My Top Ten Images From 2012!

Every year I look back at the images I have taken and choose ten of my favorites. I don't base this on how well they sold or how much they were liked on social media. They are just images I like. Images where I feel that I successfully captured with my camera the essence of the scene that was offered to me. They are in the order that I took them with a little story about each one. I hope you enjoy viewing them as much as I enjoyed taking them.

"The Margaret Hunt Hill Bridge Cable Design"

Early March found me attending the celebration of the opening of the Margaret Hunt Hill Bridge in Dallas. It would be the last chance for the public to walk around on the bridge before it opens to vehicle traffic. The graphic nature of the arch and the cables make the bridge a real treat for a photographer. I shot a lot of images that I was happy with but this black and white is probably my favorite of the graphic ones.

"The Margaret Hunt Hill Bridge Fireworks  #1"

At 9 p.m. a fireworks display was planned. I was told about where they would shoot them but it was still a little bit of a guess as to the best location to photograph them from. Fortunately I set up and composed in just the right spot. I was pleased with many of the Firework images but the red, white, and blue theme of this one made it stand out.

"Flooded River Reflections"

Several weeks after the bridge celebration, the Trinity River flooded. I definitely wanted some good shots of the lighted bridge reflected in the river. I spent two evenings shooting the river at dusk. One of the last compositions on the second evening turned out to be the favorite.

"Field of Dreams"

The wildflowers in Texas were great this spring but they did peak out several weeks earlier than I ever remember. I saw a photograph of a field another photographer had taken just south of Dallas near Ennis. It was already being called the "Field of Dreams". Several days later I made the short drive to Ennis and got this image at sunset.

"Annular Eclipse Sunset"

On May 20th there was going to be an Annular Eclipse. The "Ring of Fire" would not be visible from my home but I determined that I should be able to see the eastern edge of the eclipse in Roscoe, Texas. After driving around the Roscoe Wind Farm I finally stopped at this location for my photography. Fortunately the clouds moved out of the way enough so I could capture the sun just as it hit the horizon. A few minutes later it was all gone. This is one of the most interesting photos I have seen from the eclipse.

"Energy"

During the last week of July I was driving to Ruidoso, New Mexico for an art show. As my brother and I drove towards Brownfield, Texas, we noticed some lightning up ahead. It was also close to sunset and we were looking for something to photograph. We had been driving awhile and needed a break anyway. After locating a pump jack for some fore ground interest, we spent the next hour shooting the lightning. It put on quite a show.

"Oklahoma Sky"

This image is another one which was created while traveling to or from an art show. In early September I was driving home from the Arts Festival Oklahoma. With no moonlight on a clear night, I took a quick detour into a scenic overlook north of Ardmore, Oklahoma just to check out the stars. It was very hard to see but when I noticed the windmill on the hilltop, I decided I better get out the camera and take some pictures.

"Pink Skies Over Bryce Canyon"

A few weeks ago my wife and I traveled out west to several of our favorite places. I was blessed with great sunrises for two mornings at Bryce Canyon National Park. It was hard to choose the best one of the bunch.

"Wagon and Old House in Morning Light"

While driving back to the hotel after shooting the sunrise, I noticed that the great clouds and sky were still with me. A last quick stop at this old wagon and house was definitely worth it.

"Evening Light Over Cathedral Gorge"

During our trip out west we drove up to Cathedral Gorge State Park. It is a small park near Panaca, Nevada. The area had received a little snow the day before. Hiking around in the wet mud was not much  fun but the snow which hadn't melted yet sure made for some nice images. The following morning was cloudy and drizzly so I am grateful for my afternoon of good light at the Gorge.

Happy New Year to everyone! I hope you have a great 2013!

The Annular Solar Eclipse

The western United States enjoyed an Annular Solar Eclipse on May 20th. I didn't even know there was going to be an eclipse until four days before it was to occur. After learning what an Annular Solar Eclipse was I started making plans. The Dallas area where I live was not going to be able to see the full eclipse because the sun would set before it reached its maximum. The news was saying that the full eclipse could be seen as far east as Lubbock, Texas but the maps actually showed that limit to be southeast of Lubbock about 100 miles. My wish was to photograph the peak of the eclipse as the sun set and include some interesting landscape with it. I decided that the wind farm near Roscoe, Texas may fit the bill.

I sent an email to several friends to see if they were interested in shooting the eclipse. Dan was stuck at home babysitting the neighbors bulldog but Gary wanted to go. We left Gary's house around 1:30 to make the four hour drive to Roscoe. I had used a computer program, The Photographer's Ephemeris, to map out a couple of likely locations and we should have plenty of time to scout them out. TPE  uses Google Earth to show the time and direction of sunrises and sunsets from any location and we ended up shooting very near a spot I had scouted with the software. The eclipse started about 7:45pm.  Even after the moon had covered up a large percentage of the sun, it was still hard to notice it. The sun remained very bright during the whole event and didn't seem to dim much at all until it was setting.

When I took the top image it was still so bright that a very short exposure was needed in order to show the detail of the moon and sun. It also stopped the turning blades on the wind turbines and turned them into silhouettes. That was nice! The next two images are very similar except for the sun. I knew the timing of the full eclipse would be close to sunset but I didn't really know just how close. The above image shows the sun just above the horizon and the full "Ring of Fire" is not yet visible. The bottom image was shot 44 seconds after the first and the full "Ring of Fire" would be visible if part of the sun had not already dropped below the horizon. Part of me is disappointed that we didn't get to see and photograph the full "Ring of Fire", but then again it was pretty cool!