Top 10 of 2012

To celebrate the end of 2012, I thought I would post my top ten favorite photos of the year.  It is a little sad I have not had time to post anything from Thailand yet so I decided this would just be the top 10 of what I posted, not of photos taken in 2012.  Having settled in with my new job, I have had the chance to do some traveling and take the most photos since we moved home from Europe.  I was able to photograph places close to home like downtown Vegas, Red Rock Canyon and the Valley of Fire.  We also went to LA for last Christmas and to San Diego just a few months ago.  We took multiple visits to Utah where I shot in Provo Canyon, Brian Head, and Cedar Breaks.  In May, we were able to Washington DC.  I also drove through the Columbia River Gorge and enjoyed shooting Multnomah Falls.  We spent a week in Central Oregon and enjoyed some hiking and shooting there too.  Finally, we went to Thailand and Korea and spent Christmas in Washington, but those pictures haven't been posted yet so they will have to wait for next year.  Without any more rambling, here are my top ten for the year.  If you think something is missing from what you have seen on my blog this year, let me know in the comments.

#10 Venice Beach, California

#9 City Center, Las Vegas

#8 Oceanside, California

#7 George Washington Masonic Memorial, Washington DC

#6 San Diego, California

#5 Smith's Rock, Oregon

#4 Alpine Pond, Cedar Breaks, Utah

#3 Multnomah Falls, Oregon

#2 Cedar Breaks, Utah

#1 Tumalo Falls, Oregon

Oceanside, California

September 3, 2012

Nikon D3100: Tamron 18-270 at 46mm: ISO 100: 1/250 sec.: f/8

Nikon D3100: Tamron 18-270 at 27mm: ISO 100: 1/200 sec.: f/8

Nikon D3100: Tamron 18-270 at 42mm: ISO 100: 1/125 sec.: f/8

Before heading out in the morning, I ran down to the beach at the suggestion of my wife to try and capture the gold reflections in the sand.  Although, it wasn't what she was envisioning, I thought a few came out okay.  This is the last post from our CA trip so hopefully I will get some Thailand photos up soon!

Oceanside, California

September 2, 2012

Nikon D3100: Tamron 18-270 at 23mm: ISO 800: 1/15 sec: f/5

We went for a fantastic walk down the pier at night and were surprised that the whole thing was full of people fishing (and it's a long pier!).  There were a lot of good photo ops, but I didn't want to be the one holding up the walk so I only took a few.  I like how this one just captures the relaxed atmosphere, but I think it would have been better with a star filter to capture the lights.

Oceanside, California

September 2, 2012

Nikon D3100: Tamron 18-270 at 60mm: ISO 800: 1/15 sec.: f/5

Nikon D3100: Tamron 18-270 at 55mm: ISO 800: 1/15 sec.: f/4.8

Nikon D3100: Tamron 18-270 at 55mm: ISO 640: 1/15 sec.: f/6.3

Oceanside, California

September 2, 2012

Nikon D3100: Tamron 18-270 at 78mm: ISO 800: 1/5 sec.: f/5.3

Oceanside, California

September 2, 2012

Nikon D3100: Tamron 18-270 at 23mm: ISO 800: 1/13 sec.: f/3.5

We have made it back from our whirlwind trip to Thailand, but it will be a little while before I get photos ready to post as I took over 1700 pictures while we were there.  In the meantime, I still have some left from our trip to Oceanside, so I will keep those coming.

Oceanside, California

September 2, 2012

Nikon D3100: Tamron 18-270 at 270 mm:  ISO 800: 1/8 sec.: f/6.3

I really loved this lone ship that was off in the sunset, but it was so far away and the mist prevented me from getting a real good shot of it.  I would have loved the tripod so I could have closed down the aperature and taken a longer exposure.

Oceanside, California

September 2, 2012

Nikon D3100: Tamron 18-270 at 32mm: ISO 400: 1/40 sec.: f/7.1

Of the three nights we were there, I only found one night where I could get to the beach for sunset.  Unfortunately, it was also the only night we didn't get a good sunset.  Plus, I didn't have a tripod so there wasn't a whole lot I could do.  Nevertheless, I don't get to the beach very often so I wanted to get what I could.

