Top 5 Images of 2013....

So I've shared numbers 10-6. Today...I want to unveil my favorite five photos of 2013. I'm not sure if they are necessarily my best photos of 2013 but they are certainly my favorite. It was not easy choosing these because I had some great memories out in the field with all my photographer friends in 2013. But these are the five I chose.....

#5--
Man on Fire

.8 second exposure handheld via remote trigger
F-2.8 @640 ISO

This photo pretty much sums up the kind of fun I had in the field with my buddies. It is one of my favorites because it reminds me of the art of photography and the fun found in shooting with friends rather than just shooting for a job. In the past, I've focused so much on the business aspect of photography that I neglected going out and just having fun with my camera.

This is exactly what my friend Dan and I set out to do (along with a handful of other photographers) on a warm full moon night in August in a cave along the Malibu sea coast. When the tide goes very low, there is entry into a very large cave (location undisclosed) that is prime for exploring.

Dan suggested we play with fire in the ocean (he is actually standing in water in this image).

Using a whisk attached to a rope and steel wool intertwined through the whisk, Dan lighted the steel wool and spun it in circles for the effect. This was by all means Dan's creation for which I had to execute from my end.

The uniqueness of this image is that, I've seen it done many times, but without the "model" in clear focus. In this instance, Dan is clearly Dan, and the sparks lit up the foreground beautifully. Even the light from the moon is visible in the top corner. To me, it was a fun moment in this year.

I used a remote shutter in my hand to trigger the camera for exactly .8 of a second at F-2.8 and 640ISO to get the nearly perfect exposure.

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#4--
"The Merced River Yosemite"

F-22 @ 5 Seconds
200 ISO

Every so often I find an image on my harddrive and ask myself, "Why didn't I see this before?"
This is exactly what happened with this image. I captured this during a trip to Yosemite in February, but it wasn't until nearly May that I looked completely through all the images I captured and found it. This was a surprise.

I'd had a series of from this river that came out well but somehow I left this one out.
When I found it, I realized that it was an image that is somewhat rare in photography because of the precise symmetry. I realized I had done it by either luck or by subconscious planning.
If you examine it closely, not only will you see the reflection in great detail, but you will also see the subtle details that speak to the symmetry. Even the branches from the tree in the foreground wisp the landscape but never merge or intersects with it. It's nearly a perfect outline of the mountain. I found this to be very impacting to the image. For its symmetry, beauty and shear peacefulness of scene it makes my top 5 of the year.

I captured this image with a fixed 20mm Canon Ultrasonic, 3 Stop Neutral Density filter and my Canon 5D Mark iii.
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#3--
The Milky Way over Joshua Tree

One of my favorites. On a warm night in May, me and a handful of photographer friends ventured out to Joshua Tree National Park. This was a big deal for me. You see, I had always wanted to visit the park. We arrived at sunset and took photographs all night. We mainly practiced some light painting through the night, painting trees blue, red, green...among other colors.

But it was this image that I loved. I silhouetted the tree against the backdrop of the awe inspiring Milky Way. There's not much I can say about this image except that it reminds me of how beautiful life really is in the big scheme of things. I guess that's why it's my desktop screen saver on my computer. :-)
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#2
Death Valley Star Trails

If photography was a sport, in my mind, ESPN would have labeled this an "Instant Classic". It is my favorite landscape photo of 2013.

During a trip to Death Valley with my fellow photographer friends in November, I captured a 3.5 hour star trail pointed at the North Star from the Badwater Salt Plain within the park. It is the lowest elevation in North America and me and my friends spent a whole night under those vibrant stars.

This image represents my 2013 perfectly. I renewed my love for landscape photography and discovered a whole new world once the sun sets. This image speak volumes to both.

I used 288 42-second exposures at ISO 3000 to capture this star trail image. It was stacked with star stacking software. It is an amazing sight to be there under the stars. I saw so many falling stars and one giant fireball that I captured on the final frame of this photograph. You can see the streak in the center of the image.

#1--
"We did it!"

