Top 9, 2022
Whenever I sit down to pick my favorite nine nature images from the year, I’m always a little surprised by which ones I gravitate toward. They aren’t always the images that look the best in a small grid, but I like them for different reasons.
Three of these images are from travels outside the Bay Area: the green sea turtle (Chelonia mydas) in Hawaii, the bighorn sheep (Ovis canadensis) in Colorado, and the island fox (Urocyon littoralis) in the Channel Islands. I mainly like the sea turtle image because of the composition and the way it blended into the rocks on a pristine beach, but there are also sentimental reasons as I traveled so far to see one. The bighorn sheep, photographed with @deirdredenaliphotography, stood out because I couldn’t believe we found one in such perfectly snowy conditions. And the island fox felt like such a playful encounter peeking out from the long grass.
The northern elephant seal (Mirounga angustirostris) image was a favorite purely because of the action. The harsh light and composition weren’t ideal, but witnessing this clash was epic. Equally, the California newts (Taricha torosa) photo was about a different kind of action. The image was shot underwater and isn’t perfectly sharp, but again, it was all about the moment and trying something new.
I loved the peregrine (Falco peregrinus) image for more technical reasons, simply because I managed to freeze it in motion as it flew directly in front of me. Practice and timing paid off. Meanwhile, in Monterey, I captured many very average humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) pictures. I can’t say I planned this, but the image with the tiny anchovy (Engraulidae) was a lucky capture I was delighted to discover on my memory card. I hadn’t seen a picture like that before.
And finally, there are a couple of backlit images of a tule elk (Cervus canadensis nannodes) and a bobcat (Lynx rufus), photographed with @danieldietrichphoto. I was deliberately trying to create a silhouette of the elk, but when I saw the birds fluttering towards it, I held down the shutter and hoped for something interesting. And no top 9 would be complete without a bobcat. This one made a frigid afternoon worth every second.
