were at the Thomas Moulton Barn. No one else had made the trek down toward John’s barn so we headed down. I like to think I ended up with a better scene. I love the wonderful pink skies on this morning.
I wasn’t sure if I was going to get a break in the rain and fog along Kebler Pass. I could see some color peaking through so Reg and I sat in the car for a while hoping the rain would let up and the clouds would clear. We got our wish and I captured this image as the fog let up around this single lollipop aspen stood out showing it’s amazing color!
This is one of those scenes that seem to just open up from the heavens and present themselves. We had been driving, driving and looking for the right scene. The road had gotten muddy and so we stopped and decided to walk around to look for a scene and just as I had gotten setup, the sun streaked out from the clouds hitting the tops of these aspens. The muddy trail led perfectly into the grove. This might be my favorite image of the year..