The stories behind my five favorite photos from 2024

As we ring in the New Year, I'm very grateful in 2024 to have been present and able to capture thousands of photographs in many visually inspiring places. Here are my five favorite images of the over 10,000 that I took in 2024 and the stories behind them.

"Fan out"

There was a massive storm accompanied by wind speeds of over 70mph that shut down nearly all the resorts in Utah on March 15. March 16, I was at Powder Mountain in Eden and could not believe what I saw underneath the chair on the Paradise lift. I immediately had my camera out and was snapping like mad at the gorgeous shapes and textures in front of me. You can see more of the otherworldly scenes here: https://flic.kr/s/aHBqjBhMes

"Umbrella Speed"

In the spring, I was in the Ginza district in Tokyo on a weekend when they close the streets to cars. Many people were walking outside and enjoying the sunny spring day,  providing excellent opportunities for street photography. I loved the horizontal lines of the building in this image and how it gives structure to the top of this panning shot.

"Lake Hayes View"

Our family of four converged to visit my youngest daughter, who was studying abroad in New Zealand. It was hard to pick a photo from the many incredible landscapes that we saw during the New Zealand fall, including the Aurora Borealis set against snowy mountains at Lake Tekapu, but I picked this image because of the nonchalant way the country served up this stupendous view at a pull out on a major road. We were all in awe of the scenery, as were about half a dozen other people who interrupted their drives to take this shot.

"Havasu Falls Milky Way"

Dear friends of mine in Utah not only store my snowboard gear during the non-summer months, but they invited me to hike with them down to Havasupai Falls in the Grand Canyon this summer. Only one in 10 parties applying to do the hike actually get permits, so it was a unique and rare experience. I shoot a lot of the night sky during the non-winter months, and was fortunate to capture the Milky Way in Arizona, Maine, New Zealand and Italy this year. However, this photo stands out because the sky was the darkest I have ever seen (as it should have been considering it was a 100 mile drive from the nearest town and then a 10 mile hike down into the Grand Canyon) and this was my first time shooting the Milky Way over a waterfall. Note: this is a two shot composite shot both at golden hour and then later when the stars were out.

"Sun over the cloud sandwich"

Every summer, our family visits Monhegan Island in Maine, and every year, they allow me to indulge in my photographic pursuits. The only predictable part about the photos is that the results are unpredictable, but good, and this year, the highlight for me was this foggy sunrise coming out of a short cloud layer above the Atlantic.