Well, not really a top ten list but rather ten images selected from my photography adventures over this past year, in chronological order:

Brown Pelican, St. Augustine, Florida

Manarola, Cinque Terre, Italy

Mission San Francisco de Asis, Ranchos de Taos, New Mexico

Great Falls Park, Virginia

Young Elephant Seal, Piedras Blancos, California

Horses at Hearst Castle, California

Garrapata State Park, California

Farmland in the area around Palouse, Washington

Reflection Lakes, Mount Rainier National Park, Washington

Stream in the Smoky Mountains, North Carolina

A couple days after the devastating storm called Sandy moved up the east coast, I drove over to Great Falls, Virginia to photograph the Potomac River. The water level was high from the torrential rains. The river narrows down to a rocky chute in this spot and the scenery was quite dramatic.

At the end of October I attended a 3 day workshop in the Smoky mountains, photographing the fall color.  This was the first time I had been to the southeastern side of Great Smoky Mountains National Park  and the surrounding landscape of the Blue Ridge Parkway. It’s an area with fewer crowds than the north side of the park but with just as many streams, waterfalls and beautiful mountain views.

A few spots had passed peak color but in many areas the color was still spectacular. The weather was perfect, the workshop was highly educational and my fellow photographers were a joy to shoot with. A lot of photography over the 3 days…more images at this link.

I traveled to Blackwater Falls State Park, WV this past weekend to check out the fall tree color. The trees have changed there as evidenced by the golden colored leaves dotting this view of Elekala Falls. There was also change in the air temperature there as the thermometer gauge in my car registered 23 degrees outside and frost covered everything in the meadows of Canaan Valley State Park, which added a little early winter to the fall scene.

After spending a couple of great days in the Palouse farmlands, Mount Rainier National Park was the next stop. Even though it was mid August, the wildflowers had just recently started blooming in this subalpine region, making it feel like springtime. Lupine, Paintbrush, Beargrass and Avalanche Lilies were popping out everywhere.

Mount Rainier is a massive mountain, an active volcano, in the Cascade Range in western Washington. It stands at 14,410 feet and dominates the surrounding landscape. One morning the winds were calm providing a nice reflection of  the mountain in the appropriately named, Reflection Lake. To see more images from Mount Rainier National Park, click here.

 If you’re interested in photographing in this part of the country,  photographer Jennifer King will be offering workshops in the Palouse and Mount Rainier areas next year. For more information, click here .

I visited the Palouse area of eastern Washington state recently for the first time. This area is famous for its farmlands, where  thousands of acres are covered in wheat fields, beans, peas and lentils.  The region is dotted with old farm buildings, trucks and tractors and has been growing in popularity with photographers over the last couple of years.

Some of the older structures, like the collapsed barn below, have seen better days but they are usually left to weather each year without being torn down.

Beyond the photographic qualities of the old farm buildings, is the land itself.  There are very few stretches of land that is level in the Palouse.  It is a rolling hill environment that along with the geometric layouts of the planted fields, creates quite beautiful landscapes. One lone peak in the area, called Steptoe Butte, rises hundreds of feet above the surrounding farmland allowing a wonderful perspective of the fields and the local terrain.

To see more images from the Palouse, click here.

Moss Landing State Beach in California is a wonderful place to see a large variety of marine life.  From the Sea Lions piled on top of each other sleeping on a pier, to Harbor Seals relaxing on the beach, not to mention Sea Otters and shore birds by the dozens.  Moss Landing S.B. was scheduled to be closed by this time, along with many other California State Parks due to funding limitations but thankfully, money was found to keep almost every park open this summer, including Moss Landing.

To see more images from my recent trip to the California coast, click here.

To schedule your own trip to this wonderful area of the country, click here.