A Few Favorite Photos from 2016 (Sarah)

Every year, Jim Goldstein publishes an extensive collection of “best photos of the year” posts from photographers. I always enjoy looking through the entries and finding inspiration from photographers who are new to me. This year, I have been struggling a bit to pull together my own collection of photos to submit for Jim’s blog project. As is my tradition, I am nowhere near finished with processing my photos from this year, which makes it difficult to pull together a collection of favorites. Still, I felt motivated by Jim's submission deadline to pull together this post. 

This post includes only a small collection of the photos I took or processed in 2016. If you would like a see a more complete collection representing our year of travels and photography, you should view Ron’s photos here. He is much better about keeping up with his processing than I am, so his collection includes photos from all of the places we visited this year plus a little update about our travels. 

Since I spent a good portion of 2016 working on my new black and white photography ebook + video course, most of the photos I processed this year are in black and white. Thus, it seems appropriate to start this post with some of my recent black and white photos. You will also see Death Valley National Park well respresented in this collection. We both started and ended 2016 in this park, which is one of our favorite places to visit. 

Thank you for your continued support of our photography! Happy New Year and best wishes for 2017. 

An incoming storm over large mud tiles in Death Valley National Park.

An incoming storm over large mud tiles in Death Valley National Park.

Patterns in seaweed in a tidal flat on the Snaefellsnes Peninsula in Iceland.

Patterns in seaweed in a tidal flat on the Snaefellsnes Peninsula in Iceland.

The setting sun illuminates these cactus from behind, making them appear to be glowing. Organ Pipe National Monument in Arizona, near the Mexican border.

The setting sun illuminates these cactus from behind, making them appear to be glowing. Organ Pipe National Monument in Arizona, near the Mexican border.

The last light of the day illuminates a ridge on remote sand dunes in Death Valley National Park.

The last light of the day illuminates a ridge on remote sand dunes in Death Valley National Park.

One of Death Valley National Park's many surreal landscapes.

One of Death Valley National Park's many surreal landscapes.

I took most of these photos in 2015 but assembled them as a collection in 2016, so I am sharing them here. All of these photos were taken in Oregon.

I took most of these photos in 2015 but assembled them as a collection in 2016, so I am sharing them here. All of these photos were taken in Oregon.

A clearing storm allowed a bit of light to peek through and illuminate these colorful mountains in Iceland's remote Landmannalaugar region.

A clearing storm allowed a bit of light to peek through and illuminate these colorful mountains in Iceland's remote Landmannalaugar region.

Pastel badlands at twilight in Death Valley National Park.

Pastel badlands at twilight in Death Valley National Park.

Iceland's characteristic green mountains reflect in a large lake in the Landmannalaugar region.

Iceland's characteristic green mountains reflect in a large lake in the Landmannalaugar region.

A colorful mix of fall foliage in Colorado's San Juan Mountains.

A colorful mix of fall foliage in Colorado's San Juan Mountains.

Favorite Images of 2012

Note: Thank you to everyone who left a kind comment on the original version of this post.  I lost all of the comments in a transition to this blog format but I appreciated all of them. One of the things I enjoy most about the end of the year is seeing “favorite images” lists from the photographers I follow. I always find it interesting to see where people have traveled and how their work has progressed. For me, 2011 was the first year I thought I had anything to share. I looked back at that group of photos yesterday and, at least from my perspective, saw quite a bit of progress in my own work. For the first time, I am able to look at some of my own photos and actually like what I see.

I attribute a lot of this progress to being able to spend significant time on photography this year, which has been incredibly fulfilling and a lot of fun. For the last few years, I have wanted to spend some extended time traveling with a focus on photography but just could not find a way to make it happen. In early 2012, that opportunity unexpectedly appeared when I started traveling a lot with Ron Coscorrosa. Ron, a very talented landscape photographer, is about a year and a half into a temporary retirement and for most of this year, I have had the good fortune to join him on nearly all of his trips.

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