Favorite Photos from 2019

My photographic productivity this year was constrained to the summer and early fall. While the number of trips was limited the quality was great, and I had a lot of luck finding shorebirds during the summer breeding season and fall migration through Massachusetts. My encounters with the piping plover chicks made it a fun challenge to parse down my list of 2019 favorites, and I tried not to let them dominate my selections. My ten favorites from the year are below, in no particular order.

Thanks as always to Jim Goldstein for his inspiration each year to compile my list of favorites for his annual blog project.


Piping plover chick ready to brood, Sandy Point State Reservation
The moments of interaction between a parent and its young is such a special thing to witness. Here, a young plover chick is approaching its mother to warm up under her feathers.

Sanderling at the edge of the flock, Parker River National Wildlife Refuge
When photographing shorebirds, I generally find myself trying to isolate an individual bird away from the clutter of the flock. It's a fun challenge to incorporate other birds in the background, and nice when it adds to the composition.

Consolation prize, Sunrise sliding down Sargent Mountain in Acadia National Park
I had forgotten how crazy the summit of Cadillac Mountain can be for a summer sunrise, and arrived too late to get a spot in the lot on this August morning. I drove to the overflow lot down the road, and instead of joining the huge crowd looking east, I stayed on the western slope and had this view over Eagle Lake to myself.

Least tern chick at sunrise, Sandy Point State Reservation
A tender moment between parent and chick as they waited for the other parent to return with a fish.

Piping plover chick, Sandy Point State Reservation
Pulling off a portrait of a tiny piping plover chick would be a real challenge if they weren't so delightfully curious. I'm always amazed at how close they'll come if you're lying still in the sand.

Brooding piping plovers, Sandy Point State Reservation
There's something special about seeing a parent caring for its chicks, and I love to photograph piping plovers brooding their little ones.

Semipalmated sandpiper, Parker River National Wildlife Refuge
I'm a sucker for head-on shots of shorebirds, and nailing the focus on the eyes of a moving target creates a fun (or frustrating?) challenge.

Room for one more? Piping plovers at Sandy Point
This photo is one frame from my favorite series from the summer, where four large chicks attempt to brood under their father at the same time.

Dramatic sunrise light, Sanderling at Parker River NWR
The high tides on this particular morning offered a non-traditional lighting for my style of shorebird photography. As this sanderling came very close to my position, I attempted to maximize the warm tones of this dramatic sidelight.

Piping plover chick at sunrise, Sandy Point State Reservation
It's easy to forget about the 3:30am wakeup call when you find yourself taking portraits of an adorable chick blanketed in the warm golden tones of a mid-summer sunrise!

Thanks for viewing my favorites photographs from 2019! If you've enjoyed them, feel free to check out my previous favorites from 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2012, 2011, 2010, and 2009. All the best to you and yours in 2020!

First light on Cadillac Mountain, Acadia National Park

Even with the large crowds, it is a pleasure to watch the sunrise from the summit of Cadillac Mountain in Acadia National Park. In processing this image, I applied a digital graduated filter and also used the dust spot removal tool to clone out two people who stepped into view.

Consolation prize, Sunrise sliding down Sargent Mountain

Every year I've gone to Acadia National Park I've been surprised by the sunrise crowd on the summmit of Cadillac Mountain. This year, I thought I was prepared for it and arrived at the summit 25 minutes before sunrise. Well, by this time the parking lot was already a zoo with no spots, and people were scrambling to cram their cars along the road. I passed through the lot and went down to the Blue Hills Overlook (which was already getting crowded). I had time to take the short walk to the summit, but instead decided to skip the crowd and wandered down the western slope overlooking Eagle Lake. Not a single other person made the same decision and I had the entire area to myself. Sure, I didn't see the first light of the day arrive on the horizon, but instead I was treated to the sunrise slipping down the eastern face of Sargent Mountain. It started as just a hint of warmth as the sun rose above Cadillac's summit, ending with the shadow of the mountain crossing the width of Eagle Lake. Not at all what I had envisioned when I left in the morning, but a delightful way to start my day. I returned to Cadillac's summit later in my trip -- a full 50 minutes early this time -- and was able to get a spot for the more traditional sunrise.

