As 2020 comes to a close, it is time to select my favorite images from the year. Needless to say, it has been an interesting year. Like many other people, I had to cancel several planned trips and I got used to spending a lot more time at home. For the early part of the year, my photographic endeavors were limited to taking macro shots at home and some flower photos in my neighborhood. As the year went on, I managed some day (night?) trips to photograph the stars before making the decision to invest in some property in Montana. All of the photos shared below were captured within driving distance of my home bases in Northern California and Northwest Montana.
Eagle Falls and Stars
One advantage of having so many things shut down this year was a reduction in light pollution for capturing images at night. I had wanted to attempt an image like this for a long time and finally decided to give it a shot, taking advantage of the fact that the casinos in South Lake Tahoe were closed. I drove up to Tahoe in the afternoon, arriving just before sunset so I could figure out where to set up. I used a star tracker for this image, which helps the stars to be really sharp but can be tricky for processing.
Point Arena Neowise
The comet Neowise was an unexpected treat this year. I had captured an image I like just down the street from my house, but wanted something a little more interesting. I decided that I should be able to see the comet above the Point Arena Lighthouse just after sunset one night, assuming that the skies were clear (never a sure thing up there). The comet ended up a little further from the lighthouse than I wanted, necessitating a wide lens to get the whole scene and leaving the comet smaller than I’d hoped. I was still really happy to head home with something unique though!
Hidden Lake and Stars
As you can tell at this point, shooting at night had become my favorite way to get out and take pictures this year while staying away from other people. We also took working from home to a new level by renting a house near Glacier National Park for much of the summer. I drove into the park one evening, hoping to be able to capture the Milky Way above Hidden Lake while the landscape was lit by the setting moon. I hiked to the viewpoint at sunset and then waited a couple of hours for everything to move into place. The trail had recently been closed due to bear activity which added a good sense of adventure to the evening.
Avalanche Creek
The Trail of the Cedars is one of the most popular hikes in Glacier National Park. Most of the hike is along a boardwalk through a cedar forest, but the point where the trail loops back toward the parking lot is also the beginning of a trail along Avalanche Creek. The creek in this area falls through a narrow gorge that provides a lot of photographic opportunities. I spent quite a bit of time in this area just before sunrise and settled on this view as my favorite.
Great Horned Owl
Owls are probably my favorite kind of bird and I had never had an opportunity to photograph them. A friend of mine found some near his home in San Francisco and I joined him one afternoon to see if I could catch one with my camera. After wandering around for an hour and seeing nothing, it was almost time to give up. Suddenly this owl landed in the tree right next to us and posed for over half an hour. I shot many images that could have been favorites, but I like how the owl fills the frame in this one while staring right through me.
Stornetta Rocks
The Stornetta Public Lands near Point Arena, California have some really nice hiking trails along the rocky coastline. It is an area I’ve explored many times with my father and I particularly like this rock formation. I hiked out before dawn hoping to get some nice morning light. While the sunrise wasn’t particularly spectacular, I ended up really liking the atmosphere created by the cloudy sky and how it balanced the water.
Bowling Ball Stars
This is another scene that I had been looking to capture for a while. I’ve made several attempts over the years, but something (usually the weather) always went wrong. While Bowling Ball Beach has a lot of these large boulders, not all of them are particularly photogenic. I picked out a group that I liked before dark and set up my camera so the Milky Way would appear between them. The skies stayed clear and I finally managed to get my shot.
Avalanche Creek and Snow
I made my way back to Avalanche Creek in the fall, just after a nice snow storm. I went further up the trail passed the gorge this time and found this scene. I really liked the combination of red rocks, water, green trees and fresh snow. I ended up cutting off the mountains in the background to better focus on the details in the creek.
Sacred Dancing Sunset
Sometimes things are just a little too easy. I enjoyed shooting the Sacred Dancing Cascade several times this year as well as hiking the trail along McDonald Creek. When I arrived in the area on this evening, I made my way through the snow trying to get near the waterfall (as I tend to do) but wasn’t particularly happy with any compositions I could come up with. I climbed back up to the trail and the bridge crossing the creek and decided the view from there was perfect – a nice view of the falls, the snow covered mountains, the trees, and even some light from sunset. Sometimes easy is the way to go.
Golden Gate and Pyramid
This is another image that I had wanted to shoot for quite a while. From the right spot on the Marin Headlands, you can center the Transamerica pyramid within the top opening of the Golden Gate Bridge’s North tower. I parked before dawn and started walking along the road. In the darkness I wasn’t able to make out the pyramid. I ended up taking some pictures and looking carefully at the images on the back of my camera to figure out where it was. I eventually made it to the right spot just as the light from the sunrise was nicely balanced with the lights in the city.
Looking back through the year I can see that my favorite photos don’t have as much diversity as I would normally like, but this makes sense as I stayed close to home. I did take advantage of that, though, to shoot some scenes that had been in my mind for several years. Feel free to comment below on your favorites as well as anything positive that you learned in 2020. I’ll leave you with a bonus image below that sums up the year for me.
