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2023 Year in Review

Jan 01, 2024 Portfolio

I’m not one for marking the new year by many of the traditional means, but I do enjoy the excuse to look back at the photos I take each year to reflect on some of my favorite experiences, see the trends in what caught my eye this year, and to motivate myself to do it all again next year.

This year was definitely one of travel. Four continents, 40,000 air miles, and over 11,000 photos taken. Below are 30 favorites with a little about why I consider them among my favorites of 2023.

A lot of my top photos this year are from Antarctica. A bucket-list trip, for sure, but also very recent and top-of-mind still. This photo was one of my favorite landscape photos of the trip.
A long exposure of a Southern Fulmar taking flight.
I loved the appearance of the penguins lining up to get on the ship.
Beautiful light in the Beagle Channel.
I loved this whole scene – the seal, his path up from the water, and the surrounding landscape.
A Pelican in St James Park, London. The light was just right to make him pop on a dark background. He stood there unfazed by the tourists giving me ample time to make a photograph.
Something closer to home, up near Loveland Pass. We were driving over the pass when I noticed the light and how green the landscape was still that late in the season. I don’t even remember why I had my camera with me, but I was glad I did.
Two guides chat in their zodiacs while it snows in Antarctica. The weather might be saying stay inside, yet their relaxed demeanor suggests it’s business as usual (and it was).
One of the first photographs that really jumped out at me when reviewing my photos. The light and color were great, but what stood out was the scale of the ice we were near.
Lago Fagnano in Argentina. We had stopped here for some mate (a herbal drink) and to enjoy the view.
The London Bridge as viewed through a window at the Tower of London. The last time I was in London I was disappointed by how good the weather was – that wasn’t the London I heard about! – and this time it made up for it and then some with regular steady rain. Now, that was London.
The small island of Inisheer off the west coast of Ireland. Walking around here was a highlight of this trip to Ireland for me.
Did someone say rain? The lighthouse on Inisheer. I saw the bikers coming down the road behind me so I waited for them to enter this scene before taking this photo. The bird was a bonus.
Penguins. So many penguins (all Gentoo Penguins seen in these photos). It was hard to only pick a few photos to share here. Maybe I should have done my top 30 penguin photos of 2023…
US 6 approaching Arapahoe Basin Ski Area (ABasin). I specifically went out to get this photo as I had envisioned it many times while driving down this road. I was glad all the pieces came together this evening.
Lake Maria in the Snowy Range, Wyoming. It was a beautiful morning, but more so, I met the granddaughter (maybe great-granddaughter) of Maria while at the lake. A very unexpected experience.
A moose chomping away at sunset one night in Wyoming, which, I believe, is where moose come from. Or, at least, I’ve seen more moose in Wyoming than anywhere else.
A wind farm in northeast Colorado. An unexpected photo opportunity while driving home from Pawnee Buttes National Grasslands.
A lone rower at sunrise, Sloans Lake, Denver.
A Black-browed Albatross in the Southern Ocean. Taken on the journey across the Drake Passage.
What would Ireland be without the sheep? I don’t want to know. An evening encounter with the locals in the Connemara region of Ireland.
A friendly horse greeting us on Inisheer Island, part of the Aran Islands, Ireland. He may have had ulterior motives, hoping for a snack.
Icebergs floating by. There were so many, just one after the other.
Every iceberg was unique in shape and size. And each one’s appearance changed as we went by with the light and our viewing angle shifting.
I was messing around photographing the banana plants in the rain when this little guy, a Bananaquit, poked his head out.
Similarly, I was photographing this Spiralflag Ginger when a Dominican Graceful Anole jumped on it before looking around briefly and jumping off to his next plant.
A snowy scene from here in Colorado. Fresh snow at sunrise on the Flatirons at the edge of Boulder.
Watching the sunset from the Gran Torre Santiago, the tallest skyscraper in Latin America (Santiago, Chile). For being a crowded tourist site, there was a strange sense of calm that permeated the space as everyone watched the sun set over the city.

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