January has slipped into February, and it’s time to share a selection of my photographs from the previous year. Some photographers post their previous “year’s best” at the beginning of the new year, but it takes me longer to figure out which images make the cut. This year, as in recent years, the process began in November with the selection of a dozen images for my photography guild’s end-of-year slide show. These are selected rather quickly, and both the process and selections served only as a starting point for my final choices.
2022 was a transitional year in a couple of ways. We emerged from two years of pandemic-induced isolation to begin traveling in groups for photography again. In the spring I participated in a long-postponed workshop in Joshua Tree National Park that focused on infrared (IR) photography, and in the fall we returned to Iceland for a third time on a photographic journey with old friends. In between these trips we made a personal transition — buying a new home in Washington, selling a home in Nevada, followed by packing, moving, unpacking, and settling in to our new place.
Here, then, are ten images from my photographic year, presented in chronological order. As in the past couple of years, most of them are black and white and a significant number reflect my continuing engagement with IR photography.
Night Vision
One of the emphases of the workshop in Joshua Tree National Park was pre-dawn IR photography, taking advantages of moonlight to “light-paint” the landscape. This photograph, taken before sunrise as the sky was brightening and the stars had faded, illustrates the unique mood and tonality of images illuminated by infrared light. This is my single favorite image of the year.
2. Alien Planet
This photograph is also from Joshua Tree but was taken a bit earlier in the morning with the stars still visible. Here the moonlight provides high-contrast illumination of the rocks, creating an otherworldly scene.
3. Mt. Shuksan Reflection
The northwest coast, our new home, offers unlimited photographic opportunities, which we have only begun to explore. The view of Mt. Shuksan across Picture Lake is without a doubt one of the most-photographed landscape locations in Washington. This image is from a late summer scouting trip up the Mt. Baker Highway, not far from our new home. The weather was rather dull -- a perfect excuse for B&W!
4. Leaves of Grass
Aquatic grasses lying on the surface of Picture Lake in the North Cascades created an engaging abstract pattern. I first photographed these in color, but I soon realized that IR provided the high contrast that I was looking for.
5. Kvernufoss
This and the remaining images in this collection are from our fall trip to Iceland. The south of Iceland has innumerable waterfalls that spill glacial meltwater from the cliffs of the southern highlands onto the narrow coastal plain. Kvernufoss was a new location for me on this trip — a magical ravine of black basalt and bright green grasses leading to a ribbon of falling water.
6. Rest in Peace
We had visited the historic turf-roofed church at Hof, with its churchyard of raised graves, on a previous trip but I was not satisfied with the photographs I came away with then. This time, I had a better idea of what to expect and I was armed with my IR-converted camera. I photographed this church from every imaginable angle, but I like this one, framed by the large trees growing in the middle of the graveyard, the best.
7. Heaven’s Gate
We also paid a return visit to the abandoned farm at Núpsstaður, a location not open to the public but accessible to us through the contacts of our Icelandic tour leader. Our previous visit in 2016 was very brief, and I spent my time photographing the various turf-roofed outbuildings. This time I paid more attention to the small, well-maintained chapel located on the farm grounds. I loved the way the chapel was framed by this gate and the strong contrast produced in IR.
8. Last Chance to Pray
The farm at Núpsstaður is the easternmost settlement along the south coast of Iceland before the broad black sand “desert” of Skeiðarársandur, formed by the outflow of three glacial rivers. Prior to the construction of the Ring Road crossing Skeiðarársandur was a hazardous proposition, and the chapel was built as a place for travelers to pray for safe crossings. This view shows the isolation of this location and gives a glimpse of the black sand expanse where Skeiðarársandur meets the sea.
9. Otherworldly
The interior highlands of Iceland are stark, forbidding, and unpopulated — expanses of black volcanic rock, sparse low growing vegetation, and swift rivers formed by glacial runoff. I think this moody photograph captures the essence of the highland landscape.
10. Monolith
A massive basalt column dominates the view of the south coast of Iceland from the cliffs at Dyrholaey. I made several photographs at this location, battling wind gusts and the arriving rainstorm. I finally settled on this one both for the balance of the composition and the splash of sunlight on the distant hills.