Landscape, Nature and Travel Photography

It’s been a great year for photography and as the year closes out I thought it would be fun to select my favorite photos from the year. I had a tough time narrowing things down so here they are…

Honorable Mentions:

	Honorable Mention #6: Los Angeles Sunrise This was one of the most dynamic cityscape I took this year, but as much as I liked it compared to some other photos taken this year it didn’t make the top 10. Mentioned in Dueling California Sunrise Photos
	Honorable Mention #5: Last Light On Half Dome, Yosemite This was one of the few super-telephoto landscape photos I took this year. The dramatic atmosphere and lighting made this a standout for me. Mentioned in Last Light on Half Dome, Yosemite and EXIF and Beyond: State of the Podcast
	Honorable Mention #4: Out of the Gloom II Strangely this photo caught my eye the second time looking through the results of my photo shoot. In retrospect for the year its nearly one of my top 10 favorites. Mentioned in Always Check Your Seconds: Out of the Gloom II: Golden Gate Bridge and Fog
	Honorable Mention #3: San Francisco Oil Spill This was the last thing I wanted to photograph this year, but this photo struck a nerve with a lot of people not just myself. It’s been picked up by the Sierra Club and couple of other local publication. Lets hope 2008 is a better year for the environment. Mentioned in Rodeo Beach Sunset, A San Francisco Oil Spill Casualty
	Honorable Mention #2 San Francisco With the right combination of weather and lighting I was able to capture this view of San Francisco just after sunset. I still can’t believe this didn’t make the top 10, but it’s still one of my favorites from the year.
	Honorable Mention #1 Refinery I As soon as I started to drive past this refinery I knew the exact shot I wanted to capture. I didn’t quite get it the first time out, but the second time passing through the area I got it thanks to the perfect weather and lighting conditions. Mentioned in Photographer’s Rights: Know Them When In The Field

My Top 10 Favorite Photos of 2007:

#10: Rodeo Beach Sunset

Mentioned in Rodeo Beach Sunset, A San Francisco Oil Spill Casualty

#9: Reflecting Art, Crown Fountain

Mentioned in More From Chicago - Reflecting Art

#8: Speed - Blue Angels, San Francisco Fleet Week 2007

Mentioned in Blue Angels, San Francisco Fleet Week 2007 - Part III

#7: American Kestral (Falco sparverius)

Mentioned in American Kestrel in Flight

#6: Aspen Canopy & Horsetails

Mentioned in Horsetail and Aspen Fall Color View

#5: Chicago, A Beans Eye View (Cloud Gate Reflection)

Mentioned in Chicago, A Beans Eye View

#4: Snowy Trees Yosemite

Mentioned in Snowy Trees, Yosemite National Park

#3: Between You, Me and the Trees

Mentioned in Morning Sunlight & Fog - Between You, Me and the Trees

#2: Coyote (Canis latrans) III

Mentioned in Coyote Encounter

#1: Yosemite Sunset Breaking Light

Mentioned in EXIF and Beyond: Yosemite Winter Photos
and Yosemite Sunset Breaking Light

Thanks for checking in on my Top 10 Favorites for 2007. The photos are only half the equation of what has made this a great year for photography. The other and most important half has been everyone’s support whether you read my blog, like you do, or have to put up with me on a daily basis like my friends and wife have… this year wouldn’t have been nearly as great with out you. Thanks and have a great 2008!

Technorati Tags: photography, landscape, nature, wildlife, cityscape, travel, photos, Yosemite, coyote, fog, snow, trees, Chicago, cloud gate, aspen, fall color, kestrel, birding, blue angels, fleet week, San Francisco, crown fountain, rodeo beach, environmental, environment, refinery, oil spill, smokestack, Golden Gate Bridge, Los Angeles, skyline, cityscape, Half Dome

No matter what type of photography interests you, whether its landscape photography, nature photography, street photography, people photography or any other type of photography its essential to always be prepared. Over the years I’ve learned that being prepared is itself an art form. The art of preparedness is seldom just a generic chore and can require quite a bit of creative thought. Read more… »

Sometimes the most generic scenes can surprise you with how photogenic they can be. Case in point is this fence lined with buoys on a very drab overcast day. This scene did not grab my attention initially, but at the urge of a friend we explored this a little further. I’m glad we did. Being pushed a little to explore helped me see something that I would have otherwise missed.