Sometimes photos just happen even if they are planned. And sometimes you just capture happiness. This is what this photo represents. Happiness. That's why I placed it #1 for my favorite photo of 2013. While I do have an emotional attachment to this image, I realized that this is precisely why my brother only trusted me with his big day. And while I was exhausted after the day was over, I left happy.

I was happy, not only because I had the honor of being his Best Man or because I had the honor to photograph his special day, but because I really had fun! It's was a big deal!

I placed my camera on the dashboard way up in the windshield in order to get this shot. Using the lens racked back to 16mm and setting the camera on a 2 second delay and remotely triggered, I was able to capture a moment I know my brother will always cherish. He drove his lady to their reception.

But the way this photo turned out was not how it was planned. I had this image in my mind from the dashboard, but not how it came out in the end. That's because the dress was so big his bride had to ride in the back. It made the image better and more emotional in the end. As you can tell they locked eyes in the mirror and you can sense the joy of the moment. When I grabbed my camera after the ride was over to see what came out, I was ecstatic to say the least.

As a wedding photographer, there is a sense of joy you reach in every wedding, but I always leave every wedding knowing I could do better. This didn't happen at this wedding. I poured everything I had into it....and I hope it showed. ;-).....

On to 2014 my friends....Life Is Art. Make it!

Top 10 Images of 2013....10-6

Last year, my most popular post was my year end countdown of the favorite images I captured over the course of the year. So once again this year, I am counting down my Top 10 Images with a little description of how each one came to be.

2013 was a great year for me as an artist. It was one of discovery and of learning. It was one of new friends in the business and one of great travel. Among all the new things I learned in 2013, I came to realize my love for photographing at night. While I've always been a night enthusiast, I've never dedicated so much time as I did in 2013 to exploring the photographic possibilities once the sun has gone down. 

Where 2012 was a year of exploring wildlife and nature in places like Masai Mara in Kenya or Costa Rica; 2013 was the year of photographing the night sky. And it was a wonderful year to say the least.

I've partnered with a handful of wonderful night photographers from around Los Angeles and together we spent hours traveling California, New Mexico, and Nevada in hopes of capturing the perfect night sky. I made great new friends and have seen places I've always wanted to visit.

As I go into 2014, I've discovered time lapse photography. And I will say. I'm hooked. It is a steep learning curve to perfect, but that is my goal in 2014. It's quickly grown to be my new passion.

So here we go...hope you enjoy these images as much as I enjoyed photographing them! My new love for night photography might be a little obvious....:-) -cg  

#10-- El Salvador.

Siete Cascadas/The Seven Waterfalls

"The Seven Waterfalls"
Canon 5D Mark iii
16-35mm Canon L ii
15 Secs F-11 100ISO

This image is number 10 on my list. It makes my Top 10 because of it's beauty, and the wonderful memories this trip created for me. In May, I traveled to photograph the country of El Salvador. To my surprise, the country was absolutely beautiful, safe, and its people were very inviting. It was a very memorable trip; one I'm obligated to do again soon to complete the project I'm currently working on there. This image of The Seven Waterfalls is just a peek of the many natural falls found within this tiny country.  

It's almost as if the jungle is crying. In a series of waterfalls that cascade down a very large mountain within the jungle, this image was the third waterfall of the bunch. Hiking there took about 15 minutes from the main road along its sister waterfalls that were just as awe inspiring. 

It was raining while I took this photo.  Standing in the rain capturing nature is a wonderful feeling....I look forward to returning soon!   

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#9--Clouds at 11pm in New Mexico

"Church"
17 images stacked
F-2.8 3 Seconds @ 1000ISO (stacked)

In September, my brother and I spent a couple nights photographing an old church (1883) on a friend's ranch in New Mexico. It was such a fun night just exploring the countryside with my brother and teaching him the mechanics of night photography. With his help, I was able to capture this image of the cloud movement over a full moon night over the church. 

It was so bright out with a full moon, and the light pollution is so low in New Mexico, a standard 30 second exposure can look remarkably close to a daytime photo. This image is actually a stack of seventeen 3-second exposures images placed on top of each other with star stacking software. You can actually see the star trails behind the clouds. I did not know this effect would come out so remarkable until I experimented with it. It's a step in a different direction for me and struck me as unique. For this reason, it's number 9 on my list.

