As 2024 is now behind us,  I reviewed my favorite images from the year.  As I mentioned in a recent social media post,  I found that this year,  my favorite images diverged somewhat from the images that drew the most favorable response on Instagram and Vero.  Some of this is due to the continuing challenge of figuring out which Instagram posts are the most popular, due to the wide variance in views by a relatively small percentage of your followers.  There was some overlaps between my favorites and the most popular social media posts,  but this post features the ones I liked best along with a short description of each.  These are my top 10, but are not posted in any particular order.  It's hard enough to narrow down your favorites to 10!

I'll open with a couple of Black and White images from my trip to New Mexico last October.  The first photo was taken on a workshop with Geraint Smith, featuring a group of aspens against a shady slope southeast of Taos.  As I was editing this photo, I was reminded of the famous Ansel Adams photo Aspens, Northern New Mexico, likely taken not too far away from this location.  

While in New Mexico, my wife and I took a drive on the High Road to Taos,  and stopped for this photo at the San Lorenzo de Picuris Mission.  A single cloud in the deep blue New Mexico skies and the placement of the ladder enhanced the scene featuring the shadows and textures on the adobe structure.

On the first day of my workshop with Geraint,  we took a drive along U.S. 64 through the Carson National Forest.  We stopped at this location for a good bit of time to take various scenes, as the aspens here were showing various stages of the fall transiiton.  I got lots of good shots at this location,  but my favorite was the shot below, which I spotted as we were about to pull back on the highway after stopping.  The Lone Tree in the Square Composition is a favorite subject of mine,  and this example really caught my eye with only a few remaining golden leaves on the tree, and framed by other colorful aspens along the roadside.

A little further down the road,  we stopped at Hopewell Lake, where this hillside of golden aspens was beautifully reflected in the lake.  This shot took some patience, as it was getting quite cloudy, and we had to wait for a large cloudbank to blow by before the aspens were sunlit.  The light was fleeting, lasting only a few seconds, but I was ready and captured this photo during that time.

My wife and I made a June trip to Utah, where we encountered record heat, but an early morning start and a drive up to the higher elevations at Zion National Park provided some good photographic opportunities.  This photo of a stand of evergreens growing high up on the sheer rock faces was taken in the Kolob Canyon area of the park.

A July trip to West Texas and New Mexico included an overnight stop at Caprock Canyons State Park, home to the Texas State Bison herd.  As you drive along the high plains of West Texas, you suddenly come upon these canyons which have been eroded by the forks of the Red River.  A colorful blue skie added to this golden hour scene of the vibrant red hillsides and high desert foliage.

In June, I visited my brother's ranch in the Laramie foothills area of Southeastern Wyoming.  While not an area that is often seen in landscape photography, I found much to photograph in the 3+ days we spent out taking photos (and looking for cows).  This sunset scene of Bluegrass Creek flowing past a stand of Cottonwoods was my favorite.

On our last night in Utah in June,  we drove up to the Snow Canyon overlook, located just outside of Snow Canyon State Park, where a view from the cliffs into the Park was quite dramatic as the light faded into dusk.  This park is a lesser-visited gem located in Ivins, Utah near the city of St. George.  

Our visit to the Kolob Canyon area of Zion National Park also provided this photo opportunity of the rising sun lighting the canyon wall through a gap in the adjacent rock face.  In contrast to the enormous crowds at the main part of Zion regardless of the time of day,  I was the only car in the parking lot when I took this early morning shot.

The Texas wildflower season in March and early Aptil was a bit uneven this year.  I spent a good many days out, but found that the blooms were a bit later than previous years in some locations, and some loations were noticably less prolific than I had observed on previous trips.  In early April, I travelled to Fredericksburg, TX which was in the path of totality for the solar eclipse.  The eclipse was mostly obscured by clouds at that location (still an awesome experience), but I ventured out the next couple of days looking for remaining wildflowers.  I round this scene on a Ranch to Market Road east of Fredericksburg, featuring mixed Paintbrushes and Bluebonnets,  and all the ingredients of a lovely Texas Hill Country scene.

Thanks for taking the time to read this post, and for your support of my website and social media feeds in 2024! 

Scott