2024 Favorites

Looking back at my favorite photos from this past year, it is clear that I spent quite a bit of time standing around in the dark. Six of my ten favorites were taken at night and four of those included at least some amount of aurora. The photographic highlight of my year was my trip to the Lofoten Islands in Norway in February. This year’s collection also includes images from my usual haunts in Yosemite, Glacier and the Mendocino coast. Here are my favorite photos from 2024, presented in the order they were captured.

Reine Panorama

I don’t take many panoramas, but this scene at sunrise in Reine really seemed to call for one. For this image I stitched together 6 photographs that were captured as I panned my camera to create a highly detailed file. This was a beautiful, clear morning after a snowstorm and the soft color in the sky combined with the mountains and the area’s iconic red buildings appealed to me. As it turned out, this image garnered more social media activity than any of my other, arguably more dramatic, photos from my Norwegian trip.

Skagsanden Aurora

Speaking of dramatic, this was the brightest aurora I observed while in Norway. I had been in the Lofoten Islands for almost a week without having had a good chance to photograph the Northern Lights. The forecast was strong for this evening and the skies were clear, so I drove to Skagsanden beach with its wide open view of the sky to maximize my chances. The tide was low, allowing me to set up on ice-covered sand that provided a great reflection of the show in the sky. The mountain in the background was lit by a nearby village.

Hamnøy Aurora

This was taken on the same evening as the previous photo. I had spent five nights in one of the red “rorbuer” (traditional fishing huts converted for tourist lodging) in the foreground hoping to capture a scene like this from the bridge overlooking Hamnøy. I photographed this view many times during both day and night and managed to just catch a glimpse of color in the sky. I eventually left the area to explore other parts of the Lofoten Islands, but the strong aurora activity on this night drew me back. After deciding I was satisfied with my shots at Skagsanden beach, I made the 30 minute drive back to Hamnøy and set up in my favorite spot on the bridge. The sky was dark when I arrived, but the lights soon re-appeared and slowly climbed over the mountain and filled the sky with green waves.

Storsandnes Sunrise

After staying up late the night before, I chose a nearby location to photograph sunrise – just 10 minutes from where I was staying. It is a good thing that the nights are long in Norway this time of year as getting up for sunrise would have otherwise been a struggle. I was treated to a scene with much of what makes Lofoten so photogenic: beaches, mountains, snow covered rocks, and turquoise waters. The colorful sunrise pulled everything together and I especially liked the warm side-light on the mountains in the distance.

Lake McDonald Stars

I had scouted this spot on the north shore of Lake McDonald earlier in the day, hoping it would give me a good view of the Milky Way stretching over the Rocky Mountains. I drove into the park in the dark with clear skies, donned my waders to cross a stream (rather than hike through the forest alone), and made my way to this view. The Milky Way appeared just where I had planned, but I was also treated to the beginning of an aurora storm that would dominate the (cloudier) skies on the next night.

Bowling Balls and Stars

Bowling Ball Beach is a popular location with photographers, and crowds of people are often crawling over its namesake rocks when conditions are nice (which isn’t often on the rugged Mendocino Coast). As it turns out, photographing at 2am is a great way to avoid those crowds. The rocks are best photographed at low tide, with just enough water to keep the scene from being dry but not so much as to cover the rocks or put your camera in the surf zone. On this evening, the tides aligned with moonset which provided the warm side-light on the rocks and cliffs. The stars filling the sky completed the scene.

Iceberg Lake Trail

I had wanted to make the hike to Iceberg Lake for several years but hadn’t yet managed it since every time I had an opportunity, the trail was closed either due to ice or bear activity. Things finally worked out this summer and I started up the trail in the early morning, accompanied by a nice cloud of mosquitos. The views just kept getting nicer as I climbed and I stopped several times to take some photos. This was my favorite, with some flowers in the foreground and the circle of mountains surrounding Iceberg Lake in the background.

St. Mary Lake and Stars

This view from the Wild Goose Island lookout is one of the most iconic in the state of Montana. I had attempted this photograph in the past, but wind and smoke had made it less successful than I had hoped. On this visit I had clear skies and nice conditions to capture the Milky Way over St. Mary Lake. As an added benefit, aurora activity that night add a purple “STEVE” (Strong Thermal Emission Velocity Enhancement) pointing toward the stars.

Reverse Tunnel View Stars and Comet

This was another photograph where I had planned the scene and then an unexpected visitor crashed the party. In this case I was looking to take advantage of clear skies in Yosemite to photograph the Milky Way over an unusual view of the valley. I found my spot along the 4-mile trail and the Milky Way was moving nicely into the gap between the mountains when I noticed that Comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS was pointing toward the face of El Capitan. I have more images that I captured after the comet moved out of the scene and with the stars centered, but I definitely thought this one was more interesting.

Lee Vining Creek

While driving out of Yosemite toward Mono Lake, I saw a lot of fall color below me along Lee Vining Creek. I made the turnoff and made my way back up the canyon, stopping along the way to look for compositions that I liked. This curve in the creek caught my eye immediately and then I spent about half an hour trying to find the best way to show the colorful trees along its shore. This vertical composition was my favorite as it featured the aspen trunk and yellow leaves in the foreground.

Happy New Year to you all. May 2025 bring many blessings to you and your families.