Pine trees and granite on Schoodic Head, Acadia National Park

On a trip to Acadia a few years ago we drove over to the much quieter side of the park on the Schoodic Peninsula. We did the nice little trail up Schoodic Head, which offered some great views back across Frenchman Bay of Mount Desert Island. For as centered as we normally are around Cadillac Mountain while we're in the park, it was fun to see it from across the water.

The Bubbles over Jordan Pond, Acadia National Park

This lovely pair of mountains are an iconic view in Acadia National Park as they rise over Jordan Pond. This particular hike around the lake was under heavily overcast skies, giving an even more serene feel to the still water. Looking back at these images is making me hungry for popovers and strawberry jam!

Golden hour, Point Reyes National Seashore

Pastures bathed in golden light and the deep blue of the Pacific drew my attention, and my lens, away from the grazing tule elk across the road on this surprisingly clear summer evening in Point Reyes National Seashore.

Rocky outcrop on Mt Tam

Following-up on my previous post, after being swallowed into the sea of gray at my first location, I drove out of the cloud and stopped at a rocky outcrop that was still above the fog. Despite being on opposite coasts, the texture and patterns in the stone reminded me of the glacier-scarred granite of Cadillac Mountain in Acadia (a place where I have unsuccessfully tried to photograph a similar vantage above the fog). The leading lines in stones like this capture my imagination, though I had trouble finding the right vantage to include both the stone and the distant rising fog.

Enveloped by fog, Mount Tamalpais State Park

In contrast to my 2014 trip, when I was scrambling to find the right pullout before missing the sunset, I arrived with plenty of time to spare on this trip. I chose my spot and sat on a rocky outcrop with enough time to meditate in the evening sunshine. Unknowingly, I selected a vantage point that was a little too low in elevation for the day’s weather conditions. I enjoyed watching the rising fog creep up the valleys and lap up against the lower outcrops of pines. Suddenly, something changed and the fog rapidly rose and fully enveloped my position. I went from warm sunlight and colors to being submerged in cold windy gray in just a few moments. Despite my best intentions of selecting one place for the sunset, I now had to race down the narrow trail of the hillside in thick pea soup to find my rental car so that I could drive to a higher elevation to take advantage of the remaining light somewhere else.

Island in the fog, Mount Tamalpais State Park

The lure is strong to be above the coastal fog for a sunset when I manage to make it back to California for photography, and I've tried to plan for one evening each trip to be on Ridgecrest Blvd in Mount Tamalpais State Park. I love watching the dynamics of the rising tide of fog filling the valleys, and in this case, forming small hilltop islands set in a sea of roiling moisture.

The Magic of Point Reyes National Seashore

During the two years that I let the blog go dormant in 2016-2017 I actually had a couple of really nice photographic outings. I was even able to return to California for about a week in the summer of 2016, which included a couple of days spent in Point Reyes National Seashore. It wasn't the most productive trip photographically, but it felt so great to be back in my old footsteps on those well-trodden trails. For those of you that have followed my work, you already know that Point Reyes National Seashore holds a special place in my heart -- and in some ways I can't believe it's taken me this long to share some some images from the trip.

July isn't necessary the best time to be in the park for photography, I personally think that the fall is ideal with the shorebird migrations and tule elk rut, but I was treated to some spectacular fog-less summer sunsets on this trip. While living in California, I most often visited the park for sunrise, which usually involved a heavy cover the marine layer fog, so it was a treat to have the warm colors of sunset on multiple evenings (although I almost didn't know what to do with the light!).

While driving out Sir Francis Drake Boulevard on so many prior trips to the park, my eye had often been drawn to the gorgeous rolling agricultural valleys. On many occasions I pulled the car over, swapped on my landscape lens and attempted to capture some of what had caught my eye. I was never really able to do the scene justice though, especially since so many of my trips were under the coastal fog. I love overcast light for wildlife, but it really left the landscapes feeling flat and far less interesting than then actually were. I was driving around the park on this summer evening while the light was absolutely spectacular, and hoping to find something to photograph before it was gone. I struck out on sighting any wildlife in the golden glow, but as I passed this valley, I was completely drawn in. The last rays were fading fast, and I knew I wouldn't have time to set up my tripod before it was gone. So I rolled the window down, leaned across the passenger seat and fired off a few frames. I love that the low hanging sun left a tiny sliver of "alpenglow" across the top of the coastal hillside. That's part of the magic of Point Reyes National Seashore -- it's given me fleeting moments that are so special and unexpected on so many visits.

