Favorite Images of 2014: 10-6

Well...Happy New Year everyone! Reflecting on 2014, photographically, as any other year, it was a learning experience. That is what I love about photography. You can never know everything. And while I spent a lot of time traveling to unique places and crossing photos off my bucket list, I find that list getting longer and longer. So I'm excited about the new places to photograph in 2015! With that said, I'm continuing my list of favorite photos/moments of 2014.....

Here are 10-6

10. Flowers in the dark....

Light painting is one of my favorite things to do. I don't typically sell my light painting images. They are what I do as my hobby within photography. We all need a hobby. And when photographing people, or weddings, or even landscapes becomes "work", light painting is my creative outlet. I took this series of images in the complete darkness. There is no Photoshop applied. They are simply long exposures shot in the dark using flowers, flashlights, and glowstick flashlights. If you are into light painting, I highly suggest buying glow stick flashlights by LifeGear. It's what I use in nearly all my glowstick photography. Indoor and out. And best of all...they are waterproof and float! I put these images on my list simply because they were so fun to create!

9. Leo Carrillo Beach

When I look at all my files for 2014. I noticed one thing. I spent more time shooting sunsets, portraits, and weddings at Leo Carrillo in 2014 than any other beach in Malibu. It has grown to be my favorite beach to visit in Malibu simply because there is so much variety there. Even at night, this place is a fun place to shoot. There's even a cave. The images above are just a couple of my favorites from this year at this unique beach.

8. Star trails over Mono Lake.

I love star trails. I love reflections. Mono Lake is a perfect place to capture both. I used my cell phone flashlight to light the foreground on the last frame of this star trail series. This night is one I won't forget. Namely because I didn't go to bed. It was a classic "all nighter". 

7. Star trails and light painting in Iceland. 

On my very first night chasing the Northern Lights in Iceland a photographer friend of mine spotted this abandoned farmhouse while driving on the Northerneastern Peninsula of Iceland. Somewhere near the small town of Hellnar the abandoned house seemed like a perfect foreground structure for the Northern Lights. Unfortunately,  true to their reputation, the northern lights eluded us that night. It was so cold and so quiet and so peaceful there that the memory of it is one of my favorites of 2014. The first night in Iceland and realizing you are in a place you've dreamed of visiting for years is a wonderful feeling. I set up three cameras that night. Two for timelapse, and one for regular stills. This image came from the regular still camera. I wanted to paint the structure and did so with the aforementioned Lifegear lights. I have this structure in Red, and Blue, and Purple, but this one was my favorite. The structure complimented the star trails and easily became one of my favorite photos from this trip.  

6. Alabama Hills at night...and a little luck.

The Mobius Arch within the Alabama Hills on the Eastern Sierra Mountains is a beautiful place for photography. The Milky Way shines right over the arch in the summer and the dark skies there are absolutely magnificent. The top image I painted with a classic flashlight. I used a non LED flashlight so that I could get that "warm" color upon the arch.

The second image was pure luck. I was able to capture a fireball streaking across the sky as the Moon set behind the famous Mt. Whitney. Having the Milky Way in the image was a bonus. Upon seeing this image, I was certain it would be one of my favorites of 2014. Did I make a wish? You bet I did. :-)


Tomorrow I will add my Top Five Favorite/Best photos of 2014! Happy New Year everyone! -cg

Favorite Images of 2014: 16-11

It's that time again, when I gather my favorite (not necessarily my best photos) photos of the year and put them into one file that I simply title "2014 Favorites". As I sit at my computer, I look at the number of images I've captured this year. It's safe to say that I've taken more photos in 2014 than any prior year.

Although, I've taken some favorite wedding and portraits images in 2014, my list this year is strictly art based. Perhaps I will make a list only for Portraits and Weddings if I have time....

So here are my 15 favorite photography moments/images of the 2014.

16. The Milky Way over Malibu.

It's not secret that I love taking photos at night. I love the Milky Way. And photographing "the snake", better known as Malibu Canyon Road, from above is one of my favorite locations to shoot sunset. But when a marine layer moves in over Malibu, it absorbs much of the light from below. The result is a rather clear view of the Milky Way over Malibu. This is one of my favorite images of the year simply because I spent so much time there, and because I was able to successfully capture an image I've had in my mind for a long time. 

15. The amazing clouds one day in March...

It was probably the coolest sky I've witnessed in LA and I remember this day clearly. Had it not been a picture text I received from a friend, I would have missed this spectacle. I literally grabbed two cameras and drove 5 minutes away to Malibu Creek State Park. I knew exactly that this tree was going to be a perfect subject for the clouds. So I quickly set up the 6D for a timelapse and began shooting images with the 5D. The images above are just a few images I captured in a 15 minute time span. A portion of the timelapse I captured on this day is HERE.

 14.  The Joshua Tree garden....

I guess you could say 2014 was my year of Panoramic Photography. This is just one of many I captured this year. I call in "Joshua Tree Garden". Shot at 400mm in about 8 different sections. The compression factor created by a long lens is one of my favorite effects.

13. Early morning in San Francisco. 

Early morning July 4th. 3:30 am to be precise. This is San Francisco in the only few hours that the fog cleared. I was hoping to get lucky on July 4th to capture the fireworks display and the Golden Gate Bridge, but anyone from San Francisco can tell you that that is asking for a lot. Regardless, this is one of my favorite panoramic images of the year. Totaling only 100 Megapixels you can see the full image HERE.

12. The details at Yosemite.

I've spent lots of time photographing the magnificent Yosemite National Park. And I've got a couple images in my Top 16 this year, just like I did last year. But this image is not El Capitan, Half Dome, or any of the iconic waterfalls within the park. It was taken from Tunnel View however. Taken at 300mm as part of a large panoramic image of the full Valley the final image was about 200 megapixels. Ironically, I loved this image more than the whole.

11. Gullfoss Waterfall

What can I say? Iceland was a dream come true and I captured so many photos there, I could make a whole blog entry on my favorite images of that country alone. This was taken right by the waterfall that falls deep into a canyon. The path to this location was closed due to the large amount of ice and the risk of slipping into the waterfall, but that didn't stop me from venturing down to this awesome location. The ice cold water and snow is so blue...so memorable. As I write this, I can hardly wait for my return trip around the whole island of Iceland in March 2015.

In the coming days I will continue this countdown.....-cg

Three Days at Yosemite....

Over this past week, I've spent three days photographing the valley of Yosemite National Park. Yosemite is among one of my favorite places in the world to photograph. Of all the times I've been there, I've never seen the same light on the same mountains. It's a unique place, that is adored by all photographers professional or amateur. In the coming days, I will be posting some of the images I captured of this magnificent national treasure.

In the meantime, here is a preview of some images. But I'd like to share this image first. It is a 200 megapixel image of Yosemite Falls with clouds and reflection.
http://gigapan.com/gigapans/167090

And here are some previews of other images. All of which have been captured at very large resolutions for large prints. Enjoy! :-)

-cg

December Sky...

You have to love December in Southern California. It is our "sunset season". Here's what I'm talking about. I captured this shortly after shooting a family session at Westward Beach. The color did not disappoint. :-)

I used a Tiffen 3-Stop ND filter to help me with color and to get assist in the silky look on the water.