Here are my top 12 photos of 2020 in the order in which they occurred. It was not easy to narrow the picks, so I have a link to a larger “Best of…” collection here.

If you see something you would like to have as a print, please contact me with the title of the photo, size, and any other information. Enjoy!

Del Dios Sunrise was taken at the end of last year. This is a hike I often do as a workout. This morning I was hiking up to an overlook of the lake below, but I got started too late. This hike usually takes about 1.5 hours. I was about 1 hour in and I was going to miss the good light of sunrise. Just then I noticed, in twilight-darkness, a turn-off from the trail that took me to this amazing view, only 2 minutes from the main trail. What a find! Serendipitous! There is a lake under all those clouds.

Spring brought the Covid-19 shutdown and the closing of almost all trails. I resorted to hiking my neighborhood and taking photos on gardens. My favorite of these was this rose. The sun was just emerging from behind the side of house and softly backlighting the rose.

In June I traveled to Utah. On one of my days there, I hiked this beautiful slot canyon. I learned to observe how the light plays off the walls of the canyon, changing with every step.

I went backpacking in July to one of my favorite locations in the Sierra Mountains. My main goal here was to capture the Milky Way over the mountains, but the photo below was my favorite, as the remnants of a storm was just clearing out.

In October I spent a week in Zion National Park, wandering the canyons, amongst amazing fall colors.

While wandering the canyons, I came across several other photographers. One was kind enough to offer a suggestion of another canyon to explore in a different section of the park. There was one meadow at this location where I spent several hours, it was so beautiful. I would hear other hikers pass by the meadow with quiet exclamations of awe.

In November I went to Death Valley National Park to experience a sand storm on the dunes.

Snow came the San Diego mountains in early November. While hiking, I noticed the gnarly roots of these two giant oaks clutching the ground. The forest of Palomar Mountain State Park is different than others in southern California. I think it gets more moisture, thus the it is surprising lush.

Thank you for following my blog. I hope you all have a happy, healthy and prosperous new year.

Your task in not to seek for love, but merely to seek and find all the barriers within yourself that you have built against it.

Rumi

Click here to view the rest of the Best of 2020 collection.