While I was taking the photograph above, I noticed out of the corner of my eye that I could see myself in the passenger-side mirror. Being a solo trip into the park, I didn't have any other photographs of myself there, so I took advantage of the opportunity to make an unorthodox selfie from this unexpected scene in one of my favorite places.

After spending the night in Inverness Park, I set out for a sunrise hike at Abbotts Lagoon. Just like old times, I began the day as the first car in the parking lot as the daylight was just beginning to break. It was wonderful to breathe in the cool coastal air, and to be invigorated by the feeling of the warm rising sun under clear skies. This is a wonderful place to look for quail and not too far from the parking lot I found a handsome male keeping an eye on his covey from an old scrag of coyote brush (which I posted yesterday for my 500th blog post). I slowly worked my way closer, trying to get clean shot of the quail who was glowing in the warm sunrise light. In the meantime a second car arrived at the trailhead and another photographer set off down the trail behind me. As he approached, he politely waited to pass until the quail had decided to hop from its perch and head into the brush. Further down the trail, at the bridge between the freshwater and brackish lagoons, I encountered the photographer again. We chatted briefly, and he shared his new found love for the park. It seemed that this amazing landscape had recently cast a spell on him, the same as it had on me nearly a decade ago. He was now regularly driving up from the East Bay on the weekends to search for wildlife -- which sounded awfully familiar to my ears! We chatted briefly about the gravitational pull of the park, and neither of us could easily express a specific reason for why it captured our creative imagination so strongly over all of the other great places in the Bay Area. But perhaps the vague mystery of that deep-felt love for that beautiful peninsula is part of the magic all the same.

2016 Favorite Photographs

It's been about a year since I last posted on my blog, and I never intended to let it go that long. Jim Goldstein's Annual Blog Project is a great inspiration to get back on into the swing of it, and an opportunity to review my photography from 2016. This last revolution around the sun was a busy one for me, and it included just a few opportunities for photography. Thankfully, a move out of the city center has helped to keep me feeling connected with nature, with my morning dog walk taking place along wetland trails. The main chances to exercise my photographic creativity came during a week-long trip back out to California with a few days reserved for photography in Point Reyes National Seashore, as well as our annual weekend in Acadia National Park. This certainly wasn't a banner year for my photography in terms of volume, but I returned from these trips with a handful of interesting images to share. In no particular order, here are six of my favorites from 2016.

First light over the fog from Cadillac Mountain, Acadia National Park
The fog was pretty regular throughout our August trip to Maine, but we still decided to attempt to catch one sunrise from the summit of Cadillac Mountain. I'm amazed each year at how many other tourists are up early filling up the parking lot as well!

Tule elk cruising through the fog, Point Reyes National Seashore
Spending a few days back in Point Reyes with nothing to do other than focus on hiking and photography was food for my soul. Even though I was there in mid-July, the tule elk rut appeared to already be starting in the Drake's Beach herd.

Quail on a branch at sunrise, Point Reyes National Seashore
California quail are always a favorite subject of mine, and I caught this handsome male watching over his covey along the trail to Abbott's Lagoon. It was a surprisingly clear morning in the park, offering some delightful pastel colors instead of the more traditional overcast gray of the fog.

Curious American avocet, Don Edwards National Wildlife Refuge
The chance to see these stunning shorebirds is definitely something I miss on the east coast, so I spent a morning at Don Edwards National Wildlife Refuge on San Francisco Bay. I took way more images than I've had time to look through of avocets elegantly moving through the salt ponds, but these old pillars added some additional interest in the morning light.

