My Top 12 of 2024

A photographer whom I know and respect recently talked about how sometimes you feel up's and downs. Droughts in his creativity, is actually more on par with what he said, but the idea is about the same. Over the past year I have felt so many up's and downs, droughts and moments of creation. So when I set out to create my list of top 10, I figured I would hit that and not go much further. But after doing some thinking I expanded it to 12 to match the total months and to give me some wiggle.

Now none of these images were particularly great sellers, though a few of them have sold. In addition, I think these images are reflective of moments that were of particular worth to me. They are also not in any particular order, of most favorite to least favorite. They exist in their own right and that is enough.

# 12 Bridge Mountain of Madness

For a person who has done photography for as long as I have, I should know to wait until sunset. I of course began to back out simply because the whole scene was socked in with clouds and I could barely see the mountain. So after giving up on sunset, I began hiking back to the trail head. Then I looked over my shoulder and saw the growing color in the sky. I of course ran back huffing and puffing all the way to the overlook and was greeted with this brilliant banner of color streaming from behind Bridge Mountain. I got a few nice images here this evening, but this one stands out as being one of my favorite.

#11- Deer Trap Mountain Lightning.

10 years ago I said I was going to photograph a lightning bolt over the West Temple. Well I finally did it. Though I technically said I wanted a lightning bolt and a rainbow, but not everyone can catch rainbows. I don't particularly like standing on the rims of canyons while lightning is dropping, I stood here praying I wasn't going to get struck by lightning, and in the end I captured one of my favorite images of the year. Then came a 6 mile walk back in the rain and dark to make it a better adventure. Did I mention the carcass of a deer that was munched on by a mountain lion?

#10- Shades of Fall, Escalante

This image marks a moment as my first workshop I have run as a photographer. Not only were gifted some very nice fall colors. So yes if you are wondering I have permits for taking people to the Grand Staircase.

#9- Comet Over the Desert

This image is a bit special. Not only is it the first successful comet I have ever photographed, but it marks one of the final celestial events I needed to photograph to round out my Joshua Tree Collection of images. On top of that I got do do this with my family which was a nice change for once. More often then not I am by my self these days.

#8- Double Rainbow Mesa Verde

This next part if from the original write up I did for the post. I think it captures the idea the best. Safe to say it was kind of a scary moment but one full of excitement.

My phone was buzzing with warning of flash floods for the local town of Cortez, then I entered the national park and I lost all cell service. Sometimes crap weather is crap weather, other times its the catalyst to epic conditions. As we drove further into the park the dark clouds ahead were building and the lightning was beginning to flash. Soon after arriving to the cliff palace the first bands of rain began to pound us so we ran away and hid in the car. We drove around a bit but soon realized the double rainbow appearing over the tree line would probably line back up with the cliff palace. So with a pep to my step I zipped back to the cliff palace and had one of the scariest/greatest photoshoots I have had in years. The lightning was rumbling and dropping just up canyon. The wind and rain was blowing into my lens making photographing painfully difficult. In the end though, I think I got one of the coolest images of the Cliff Palace I have ever seen... Well at least one with a rainbow.

#7 Rainbow Over The West Temple

I have dreamed of this shot for years, though the result was a bit lack luster. The rainbow over the temple was something I had hoped for for so long and if finally happened on this morning. There was only a small shaft of light that came through illuminating the mountain and the rainbow, but in the end it was a really cool experience.

#6- Kolob Double Rainbow

A little over 10 years ago I began my photographic journey in the Kolob Canyons of Zion National Park. My first images of Kolob were not spectacular but were a start that helped me understand how to use my camera. Flash forward 10 years, I find myself getting a photo the encapsulates a decade of knowledge and experience. This photo came about through dedicated planning, watching radar and understanding how light moves across the region. On top of that, I had gear that had improved by leaps and bounds from those early days. I don' t fear getting my equipment wet. So as I stood there getting drizzled on, my only fear was lightning, not failure.

#5- Fish Hook

I simply have not photographed many sand dunes in my days. A few here and there and nothing like the sand dunes in Death Valley. So on this trip I was rewarded with a lot of really cool sand patterns and shapes to work with. Not only that, I was able to meet up with Brie Stockwell by pure happenstance. This image was one of my favorite images to work on and was surprisingly difficult to get it right were I wanted it. Mostly I wanted to bring out that texture in the sand where you could really see those cool light dark patterns across the dune.

#4- Devils Golf Course Sunrise

I actually photographed this with a gentleman I met while out in Death Valley, so that was kind of cool, but the thing that makes this image stand out was the fact that I came into this spot with no idea with I was getting into. I didn't know I would find these cool salt stream bottoms slinking their way into the salt flats. On top of that there was a full moon setting beyond the peaks. Even though the air was crips and quite nippy, this was a beautiful sunrise with lots of soft colors and wonderful light.

#3 Kinesava Aurora

This might actually go down as my favorite image of 2024. Now that we have been approaching solar maximum there has been a lot of solar flares that have lit up the night sky across the world, and this one happen to light up all the way down to Zion. Though as far south as I am, I wasn't going to get the brilliant beams of light like you get up north. Instead I got skies of pink and red. To the naked eye, the color was difficult to see, but definitely there. Now not only did I have an Aurora, I had a moon to light up the landscape resulting in this kind of crazy nightscape of an image where the sky is pink and red and the ground is diffuse with crimson. Not only that the clouds nicely mirrored the ground for me resulting in a nice framing effect in the sky. This is a photo that doesn't match any home, but I love it.

#2 Horseshoe Bend

This image was preceded by a pretty crappy art show. A storm had blown through and it scared away the vendors and visitors and nearly broke my tent. I barely made any money on the show and in the end it was a total flop. But because the show sucked so bad, the show host pulled some strings for me and allowed me to go into horseshoe bend for free. So after the short hike into the overlook, I was graced with this scene of a setting sun and a cloud bank that would be nicely underlit as the sun dropped below the horizon. It was one of those views I knew would be awesome. So in order to pull of the image, I wanted to do something slightly different and framed the far side bend with cliff walls. I ended up really liking this one.

#1- Big Bend.

This image shouldn't be nearly as loved by me as it it. I just like it. I like the colors, the smooth water and the curve of the river. In my book it has a lot going for me. This photo also capped off my fall photography for 2024 and my photography for the year as well. I only took one more image after this, and that was in Joshua Tree National Park while I was out doing an art show over there.