Best of 2013

In terms of the images I produced, 2013 was an unusual year for me. Over the course of most years, I shoot a wide variety of nature images. But 2013, like the title of the book I just completed, was for me the Year of the Eagle. Easily two-thirds of my images were about bald eagles as I worked hard to fill gaps in the story I wanted to tell.

But the year wasn't just about bald eagles. I made my third trip to Iceland. While there, I photographed the inside of an old volcano's magma chamber, the only known one in the world people can climb inside. I also got to capture an incredible northern lights display perfectly reflecting in a lake that is normally quite choppy. I also worked hard to capture beauty close to home.

In the end, I think my annual best-of collection is still quite varied. Here are a few of my favorite images of 2013:

Waterfalls without falling water

Is a waterfall still a waterfall if the water is frozen in place?

Inside a volcano

There are about 1,500 volcanoes on land — and even more underwater — but only one that you can truly climb inside.

You don't see northern lights like these

I’ve seen the northern lights a number of times in the North Cascades of Washington state, but when I was presented with an opportunity to see them near the Arctic Circle, I knew I had to take advantage of it.

Pools of gold

It’s impossible for me to pick a favorite part of Iceland, so I’m not even going to try. I’ve probably been to Geysir, however, more than any other part.

A note about this blog

After much thought, instead of scrapping this blog entirely, I’ve decided to change its focus.

From time to time, I’m going to post some of my favorite fine-art images and talk about what they mean to me. I'm going to try to post one a month, similar to my former schedule. I will start later today with an image from Iceland, which helped reignite my passion for photography.

Please let me know what you think of this new format.

If you like it, support it

“Tony's restaurant is closed? I loved that place. I hadn't been there in a while, but their food was amazing.”

Ever said something like that? I'm guilty, too. This post is about how “Tony” must have felt.

Letting nature tell its own story

It has never been easier for a nature photographer to create an image that they imagined in their head. No Photoshop required.

Long and short on teleconverters

When you're a wildlife photographer working in a public park, the equipment you use undoubtedly draws attention. This summer, I've been documenting the development of a pair of young bald eagles. To get the images I need without disturbing the birds, I've been using a 600mm lens – a 13-pound monster of a lens that has a front element only slightly smaller than a dinner plate.

A small number of people come up and ask me questions about the birds. Many, many more grill me about my equipment. The vast majority say something like, "I bet you can see every nose hair with that." I cannot. In terms of magnification, the lens falls in between a pair of binoculars and a birder's spotting scope. The lens is physically big because it lets a lot of light in allowing me to capture action images at high resolution.

It's the second most common question that I'm going to address in this blog post. It comes from amateur photographers who want to know about my use of a teleconverter with this lens.

Nesting season is for the birds

All birds lay eggs, but where they care for them and how their young develop can be remarkably different from species to species. This spring, I've been watching several families of birds.

Adobe Creative Cloud and greedy sports teams

Adobe and I go way back. I don't remember the first copy of Photoshop I bought, but it was in the early `90s. I want to say it was version 4.0. And I've been buying its design program, InDesign, since way back when it was known as Aldus Pagemaker. For the past three upgrade cycles, I've bought licenses to Adobe's Master Collection, essentially licenses to every design application it makes. Before that, I often upgraded to its Design Collection.

So, like most everyone else on the Internet it seems, I was furious when Adobe announced this week that it will no longer let you buy its products. Now, with the Adobe Creative Cloud, you can only rent them.

Lions, tigers and manual exposure

There is something that strikes fear straight into the heart of most photographers and it's not a close encounter with a wild bear or a dangerous cliff. It's the manual exposure mode of their cameras.