Last light and "alpenglow" in Point Reyes National Seashore
I've written many times about how I fell in love with Point Reyes while living in California, and I made an effort on this trip to try to step back and study the landscape in addition to just the wildlife. The hills, valleys, and pastures along Sir Francis Drake Boulevard have always caught my eye, but I never really found a perspective that captured some of that magic. This is perhaps as close as I can come, with the hint of "alpenglow" on the crest of the hills just as the sun was dropping below the horizon.

Fog rolling over the hillsides, Mount Tamalpais State Park
I scheduled one sunset of my summer trip to be on the western slopes of Mount Tamalpais to watch the fog roll in. I got there in the late afternoon while the fog was still offshore. I enjoyed some relaxing meditation until the fog crept over Stinson Beach and began its evening march up the hillside. It was a wonderful experience that would leave me completely shrouded in windy gray for my descent to the car, but offered some delightful abstractions along the way.

If you're interested, here are my favorite photographs from 2015, 2014, 2012, 2011, 2010, and 2009.

Thanks for reading -- and all the best for a happy and healthy 2017! Cheers!

Sun slipping behind the fog, Acadia National Park

As we watch the sun set on 2015, I can't help but wait with anticipation for the sun to rise on the new year. This past year was a really busy one, and while I don't see signs of that changing in 2016, I do hope to find a way to make more of an effort to connect with nature on a regular basis. I discovered my need to use nature photography as a meditation while in California for graduate school, and it's been exciting to see the recent articles (like the cover story for the January issue of National Geographic) supporting what I found to be intrinsically true. So as I look forward to 2016, I wish you all the best for a great year filled with family, friendship, love, and quiet time spent in nature!


This image from the slopes of Cadillac Mountain was the only landscape I selected for my Favorite Photographs of 2015 post. I had previsualized a number of photographs that I hoped to work at on the trip, but the ever present coastal fog had other plans. For about 20 minutes on our first evening in the park, I had my only chance at seeing a sunset, and I think that this is my favorite frame from that experience. What was most surprising to me was how quickly the fog descended down from the summit of Mount Cadillac once the sun slipped behind the fog for the last time.

View more photographs from Acadia National Park.

Favorite Photographs of 2015

As we prepare to turn the page on another year, I always enjoy looking back on my work to create a post for Jim Goldstein's Annual Favorite Photographs Blog Project. I'm disappointed to report that I failed miserably at my new year's resolution to spend more time reconnecting with nature, especially through local parks, this year. However, I did have a handful of special opportunities with my camera, including wading birds in southwestern Florida in the spring, baby piping plovers on Plum Island over the summer, and a very foggy trip to Acadia National Park in August.

If you're interested, here are my favorite photographs from 2014, 2012, 2011, 2010, and 2009. Without further ado, my favorites from this year are below in no particular order.


Reacquainted with the sunrise
It was great to be out for the sunrise again a few times over the summer, and especially to share those golden moments with the breeding piping plovers at Sandy Point State Reservation on Plum Island. The chicks were adorable enough on their own, but it was fun to try to capture the moments of interaction with their parents.

Least tern delivers a fish, Sandy Point State Reservation
The beaches on Plum Island are a breeding ground for other coastal birds as well, including least terns. This pair nested fairly close to the perimeter of the protected area, providing a great view into their tender moments. Here, one partner brought a fish back to the other as it incubated the eggs. I'm disappointed that I clipped the wing tip in this frame, but I still love that both beaks are on the fish during the exchange.

Little blue reflection, Bunche Beach Preserve
I had a lot of fun over two mornings in southwestern Florida watching the wading birds during low tide at Bunche Beach Preserve. There was a great diversity of species, but the little blue herons were particularly photogenic. Here, one appeared to walk across the still water of a tidal pool.

Curious piping plover chick, Sandy Point State Reservation
These tiny chicks really were a highlight of my summer. I saw them unexpectedly on an outing in June, and then I just had to keep coming back. They were quite curious about all of the photographers lying in the sand to see them, often coming well within my 8' minimum focusing distance. I came home with a lot of images to consider for this list, but this on with the exaggeratedly shallow depth of field was my favorite.