Oceanside, California

September 2, 2012

Nikon D3100: Tamron 18-270 at 110mm: ISO 400: 1/100 sec.: f/9

Oceanside, California

September 2, 2012

Nikon D3100: Tamron 18-270 at 170 mm: ISO 100: 1/50 sec.: f/22

La Jolla Cove

San Diego, California

September 2, 2012

Nikon D3100: Tamron 18-270 at 42 mm: ISO 400: 1/200 sec.: f/10

La Jolla

San Diego, California

September 2, 2012

Nikon D3100: Tamron 18-270 at 270 mm: ISO 160: 1/125 sec.: f/8

National Cemetary at Loma Lighthouse

San Diego, California

Nikon D3100: Tamron 18-270 at 25 mm: ISO 140: 1/500 sec.: f/11 

As we were leaving the park area through the naval base, I saw this large cemetery out the window.  It reminded me of Arlington, only not as big and with an ocean behind it.  I hopped out of the car and snapped a few pictures from the road.

San Diego Skyline

San Diego, California

September 1, 2012

Nikon D3100: Tamron 18-270 at 270mm: ISO 180: 1/500 sec.: f/11

Loma Lighthouse

San Diego, California

September 1, 2012

Nikon D3100: Tamron 18-270 at 32mm: ISO 360: 1/500 sec.: f/11

The Pier

Oceanside, California

September 1, 2012

It's amazing what a different point of view can do for a photo.  The above shot was taken from a lower angle with a greater zoom.  It makes the pier look as though it is in the midst of raging waters.  The photo below, however, was taken from a wider angle with a side view of the waves.  In this photo, it appears as though the water is actually quite calm.  The truth lies somewhere in the middle: the waves were larger than they appear below and were actually crashing into the pier, but they were  definitely not raging.

Nikon D3100: Tamron 18-270 at 240mm: ISO 200: 1/500 sec./ f/11

Nikon D3100: Tamron 18-270 at 110 mm: ISO 560: 1/30 sec.: f/7.1

Views from Loma Lighthouse

San Diego, California

September 1, 2012

Nikon D3100: Tamron 18-270 at 18mm: ISO 220: 1/500 sec.: f/11

Nikon D3100: Tamron 18-270 at 42mm: ISO 200: 1/500 sec.: f/11

Balboa Park

San Diego, California

September 1, 2012

Nikon D3100: Tamron 18-270 at 30mm: ISO 400: 1/320 sec.: f/11

 This is the Museum of Man.  It was by far the biggest building in Balboa Park.  However, it was way overpriced so we didn't bother to go in.

Nikon D3100: Tamron 18-270 at 50mm: ISO 400: 1/500 sec.: f/11

This is the Botanical Gardens.  If you look in the bottom middle of the photo, you will see a turtle.  There were a few of them in the pond.  The Botanical Garden was free, but pretty boring.  In fact, pretty much all of Balboa Park was boring.  We spent most of our time there waiting for the free bus to take us back to the parking lot.

Lily Pad

Peterson Rock Garden, Redmond, Oregon

August 11, 2012

Nikon D3100: Tamron 18-270 at 270mm: ISO 100: 1/250 sec.: f/8

Peacock at Peterson's Rock Museum

Redmond, Oregon

August 11, 2012

Nikon D3100: Tamron 18-270 at 78mm: ISO 160: 1/125 sec.: f/8

Smith's Rock, Oregon

August 11, 2012

Nikon D3100: Tamron 18-270 at 23mm: ISO 400: 1/400 sec.: f/11

 Smith's Rock, Oregon

August 11, 2012

Nikon D3100: Tamron 18-270 at 18mm: ISO 100: 1/8 sec.: f/16: Hoya ND 8

Nikon D3100: Tamron 18-270 at 18mm: ISO 400: 1/400 sec.: f/11

These shots were taken from the bridge crossing over the Crooked River.  Looking at the river, I really wish I would have used my polarizer.  The top photo was taken with my Hoya ND 8 filter at a slower shutter speed and smaller aperture.  The bottom photo was taken without the filter so I had to open up the aperture and increase the shutter speed.  Let me know which one you like better.

