Best Images of 2018

These are my selections for best images of the year 2018. All these images have long stories associated with them. You can click on the "from" links below the images to see more images from the places depicted in the images.

Desert sunset
The three sisters formation is visible along the entrance road to Goblin Valley State Park, a superbly beautiful place in Utah. I was here on a colorado mountain club trip in spring
Nikon D600, Nikon 70-200 mm f/4.0 at 105 mm, 1/4 sec at f/11
Goblin Valley SP North America San Rafael Swell Three Sisters USA United States Utah clouds desert goblin landscape southwest southwest desert sunset
From Goblin valley
Sheltered
The False Kiva archeological site is very protected from view. You will only discover this after you scale a rock bench just on the right hand side of this picture. This place has unfortunately been discovered recently and the trail to it is turning into a highway. I return to it about once a year and took a different approach to photographing it and used a panoramic projection.
Nikon D600, Nikon 14-24 mm f/2.8 at 14 mm, 1/30 s, f/16, ISO 100. Stitch from 4 images
Archeological site Canyonlands National Park False Kiva Native American North America USA United States Utah black and white equipmenttechnique landscape panorama ruin ruins sandstone southwest
From False Kiva
Shroud
Shrouded. Fog and camera movement combine for an ethereal effect. I shot this image on a short hike in Golden Gate Canyon State Park in May. I moved the camera halfway during the exposure to get the effect you see here.
Nikon D600, Nikon 24-85mm f/3.5-4.5 at 34 mm, 0.4 sec at f/22, ISO 100
Colorado Golden Gate Canyon State Park North America USA United States fog forest landscape leaves trees
From Golden Gate Canyon State Park
A following
The forest floor is alive with Arnica sunflowers. Every may and early June, the Enchanted Forest trail in Apex Open Space Park is lined with these gorgeous flowers.
Nikon D600, Nikon 14-24 mm f/2.8 at 14 mm, 1/30 sec at f/11, ISO 100. Focus stacked
Apex park Apex park open space Colorado Enchanted forest trail North America USA United States arnica flower flowers forest landscape sunflower tree trees
From Apex Park open space
Dutch morning
a quiet morning in the Dutch landscape. I visited the windmills at Kinderdijk together with my father on a morning that did not look promising sunrise-wise but turned out to be beautiful. I grew up very near these windmills and never realized their significance until I moved to the US. During the day this place swarms with tourists but early morning there is absolutely nobody there.
Nikon D600, Nikon 14-24 mm f/2.8 at 24 mm, 1/3 f/13, ISO 100
Europe Kinderdijk The Netherlands clouds color colour dawn landscape reflection sun sunrise water windmill
From Kinderdijk
The ents meet at night
The contorted branches of a bristlecone pine mirror the milky way. This bristlecone is one of the gorgeous trees in the Mount Goliath area on Mount Evans. I roamed the forest largely off trail in the dark until I found this deceased tree. The foreground is lit up using low-intensity LED light panels that I reflected off the trees behind me to get this very soft light.
Nikon D600, Nikon 14-24 mm f/2.8 at 14 mm, 15s, f/2/8, ISO 1600
Bristlecone pine Colorado Mount Evans Mount Goliath Natural area Mt. Evans Mt. Goliath North America USA United States landscape milky way mountain mountains night photography star stars tree trees
From Mount Evans
A river of fall
Geology and river of fall color. Fall color streams down the quartzite hills in the Snowy Range, Wyoming. I did a hike here with my good friend Bruce Parkinson whom I visited at the University of Wyoming. Bruce is a geology fiend and is particalarly fond of photographing lychen. I was mesmerized by the contrast between the red fall color and the many colors in the quartzite mountains.
Nikon D600, Nikon 24-85 mm f/3.5-4.5 at 66mm, 1/250s at f/4.5, ISO 100
Medicine Bow Mountains North America Snowy Range USA United States Wyoming fall fall color landscape mountain mountains season seasons snow trees
From Medicine Bow Mountains
A window on fall
This is a classic Colorado image that I have been wanting to take many times but never hit with the trees in color. There were a bunch of photographers lined up on the rock slide that creates the window. I hoipe they came away with good images. I was quite happy how this turned out even though I forgot my tripod and had to dial up the ISO to take this image. Luckily modern cameras do very well with that.
Nikon D600, Nikon 24-85 mm f/3/5-4.5 at 32 mm, 1/30s at f/16, ISO 1000
Bear Lake Colorado Longs peak North America Rocky mountain national park USA United States aspen clouds fall fall color lake landscape leaves mountain mountains reflection season seasons sun sunset tree trees water
From Bear Lake
Roxborough intensity
Early morning light hits one of the major formations in Roxborough state park, I went here on a short photohike with my friend Dan Orcutt. I loved the extreme contrast between the shade in the foreground and the very intense light on the rock.
Nikon Z7, Nikon 24-85 mm f/3.5-4.5 at 80 mm, 1/80s at f/16, ISO 100
Colorado North America Roxborough state park USA United States landscape mountain mountains sun sunrise
From Roxborough State Park
Winter dreams
The ice on Dream Lake reflects the sunrise light. A classic Colorado image. I went here on a december morning with my friend Jeremy Jordan, a photographer based in Minnesota to show him this classic location. I have photographed this place many times over the years (click through the from link below the image to see more) and this is a different perspective than I have done before.
Nikon Z7, Nikon 14-24 mm f/2.8 at 14 mm, 0.5 s at f/22, ISO 100.
Colorado Dream Lake North America Rocky mountain national park Tyndall Gorge USA United States dawn ice landscape mountain mountains snow sun sunrise trees
From Dream Lake