Sun slipping behind the fog, Acadia National Park
Our annual trip to Acadia National Park was wonderful, but we fought the fog the whole time. I had hoped for multiple sunrises or sunsets above the fog, but as it turned out, the first evening was the only chance we had. This image was taken from the trails below the summit of Mount Cadillac as the fog swirled around us.

Hungry least tern chick, Sandy Point State Reservation
Late in the summer, it was fun to see the young birds growing up. It was interesting to note the difference between the piping plovers that had to feed themselves from their first day and the young terns that relied on their parents to bring back each meal. Here, this least tern was kicking up sand as it impatiently watched its parent circling overhead with a fish.

Little blue heron in morning light, Bunche Beach Preserve
It was a really long winter in Boston this year with record snowfall, so it felt great to fly south to Florida for a few warm days in March. For me, nothing beats a sunrise photographing birds in the sand and it was almost too easy there. I would just set up next to a tidal pool, and it wouldn't take long for a flock of birds to arrive.

Piping plover parents, Sandy Point State Reservation
The brooding behavior of the piping plover parents was wonderful to witness, like in this case when all four chicks scooted underneath. However, these moments of calm were short-lived -- the chicks would be off running in four separate directions soon!

Roseate spoonbill feeding at Bunche Beach Preserve
A highlight of our Florida trip was the chance to photograph this juvenile roseate spoonbill feeding in a tidal pool. It offered a lot of stately poses, but I like the more comical expression captured in this frame the most.

Boulders and reflections in Bubble Pond, Acadia National Park

Bubble Pond was a location that we didn't see on our trip to Acadia National Park last year. The parking lot was rather small (maybe room for 10 cars?), so it took a few tries before we were able to walk the carriage road along shoreline. Like most of the ponds in the park, the water was wonderfully clear with views of the rocky bottom. There was only a light wind crossing the pond when we started out, providing nice reflections as well -- offering a simultaneous view both above and below the surface.

View more photographs of Acadia National Park.

Fog shrouded sunset on Cadillac Mountain, Acadia National Park

As I've written in my last few posts, this year's summer trip to Acadia National park was all about the fog. I had daydreamed about having the chance to photograph the warm colors of the sun rising or setting behind a bank of cool coastal fog -- and our first evening in the park was my only opportunity. We experienced all of the other sunrises or sunsets from underneath a heavy layer of coastal fog.

It was a tenuous experience looking for the right location to catch the sunset at an elevation below the summit of Cadillac Mountain, which was fully shrouded in fog. The rolling moisture was ever-shifting, leaving some moments of deep, dark grey and others of clear views over the park. Thankfully, the fog that was slipping down the slopes from the summit stayed above our elevation during the last few minutes of the sun's descent toward the fog bank horizon. In fact, the constant motion of the fog gave me multiple opportunities to catch the "final" moments of the day -- after the sun had set, the fog would shift and provide another opportunity to watch the sun slip further behind. So even though I had only one evening to catch the sunset, at least I had a couple of rapid-fire opportunities at the time.

It was surprising how quickly the fog covering the summit crashed down to our location after the sun slipped behind the foggy horizon for the final time. Just a few minutes after taking my last image for the day, we were full-on in a cloud, getting soaked by the heavy mist on the brief hike back to the car.

View more landscape photography from Acadia National Park.

Dynamic coastal fog rolling through the valleys, Acadia National Park

The fog was incredibly dynamic as it rolled across the landscape in Acadia National Park. As we awaited the sunset on the western slopes of Cadillac Mountain, the skies above and below us were constantly changing. One moment we would see far into the distance across Mount Desert Island, as in this image, and in the next moment we were fully enveloped in the fog. In fact, the photograph that I posted yesterday of a fog-shrouded scene was taken only 1 minute after this one!

View more photography from Acadia National Park.

Fog and granite, Acadia National Park

On our first evening in Acadia National Park this year, after enjoying some delicious crab and lobster rolls as our welcome to Maine dinner, we planned to drive up Cadillac Mountain for the sunset. As we approached the bridge to Mount Desert Island, we could already see that the summit was hidden by fog rolling in from the coast. However, the fog had not yet slipped all the way down the slopes, so some of the intermediate elevations were clear. We joined a fleet of cars parking in the pullouts along the road and awaited the sunset from the granite outcrops. In the hour or so we hiked around the area, the ever changing fog would bury us completely and then fade away with a steady rhythm. This photograph was taken at the edge of one of these mountain breaths, where setting sun cast a warm glow in the cloud of fog surrounding us.