Smith's Rock, Oregon

August 11, 2012

Nikon D3100: Tamron 18-270 at 25 mm: ISO 400: 1/500 sec.: f/11

Nikon D3100: Tamron 18-270 at 18 mm: ISO 100: 1/250 sec.: f/8

 Smith's Rock came highly recommended so we got the whole family together and headed out in the morning.  It was only about 20 minutes north of Redmond so the drive wasn't bad.  However, it was hot and we had lots of kids so by the time we hiked down to the river, everyone was ready to go.  That was okay because, although hiking through the rocks would have been fun, we have plenty of red rock around Vegas.  What we don't have in Vegas is red rock next to a river so I was able to get the shot I wanted.  I would have preferred to shoot this with a wider angle so I could have capture more of the windy river, aptly named Crooked River, but you make due with what you have.

Thanksgiving in Thailand!

We just booked tickets for Thanksgiving in Thailand! planning on spending 3 days in/around Bangkok area, 3 days in the Phi Phi islands, and then we get a 12 hour layover to go see Seoul, Korea!  It is a vacation with the wife so there may not be a ton of time shooting photos, but if anyone out there has advice on what to shoot or just general tips for Thailand/Korea, please leave comments!

Blue Belly Lizard

Smith's Rock, Oregon

August 11, 2012

Nikon D3100: Tamron 18-270 at 270 mm: ISO 400: 1/100 sec.: f/8

Nikon D3100: Tamron 18-270 at 270 mm: ISO 320: 1/125 sec.: f/8

Nikon D3100: Tamron 18-270 at 270 mm: ISO 100: 1/250 sec.: f/8

We visited Smith's Rock in the morning and did a quick hike down to the river.  These Blue Belly Lizards were pretty easy to spot so I took a few photos.  The top photo is a lizard climbing on the wooden fence.  There wasn't much color so the photo was kind of boring, but I liked the grains in the wood and felt going black & white helped those to pop out.  I was surprised at the shallow depth of field on the middle photo considering it was shot at f/8, but I like how it draws you into the eyes of the lizard and also shows how camouflage they are as the back legs blur into the rock.  I am not a big fan of the bottom photo because there are grass strands that blurred in front of the lizard, but this was the only shot I got that really captured the blue of the lizard.

Tumalo Falls

Central Oregon

August 10, 2012

Nikon D3100: Tamron 18-270 at 42 mm: ISO 100: 1/2 sec.: f/22: Hoya ND 8

I'm throwing this one in last minute as I had ruled it out earlier; however, the more I looked at it, the more I liked the tree in the front.

Tumalo Falls

Central Oregon

August 10, 2012

Nikon D3100: Tamron 18-270 at 30mm: ISO 100: .30 sec.: f/16: Hoya ND 8

Nikon D3100: Tamron 18-270 at 18mm: ISO 100: 1/4 sec.: f/14: Hoya ND 8

Nikon D3100: Tamron 18-270 at 18mm: ISO 100: 1/5 sec.: f/16: Hoya ND 8

I didn't have a whole lot of time to hike around the falls and capture a lot of different shots, but these were my favorite close-ups of the falls.

Tumalo Falls

Central Oregon near Bend

August 10, 2012

Nikon D3100: Tamron 18-270 at 18mm: ISO 100: .30 Sec.: f/22: Hoya ND 8

 Tumalo Falls is a great waterfall just outside of Bend.  The picture below was taken from the viewpoint just off the parking lot.  For the shot above, I had to climb over the guard rail and climb down the steep hill and through a little water.  Knowing that I was going to shoot this water and that I wouldn't make it there in low light, I purchased a Hoya ND 8 filter and was excited to use it for the first time.  I was really pleased with the results.  With the filter I was able to slow the shutter speed down and capture the movement of the water without losing out on the colors in the bright sun.

Nikon D3100: Tamron 18-270 at 18mm: ISO 100: .8 sec: f/22: Hoya ND 8