Top 10 of 2014

Below are my Top 10 of 2014 (not in any particular order). I didn't spend nearly as much time underwater this year, but that's going to change for 2015. My bride, Carolita, is now SCUBA certified!

In 2014, we spent a lot more time in the wilderness, doing adventure photography, hiking and backpacking.

1. A dreamy tempest. I'll start them off with one of my first really long exposure shots at a local beach in La Jolla. There is a narrow window of light where, with the filters I have, you can do a long exposure (60 seconds in this case). This also happens to be where we got married later in the year. :)



2. Stormy beach in Olympic National Park. We fell in love with Olympic National Park and spent a day at the beach after our backpacking trip (see below). In Washington, they don't get drift wood on the beaches, they get drift trees!



3. The Hoh River Trail in Olympic National Park, WA. This was Carolita's first backpacking trip (my first since I was in Boy Scouts 25 years ago) and we absolutely loved it. The lush temperate rainforest in Olympic is simply amazingly green and lush. Quite a contrast to my native San Diego.



4. Mineral Creek along the Hoh River Trail. This is one of the scenic waterfalls along the trail. It is only about 2.5 miles from the campground and ranger station, so it's easily accessible as a day hike.



5. Nymph Lake in Rocky Mountain National Park, CO. I got to do a day trip with a co-worker in Rocky Mountain National Park. We did a nice hike to 4 different lakes and had beautiful conditions.



6. Lake Haiyaha in the rain, Rocky Mountain National Park, CO. This was the farthest lake we reached on our day hike and this is a panoramic shot measuring apprxomimately 16000 x 5700 pixels. This would fill a wall nicely and at full resolution, you can see the individual rings from each rain drop.



7. Twilight Union. Self portrait wedding shot of Carolita & myself. It was a magical evening.



8. The iconic Subway along the Left Fork of the North River, Zion National Park, UT. We did a 12 hour hike to the Subway and it was totally worth it. It was our favorite hike on our honeymoon in Zion National Park.



9. Archangel Falls in the Fall, Left Fork of North Creek, Zion NP, Utah. The other beauty along the hike to the Subway. An amazing waterfall that you hike up.



10. Moray Eel (California Moray) at the Marine Room dive site in La Jolla, CA. My first dive with a macro lens in over a year and a half and in only 15 feet of water. You just never know what you're going to find!