I had this brilliant idea of a “top 10 photos” of 2015 and as I started going through my photos, realized that this was going to be a bit of a chore as I had taken over seven thousand photos just within the last few months of the year – and when I began to write this, the year wasn’t even over yet!
None-the-less, I flipped through countless images and came up with a few favorites.
Let’s get on with the count down!
10 – Fort Edmonton
It’s a simple photo, but with my post-processing tweaks to give it some ‘age’. Fort Edmonton Park is a great place to visit and walk back through history, and I feel like I’ve been able to take a modern-day photo and put you back in time too.
9 – The Baby Bear
Although I have come across young black bears in the wild before, this is the first time that I had a decent camera and a good zoom lens. This young one, the mother and another sibling rambled along the side of the road for some time, and I was able to get some great captures of this fellow! For more wildlife photos, check it out here.
8 – The Blood Moon
Although the technical aspects of the photo aren’t “perfect”, I have to include this as a top photo of 2015, because I was quite happy with it, and it’s of an eclipsed blood moon. Something that won’t occur again until April 2032.
7 – The DCOR Line Up
Sure, it’s pretty much just a typical ‘snapshot’, but to me it represents a great group of people, a great weekend excursion and a beautiful part of the country.
6 – Hitch Hiking the Galaxy
I read Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy, and occasionally re-watch the movie. Of course, I had to attempt this photo, and I was quite pleased with the results. Next time, I need to actually capture the thick band of the Milky Way in the shot though! I’ve started experimenting with a fair bit of astrophotography. Click here for my other posts.
5 – The Edmonton Dragon Clouds
I started ‘storm chasing’ this year – with the good camera, and despite some regular running around, my favorite storm chasing photo was from my downtown balcony. A few aspects of the photo that are far from perfect, but I had a lot of great response to this photo and a few people telling me looks like a dragon’s tail. See more about my storm chasing and weather experiences here.
4 – Sunrise at Camp
I use this photo all the time when talking about the Jeep and the roof top tent. It’s naturally just a favorite of mine.
3 – Edith Carvell Lake
Mountains, pristine lake, forest. Not much else to say here!
2 – The Old House
One of my favorites simply because I enjoy looking at these old abandoned homes, plus I’ve captured a green glow of the Northern Lights, a starry sky, and I’ve managed to light the inside of the house with some green, and also the front and side of the house. This represents one of my more “complex” composite photos (it’s assembled with three other shots).
1 – The Jeep and the Northern Lights
Why is it my favorite photo? Well, it represents a wide variety of things from 2015. From how far the Jeep as come in my ‘overland build’, to me learning about astrophotography – and photography (and post-processing) in general, and what I thought was a great capture of the Northern Lights (along with some glow of light pollution too).
The runner-up photos.
I love shooting animals and couldn’t decide about this curious chipmunk:
Or this monkey from the Edmonton Zoo.
Of course, I have a few more Northern Light photos I couldn’t forget.
I hoped for Northern Lights, but all I ended up with was light pollution and this beautiful abandoned church.
For landscapes, I was quite impressed with this sunset cast on mountain at a camping location in Jasper National Park.
For other “once in a lifetime” events, I captured this setting sun and the sunspots “2403” – while the skies were dark and smoky from Forest Fires in the Alberta Rockies.
It was difficult to choose out of the thousands of photos, and although not all of those represent “perfect” photos – technically speaking, they were each important to me in some way, and therefore on my “top 10” list for 2015.
Have you some favorites from your travels over 2015? Share with our readers in the comment section below.
