2017 was an amazing year filled with many amazing memories and photos. I wanted to look back on the year and focus on some of my favorite images of the year. There was a lot to choose from and it was hard to narrow the list down to just five pictures and even harder to rank them. So here are my favorite pictures from this past year. 

          This was a picture that I had planned for a while. The year before I went to the sunflower fields looking to take some pictures but I had gone to late in the year and all the sunflowers had already started wilting away. Then this year I spent an afternoon visiting several sunflower fields finding which one I liked the best so that when I returned on this night I was ready. I noticed the sky was looking like a promising sunset so I found a composition and waited as the sun went down. The sunset was gorgeous and one of the most vibrant I've seen in a while. The pinks and the oranges mixed with the yellows and greens of the sunflowers resulted in one of the most colorful images I've ever taken and one of my favorites. 

          This image that I took late in the fall is one of the most unique pictures I've taken. While every other picture in this list was planned, this image was completely unexpected. I had finished photographing the Dallas Divide in Colorado at sunrise and was headed back home after a couple of great days of shooting the beautiful fall colors in the San Juan Mountains. As I was driving over the ridge toward Ridgway, Colorado I noticed a thick fog was covering the town. I pulled off the road and was in awe as I looked out above the fog. I took some pictures and single out one tree that was sticking through the fog. The image turned out great as it was a very minimalist  and unique shot that is now one of my favorites in my portfolio. 

          One of my favorite images from this past year was this picture from last summer. Its a pretty simple composition with a single subject and an amazing and colorful sky. It works well with the clouds in the sky almost pointing at and mirroring the wild tree. Its one of my favorite pictures in my portfolio but I love the story behind the image even more. Me and my Girlfriend were driving through the California Desert headed for Las Vegas, Nevada. We were intrigued by these cool Joshua Trees on the side of the road that seemed to be everywhere. We noticed that the sky was starting to burst with color as the sun was setting. We both had the idea to stop and take pictures and agreed that we'd stop and take some pictures, but by the time we had made out decision we looked out and all the trees that seemed to be everywhere before, had all vanished. We couldn't believe it but after driving a couple miles looking for trees we instead decided to turn around and head back toward the Joshua trees. Katie spotted a tree on the side of the road so we pulled off the road. We ran across the highway and set up our cameras just in time as the sky was exploding. It was one of the best sunsets I've ever seen and an even better memory.

          Road tripping to Yosemite National Park in California was certainly one of my favorite experiences of 2017. The first sight of the magnificent granite cliffs of Yosemite Valley left me in awe and I fell in love with this park. It was so amazing and this image was my favorite out of all the pictures I took in Yosemite. At sunset we photographed the iconic Tunnel View along with a good amount of other photographers and tourists. Fortunately, as soon as the sun went down and the stars came out, the photographers and other tourists left and it was just me and my girlfriend there by ourselves to photograph the stars over Yosemite Valley. It was a beautiful moment of watching the stars for about an hour as they moved across the sky. The end result was a picture that I'm extremely proud of. It was a shot that I was planning for a while, and one that I was looking forward to most during this trip so I'm happy that it tuned out the way I envisioned. 

          Looking back at this picture now reminds me of one of the best nights of photography I have ever had. After a short hike to the arch we set up our cameras and watched as the sun set and the stars appeared. It was such a warm and calm night, were as most of my astrophotography outings deal with bearing with the cold, it was nice to have a nice relaxing night of taking pictures. We laid under the stars watching the Orionoid meteor shower overhead (only saw 2 shooting stars though) and photographed the milky way as it moved through the arch. It was a beautiful night that resulted in a beautiful picture.

                  Top Five Photos of 2018                                                Grand Teton Road Trip