Technorati Tags: buoy, fence, photo, shipyard, Washington, San Juan Islands

There’s not an exotic story behind this image. Fond of the color, textures and lines I decided to photograph these rocks. In post-processing I decided, as much as I liked the color, it was the textures and lines that carried this image.

Technorati Tags: river, rock, black and white, B&W, conversion, digital, photography, photo

This weekend, while on my way to the San Juan Islands with friends, I had a predictable run in with security while photographing a refinery in Washington state. Post-9/11 it’s pretty well known that as a photographer you’re likely to be harassed by “security” when photographing certain subjects such as refineries, bridges, airports, etc. Mind you during this incident we were on public property and hardly looked menacing. Three white yuppies with expensive looking cameras and tripods pointing up towards a smoke stack about 300 yards from the refinery’s main gate.

With in 5-10 minutes a security truck pulled up with a lone security guard asking what we were doing. Clearly we were taking photos, but I didn’t have a chance to spout off that remark. Before I could, the question that surprised us and pissed us off the most was, “Can I see your ID please?” Mind you this was asked while the security guard noted the cars license plate number and began circling our vehicle.

So why did we get so aggravated? Clearly the security guard is just doing his job. I’ve been told on my travels, thanks to airport security / TSA, that the security level is now orange. The constant reminder of a “High Risk of Terrorist Attacks” has been ample reason to justify a variety of changes in how and what we must do to travel. The reason for the aggravation is that increasingly in the name of security photographers are harassed and pressed in ways that increasingly prey on the uninformed… all for doing their job or the pursuit of their hobby. I’m not sure I can think of another profession or hobby that endures the same level of scrutiny and harassment.

Most frustrating is that those harassing photographers in the name of security are often rude, act like bullies, are trained to intimidate photographers into providing information that is illegal to demand and have an unchecked ability to exploit security paranoia to bring authorities into the mix for completely legal activity.

In this case there was no escalation of conflict. We knew our rights and we refused to provide our ID. Why would we possibly offer that up? We were on public land, photographing a structure clearly seen from afar and confronted for ID by someone that was not authorized to. As before with my article on Copyright protection a photographer must educate themselves to the law. As it stands the law still protects the rights of photographers, but only so far as a photographer’s knowledge of those protections.

By the time we were approached we had nearly completed our spontaneous shoot of a very interesting smoke stack. Out of principle we didn’t stick around photographing the refinery as we had a ferry to catch. We did swing by for a second shoot on our way back and we saw our “friend” the security guard again. This time only in passing as we were heading in opposite directions and randomly stopping to photograph a gigantic group of herons on the surrounding mud flats along with another perspective of the very photogenic refinery smoke stacks.

With all that being said… learn your rights, be professional and get your shot.

Photographers Rights Pamphlet - A Downloadable Flyer Explaining Your Rights When Stopped or Confronted for Photography

No Photography - No Common Sense! - An entertaining rant by Jeff Schwartz on posted signs “No Photography” in New York city and Washington D.C.

Technorati Tags: security, photography, photographer’s rights, photo, photograph, refinery, TSA, 9/11, paranoia, terrorism, terror

It’s taking more time than anticipated, but photos are being added to my Photo A Day page. Check in and check it out

This past weekend I had the good fortune of being in Washington state. One of the few day trips I took was out to La Conner. This was an amazing area, but unfortunately the weather was less than ideal. An incoming storm front made it quite difficult to capture much of anything thanks to winds of up to 40 MPH and dark storm clouds. None the less my pursuit of snow geese in the farm fields ended successfully just as I was about to leave after giving up. In the process of positioning myself to photograph the thousands of birds an army helicopter buzzed the field agitating the birds, sending them all airborne. The birds circled around for a while until the helicopter left the area. The result was a great photo opportunity (3 images below)…

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