2016 was an eventful year for Sarah and I. We bought land in southwest Colorado in the heart of the San Juan Mountains and will shortly be building a house on it, sold our house in Denver, and moved full time into our Airstream trailer. During that time we went over 5 months (!) without taking a single photo, by far the longest stretch since we've been photographing.
Despite the "Lost Summer" we were able to get a decent amount of photography in during the rest of the year. We started the year in Death Valley, moved to the Sonoran Desert in Arizona, and then went up to Nevada and Utah during spring. After summer we spent 10 days in Iceland leading a workshop, a few weeks in the San Juan Mountains and south Utah photographing fall colors, and then spent some time along the Oregon Coast in November.
All photos I have processed from this year can be viewed on my 2016 Portfolio page, including:
- Death Valley Winter
- Southwest Spring
- Iceland Autumn
- Colorado Autumn
- Southwest Autumn
- Autumn Monochrome
- Pacific Northwest Winter
Finally, I have collected a few of my favorite photos of 2016, some of which I will include below with brief captions. You may also be interested in the 2012, 2013, 2014, and 2015 versions of this post.
Desert Gold. One of the highlights this year was the wildflower bloom at Death Valley National Park. This photo fails to convey how wonderful it smelled out here!
So That Happened. The other major highlight at Death Valley National Park this year was all the rain which flooded Badwater. This particular sunrise came out of nowhere, it was completely clear about an hour before.
Wind Rain Sand. This photo was taken the sunrise after a day of almost constant rain (not that common in Death Valley), the winds were blowing 35-50mph - creating a unique mix of rain patterns and blowing sand.
Wavy Ibex. Ibex Dunes may be my favorite in Death Valley, we were treated to some stormy light at sunset.
Beach Bubbles! Photographing these foam bubbles on Cannon Beach was quite the challenge, they would move quickly and then burst and evaporate. I was lucky to get a few sharp photos highlighting the iridescent foam.
Stormy Cannon Beach. The Pacific Northwest coast in late fall and winter is beautiful - there are often breaking storms in between the relentless rain which we were lucky to catch on this particular sunset along with some washed up foam and a well timed gull.
Mossorama. Winter trees in the forests along the Pacific Northwest coast are beautiful, especially the mossy trees with a little backlight highlighting the shapes and forms of the trees.
Shuffleboard. Mud patterns in Death Valley (reminding me of a shuffleboard table) and an approaching storm that would dump about an inch of rain later that day.
Organ Pipe Frames. Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument has some of the most pristine Sonoran Desert scenery in the United States and is the only place in the US with the namesake Organ Pipe cactus.
Colorful Blurries. Multicolored aspen leaves photographed against a colorful blurred out background. Aspen leaves in fall can be all sorts of colors, not just the common yellow and gold.
Organ Pipe Fuzzies. Backlit Saguaro and red-fringed Organ Pipe cactus. The Sonoran Desert is called the green desert for a reason!
Ocean Motion. A nice sunset on the famous beach in Vik, Iceland
Classic Zion. The famous Watchman framed by colorful autumn Cottownwood trees and surrounded by lush desert vegetation.
Last Leaves. Bare aspens in front of the last autumn foliage of the year.
Saguaro Forest. Saguaro, cholla, and green octotillo frame a hillside in the Sonoran Desert in Arizona.