I look forward to this retrospective each year – both as a chance to look back at how I spent the year and as a chance to review some of my favorite images, often leading me to reprocess them or select different favorites from the same shoot. I won’t make any claims that these are the best images I created in 2023. I don’t believe that there is an objective “best” photograph. Selecting favorites allows me to tie them to my memories in a way that is more personal. This was a tough year for this exercise, as I have alternates for many of these photos that I like just as much. On another day I could easily have selected several different favorites. I’ll refer to some of those in my comments below.
Enough talking, here are my favorites from 2023 presented in the order they were captured.
Turret Arch – Arches National Park, Utah
I made a trip to Moab, Utah with some friends in February (details here). The goal was to get photos of red rocks with snow and this image of Turret Arch epitomizes that for me. The arch itself is even more impressive in person than in photos, as the main arch is 65 feet tall. The spotted snow on the ground and the nice sunrise light complete the image.
Totem Pole and Dunes – Monument Valley Navajo Tribal Park
This is another image from my February trip to the southwest. I had never been to Monument Valley and there were two scenes I very much wanted to see. The first is the area in this image with rippled sand dunes leading to red rock spires. The second (and the next image below) includes the massive buttes rising over the valley. This is an image where I struggled to pick a favorite. I started by trying to choose between a landscape version similar to this one, and a portrait version without the bush that really emphasized the ripples in the sand. I went back into my library and found this photo that combined the parts I liked from both images.
Monument Valley Sunset – Monument Valley Navajo Tribal Park
After spending the afternoon with our Navajo guide looking for a good spot for sunset, we agreed that this ridge overlooking the valley and buttes was the place to be. In addition to the wonderful view, it also looked toward the only clouds in the sky. Walking along the ridge we found these nicely spaced yucca plants which provided the foreground. I had a pretty good idea when I looked at the back of my camera that this would be one of my favorite shots of the year.
McDonald Rocks and Colors – Glacier National Park, Montana
I seem to end up with an image from Lake McDonald on this list every year, which makes sense since it a beautiful, iconic location and accessible year round. I had spent most of April in Montana and it was a dreary month, with few opportunities to go out and take photos. Finally at the end of the month the skies cleared and I made a trip into the park. My focus was on the snowy mountains, the color in the sky, and rocks in the foreground. I have other images that zoomed into the mountains, making them more dramatic, but I prefer the peacefulness of the wider view.
Punta Sur Coast – Isla Mujeres, Mexico
I had to include an image from my trip to Isla Mujeres in May with my wife. It was a wonderful, relaxing vacation and I love the colors of the water. Punta Sur is a park on the south end of the island, easily reached by renting a golf cart and going for a drive. This was my favorite view, looking west toward Cancun with the rocky coastline and colorful water in the foreground. We made our way to a beach club after this for a swim and some ceviche.
Fly Geyser – Gerlach, Nevada
This is something I had wanted to see for years, and finally made the trip this summer. I’ve posted a lot of details about that trip here. I am drawn by the otherworldly shapes and colors of this semi-natural geyser in the Nevada high desert. I took a lot of photos, including some with the whole structure reflected in the water at its base, but I keep coming back to this one as my favorite. I believe it best shows the details that make this geyser stand out.
Schwabacher Flowers – Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming
I spent a night camping in Grand Teton while driving between California and Montana. I have attempted to photograph this location several times but never came away with anything I liked – mostly because cloudy skies hid the mountains. This morning was memorable both for the beautiful view and for the moose that wandered through the scene (more details and photos here). This was the photo that I envisioned when I got up before dawn and made my way to this spot, with the sunrise light adding a glow to the mountains. That light is why I selected this over the images I captured with the moose in the scene.
Glacier Autumn – Glacier National Park, Montana
This was a photograph that I almost didn’t take. I had spent the afternoon driving along the Going-to-the-Sun road in Glacier, on the last day that it was open for the season. I had gone for a hike, photographed some waterfalls, and enjoyed a beautiful autumn day in the park. I was ready to head home and get something to eat. I came around a corner in the road and saw this view – so I decided to pull over and take a shot with my phone. With the clouds, late afternoon light brushing along the mountains, a waterfall, and the whole scene framed by fall colors I had no choice but to grab my tripod and take one more “real” photo.
Mobius Milky Way – Alabama Hills, California
This was an image I had planned almost a year in advance. A friend and I had decided that we wanted to photograph this popular arch in the Eastern Sierra with the Milky Way in the background. I knew that the stars would line up with the arch in the autumn, but I also knew that I wanted to attempt the shot at moonrise so I could get some light on Mount Whitney and Lone Pine Peak in the background. After some research I decided that October 31st would be the optimum night and we made the trip. I started capturing photos as soon as the sky got dark, and was excited to see the mountains begin to glow about half an hour before moonrise. It is very satisfying to have things actually work out as planned.
Tufa at Sunset – Mono Lake, California
Selecting this last image was a challenge. This evening at Mono Lake was beautiful and was followed by an intense sunrise at Tioga Lake the next morning. In the end I decided to go with this more serene image, before the sunset colors really took off, as my favorite. I like having a bit of the shoreline in the frame, showing some of the texture in the tufa, as well as the details in the clouds. You can see the other images that I had to choose from here.
As I noted above, while these may be my favorites they may not be everyone’s. I always appreciate any feedback in the comments and hope you all have a wonderful 2024.