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#8--Startrails over El Matador Beach 

"El Matador"
48 images stacked
30 seconds F-2.8 1600ISO

Yes, another night photo. What can I say...2013 was the year of night photography. El Matador Beach is one of the most photographed beaches in Southern California. But on this night, the night of my 33rd birthday, I set out to capture El Matador Beach in a fashion I've never seen before. 

So me and a couple of my fellow photographer buddies set out to spend the late evening looking for that unique shot of El Matador. This is what I came up with. It is a series of 48 images stacked to capture the star trails. They are 30 second exposures. 

It's one of my favorite images of 2013 simply because I don't believe I've ever seen one like this taken at El Matador Beach. I've made several night photo trips since then but for some reason this image always stuck out in my mind. Despite the airplanes flying thru the frame I still list this as one of my favorites. 

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#7- Yosemite E-Session. (tie)

Okay...so I'm going to cheat a little on this one. It's a tie. This past August I had the privilege of photographing my younger brother and his fiance at Yosemite National Park. It was a fantastic experience not only because the session meant a lot for me, but also because they insisted on having their photos taken within my favorite National Park.

The first image is Tony and Valerie in the Merced River. It is a 1.5 second exposure that required them to stand very still. I convinced them (they didn't need much convincing) to take their shoes off and sit on the two rocks within the river. They did it and we nailed the shot on the very first attempt. This is one of my favorite E-Session portraits I've taken in a very long time. Not only because it's my brother but also because it's at one of my favorite locations to shoot within the park.

My only regret is not seeing Half Dome or El Capitan light up at sunset as a large fire fogged up the sky with smoke. Regardless, it stands in a class by itself in my opinion......

The second image is a tie with my river shot. I fell in love with the shot when it happened. It's simply the fact that we were lined up at the perfect place to capture the light rays from the sun before it dipped beneath the mountains. While we did plan to be in this meadow at sunset in hopes of getting those famous light rays, I never thought that it would actually happen. I remember this exact moment as we hurried to get the shot. Light rays were beaming everywhere....:-) 

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#6- Love at Zuma Beach 

   

Sometimes the light just happens. I photographed Blake and Ginger's beach wedding at The Sunset on Zuma Beach in Malibu. Of the weddings I shoot over the course of the year, there is always one sunset shot that just sticks out to me. This is it. 

I remember speaking with the bride on her wedding day as the rain clouds moved through Malibu. I could sense the nerves in her as I told her that she not need worry as the sunset would be amazing. I'm glad I was right because it cleared up just in time for the wedding and we were blessed with this amazing light at sunset.

Before capturing this image I positioned my assistant with a studio light (I soon hope to be patented) from above. The original plan was to photograph Blake dipping his bride. But at the last minute I told Ginger to jump into his arms. She looked at me not knowing what I meant. So I just yelled..."kiss him!" This is what she did....jumped right into his arms and kissed him. And so this image came to be. 

This is actually an image straight out of the camera. I needed to do nothing to it in post production as it just worked. The colors in the sunset came out so vibrant and worthy of being in my Top 10 of the year. 

Tomorrow, I plan to post my Top 5 Images of 2013.....-cg

The sunset and the starfish...

This evening, I hurried to Leo Carrillo Beach in hopes of seeing a sunset like the one I missed yesterday. Instead, I found a starfish and a colorful sunset not quite as good as yesterday's. Still you make the most of what you find and what you are handed.
I barely made it down there in time to drop a tripod and capture the following images....:-) -cg

On a ranch in New Mexico.....

So in the last couple of trips to New Mexico I captured some images at my favorite ranch on the high desert. Here's the time lapse footage. -cg

November 2013: Time Lapse highlights.

Each month I'm going to compile a time lapse highlight of where my travels take me....this is November highlights. From Death Valley to New Mexico. The music used is Matthew Ryan's "Lonely, Not Homesick"