10 Best of 2015

2015 has come to an end, and once again it’s time to look back and pick 10 favorite images from the year. After careful consideration this is the list I came up with. I hope you enjoy. If you feel I missed one, please tell me down in the comments.

This year started with a neat event in Los Angeles. To mark the anniversary of the Los Angeles Marathon, ASICS pointed 26 clusters of lights straight up to mark each mile of the course. I barely was able to complete this panorama before they turned out the lights.

On a cold morning, I woke to this gorgeous scene at Aguereberry Point high in the Panamint Mountains in Death Valley National Park back in March.

Rounding out my panoramas from the year is this beautiful sunrise from the base of the Sierras.

Continuing with my ongoing obsession with finding trees that stick out, I was ecstatic to find this spectacular red maple nestled among evergreens in Massachusetts this fall.

On a bright afternoon, stormy skies bustled around Mount Whitney, the tallest point in the Sierra Nevada and the rest of the 48 states.

This year I finally was able to go to Europe! I had an amazing trip, starting in London and going to Paris, Berlin, Munich, Venice, Pompeii, Sorrento, Amalfi, and Rome. Here is one of my all time favorite photos from the trip, showing the famous gondolas of Venice.

In another view of Venice, this time at night, a man walks along the still waters of the canals.

After my trip was completely booked, I learned that a total lunar eclipse was happening during the “supermoon” closest approach of the Moon in its orbit. I originally envisioned a shot over the pyramid of the Louvre in Paris, but found the entire courtyard area closed off at 4am. With the eclipse starting, I set off in search of a different foreground and stumbled across this Egyptian obelisk.

Manhattan Beach Pier has always been a favorite photo spot for me ever since my first visit in 1996. For years I have hoped for a great sunset there and finally caught one there.

I love lightning photos. This is why I bought a lightning trigger. However in this case my lightning trigger was thousands of miles away while I was on vacation. While staying at hotel in South Carolina, I managed to luckily capture this strike during a 10 second exposure from an incredibly energetic thunderstorm.