Backwards, Forwards

Digital imaging has brought so many capabilities we never dreamed of in the film era. Today I used Lightroom's metadata filter to bring up all of the images I made in 2016. The total is 5,789. Could I select just one as my favorite of 2016?

I took time to scroll through all of them, for a couple of reasons. First, some images look much better when I haven't seen them for a while. (Why is that? Maybe because I recover the "first impression" that made me shoot it originally but which can get lost when working too long on an image. Or maybe because the additional inspection increases the chance I'll see something I missed before, not that each of five thousand will get many seconds of review.) I found several to fiddle with, including two that wanted to be black and white:

Milford Sound Sydney lamppost The second reason for looking through all of them is, of course, the chance to remember where I've been and what I've seen this past year; to re-visualize 2016. Susan and I traveled to Australia, New Zealand and Mexico. There is much to recall and review, beyond the photos I've already posted from those trips. But one shot from close to home at one of my favorite locations, the Great Falls of the Potomac, seemed worth a second look: Kayaker at Great Falls of the Potomac So the look backwards was worthwhile. Truth be told, though, I knew all along which image I like best from 2016. This shot of Kata Tjuta in central Australia still makes me happiest. Kata Tjuta Looking forward, I wish you and yours much happiness in 2017.

New Zealand's South Island

Photography is a wonderful pastime. With a bit of equipment and free time you can explore and create worlds of entirely new images. Heck, you can create new images without setting foot outdoors, not to mention what you can do in software.

Landscape photography, on the other hand, pretty much requires getting out and going to the places you'd like to capture. If you can combine a love of landscape shooting with some wanderlust, you're a lucky shutterbug. I felt lucky indeed to spend time on New Zealand's South Island, more than 9,000 miles from home and surrounded by scenic riches.

South Island's western coast is marked by steep green hillsides and rocky outcrops. At Punakaiki are the Pancake Rocks, formed by the differential weathering and erosion of thinly layered limestone into stacks, blow holes and surge pools. 

West Coast of South Island

Pancake Rocks

Towers at Pancake Rocks

Near the coast in the Southern Alps is the Franz Josef Glacier. It has advanced and receded often in historical times but has been receding since 2008. It ends about 12 miles from the Tasman Sea. A hike up its rock-strewn valley was exhilarating and eye-opening.

Franz Josef Glacier

Franz Josef Glacier terminus

Waiho River below glacier

Braided rivers are common in New Zealand. We saw them on the North and South Islands, and not just where glaciers are feeding them large amounts of sediment.

Waimakariri (?) River, a braided channel

Further inland is Queenstown on the shore of Lake Wakatipu, a big beautiful lake surrounded by striking mountains. 

Lake Wakatipu and Walter Peak, from Bob's Peak

Cecil Peak and Lake Wakatipu

And there's more: the fjord known as Milford Sound. It deserves it's own posting so I'll end this one here.