The end of the year is in many ways a time for assessment, and most photographers like to look back at the year in terms of the images they made along the way. Here are my top ten photos of 2012 in chronological order. Click on images to see larger.
This is the first photo I printed that was made with my new Tokina 11-16mm lens. Is there anything better than having a new lens with which to see the world? The graffiti on the bridge is responsible for the title of this 60X40 metal print, "A Better World Is Possible". It was sold through Lovetts Gallery to a company that cleans the environment of air pollution, making it my second print sold to Air Hygiene.
This is a photo taken in the Tallgrass Prairie Preserve of the Vernal Equinox, showing the conjunction of Venus and Mars over a spectacular sunset. Quite by accident, included in the picture are what can only be termed unidentified flying objects.
The Kansas City skyline is captured in a closeup, showing an eclectic mix of old and new.
Union Station on Memorial Day was the site of a wedding party getting photographed. The youthful exuberance was a nice counterpoint to the solomn quietute of the station on this day.
Looking down on the Roaring Fork River, this shot captures the life and color of this gorgeous waterway. One of the key issues of 2012 was the tearing down of dams to release the rivers and promote the restoration of salman and other fish that once flourished in the U.S.
This is one of three more shots of the Roaring Fork. One is in a private collection placed by Lovetts Gallery, and two are 60X40 metal prints installed in Waterlaw Riverwalk in Basalt, Colorado, a law firm that argues its case for water rights in the Supreme Court this month (see "Roaring Fork", Dec. 18 and "Disturbance", Dec. 15).
Yes, I know it's dark. It's even darker when you're standing there with just the hint of Glass Mountain looming in the moonlight. But, this was my capture of the last Blue Moon of 2012. The next one is not until 2015. And it is all about the incredible moonlight. It hangs in Lovetts Gallery, a 72X28 metal print.
Dawn on the Tallgrass Prairie spills its first rays of light on the late autumn landscape devoid of all but the last leaves.
To round out my year, it seems only fitting to include just one more nightscape, "Summit Square".
My last photograph of 2012 is The Highlands, Colorado just after a snowfall at sunset. Its been a wonderful year full of good people and high times. Best wishes for 2013.