View more landscape photography from Acadia National Park.

Embracing the fog, Acadia National Park

Earlier this summer, I wrote about how I was hoping we would luck out with the coastal fog on our annual trip to Acadia National Park. I had some images planned in my mind to shoot from the top of Cadillac Mountain above the marine layer as the sun rose or set. Well, I suppose you always need to be careful what you wish for! We had fog everyday of our trip, but only one brief opportunity to be above it on our first evening there. The fog settled in heavily and hung around for basically our entire trip, except for a few breaks in the middle of the day. So while I didn't score the images I was dreaming of, we were offered a totally different experience than last summer -- we now realize how lucky we were to have four completely clear days in the park last year!

Of course, I've also written many times on this blog how living in the San Francisco Bay Area taught me to appreciate the inherent beauty of coastal fog, and this trip made me stand by those claims. I tried my best to embrace the fog that enveloped Mount Desert Island, which meant stepping back from expectations of the grand landscapes of coastal Maine, and instead focusing in on the smaller, but still remarkably beautiful landscapes available at closer range.

This pair of photographs was taken from the shoreline of Upper Hadlock Pond on our final morning in the park. Once again, we scratched our plans to arise well before sunrise as the forecast was calling for the heavy fog to hang around. We chose the path around Lower Hadlock Pond for our morning hike, but I couldn't pass up this view of the fog descending the hillsides as we passed by the upper pond.

View more photographs of the impressive landscape of Acadia National Park.

Trail through the fog, Point Reyes National Seashore

Following on my theme in yesterday's post about switching my mind's eye into landscape mode, here is another photograph from last summer along the Tomales Point Trail under a heavy layer of fog. I've always enjoyed the wind-driven shape of these stately cypress trees, and they were even more engaging as they faded in and out of sight through the fog. My early June trip happened to coincide with an explosion of lupine and wild radish along the trail, which added an amazing amount of color, as well as a thick scent of pollen, to the scene.

View more of my photography from the Tomales Point area of Point Reyes National Seashore.

Impressionist's landscape under the fog, Point Reyes National Seashore

I'm looking forward to a trip to Acadia National Park later this month, which means I'll need to switch my photographic eye to landscape mode. I really wish that I was a better landscape photographer. With wildlife, it comes fairly naturally to me to create images that have the potential to build an emotional connection with the viewer. In some ways, I think it can be easier when you have a clear focus of attention on a living, breathing creature. The eyes provide that necessary window to pull a viewer directly into the scene, and there's always a dynamic component related to the perceived motion (or lack thereof) of the animal. I have yet to find a consistent way to generate an emotional connection through my landscape photography. I feel it strongly while viewing other photographer's work, but it still remains an elusive challenge in my own.

On my trip to Point Reyes National Seashore last summer, I was primarily focused on wildlife, but I made a conscious effort to try to capture the scenic aspects of the park as well. I have such a strong emotional connection to the Point Reyes landscape, and I would love to be able to express just a sliver of it through my lens. I walked the Tomales Point Trail a couple of times on this trip, and each time that I passed this valley bathed in wildflowers it caught my attention. I tried a number of times to create something that expressed my draw to this scene, and the closest I came was in this image under a dense layer of fog. The wind was barely blowing and the birds were quiet, as if the world was weighed down by the fog. The soft colors under the heavy air and remarkable density of blooms in the valley seemed to be cast by an impressionist's paintbrush. The stillness and serenity of this stop along the trail are still etched in my memory.

Ultimately, my efforts to create an impactful image fell short of my intentions, but with failure comes the opportunity for growth. Artistic expression would likely go stale without the constant pursuit of improvement, so I'm looking forward to the challenge. Acadia is another landscape that I felt an immediate connection with, and I hope I'll be returning from my upcoming trip with an expression of that connection.

View more of my landscapes from Point Reyes National Seashore.