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"Lunar Eclipse Blood Moon over Phoenix"

My top ten favorite photos from 2014

With tomorrow being the first day of 2015 and rain actually falling outside my RV here in the Phoenix desert I thought it would be the perfect time to reflect on some of my favorite photos that I released in 2014.

Here is my top 10 favorite photographs from 2014 in no particular order.

1) “Thunderstorm over Santa Fe” – Santa Fe, New Mexico.

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A thunderstorm with lighting rolls in during sunset in Santa Fe, New Mexico over the Jemez Mountains in this composite photograph.

This was photographed right behind where my RV is parked in the summer in Santa Fe, which is located on a hill overlooking the valley providing me with a fantastic view for storms.

2) “Corvette Parking Only” – Route 66 in Arizona

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A red corvette is parked under a “Corvette Parking Only” sign outside the General Store along Route 66 in Hackberry, Arizona in this vintage spring photograph.

3) “Lunar Eclipse Blood Moon over Phoenix” – North Scottsdale, AZ

Lunar Eclipse Blood Moon over Phoenix

From 10:45pm April 14 to 2:45am April 15 we were treated to a full lunar eclipse in Arizona.

This 18 photo composite shows the entire eclipse starting with the moon on the far left, peaking with a blood moon at 12:46am in the top center moon, and ending at 2:45am on the right.

Read how I photographed and created this composite photograph.

4) “Blood Moon over Abiquiu” – Abiquiu, New Mexico

Blood Moon over Abiquiu

This 6 photo composite of the blood moon lunar eclipse was photographed in Abiquiu, NM at La Santa Rosa de Lima – an old adobe church built in 1734.

This accurately shows the position of the moon during the various stages of the eclipse. The scene was photographed with a wide angle lens on my Sony a7R and the moon was photographed with a telephoto on my Sony a7.

Raw files were processed in Capture One Pro and further enhanced with a beta of Onone, Inc.’s Perfect Photo Suite 9, followed by some minor adjustments in Photoshop.

Read a behind-the-scenes account of how I photographed and created this photo here.

5) “Peaceful Easy Feeling” – Zion National Park, Utah

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Hiking in the Narrows in Zion National Park, Utah is an experience not to be forgotten, and this is one of my favorite locations in there.

This was my second time in a couple years that I hiked into the Narrows to photograph. On this particular day the water temp was in the upper 40’s and the air temp was in the upper 50’s – a rather pleasant day to be out for a hike in the river.

I photographed this on the way back out when the light was nice and soft. I did about 8 miles hiking that day and this was one of the last scenes I photographed.

Kneeling in the water I was able to get my camera up close to the rock, providing me with a strong foreground element. Photographing during peak fall foliage gave me wonderful yellow leaves that stand out against the orange canyon wall behind.

6) “Into the Narrows” – Zion National Park, Utah

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This was my second time in a couple years that I hiked into the Narrows to photograph. On this particular day the water temp was in the upper 40’s and the air temp was in the upper 50’s – a rather pleasant day to be in there.

In order to get great color reflecting off the canyon walls all you need is a sunny day. Today however it was mostly cloudy except for an hour or so when the sun was out and I was creating this photo.

Kneeling down in the water I was able to get just a few photos taken before other hikers came around the corner into view. Patience was the word of the day as I would have to wait for them to walk upstream and past me before I was able to start photographing again. This repeated for quite some time until I got the image I was after.

7) “Barn in Black & White – the Tetons” – Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming

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A striking cloud formation provides drama above a wooden barn at Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming.

8) “Let’s Go for a Swing” – Arizona State Fair

Click on the photo to view the photo gallery.

The Arizona State Fair provided numerous photo opportunities and this was by far my favorite. This photo wouldn’t be complete without the motion I added to the clouds in the sky. That was accomplished by removing the sky in Perfect Photo Suite 9 and replacing it with a sky background which I added some blur movement to.

9) “Cotton Candy Sunset in the Desert” – North Scottsdale, Arizona

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This panoramic was photographed in northern Scottsdale and is a multi-stitched panoramic consisting of 9 separate photos.

This particular spot has been a favorite location of mine recently as it is just a short walking distance from where I spend my winters in Arizona. On this night the sky gave me quite a show and I was in the right place at the right time.

10) “Sonoran Desert DeLight” – North Scottsdale, Arizona

Sonoran-Desert-DeLight-1400

The Sonoran Desert in Arizona often has a magical beauty to it during sunset. The cholla cactus glow and the sky lights up with color and feeling and for a moment everything is just perfect.

Photographed in late winter in North Scottsdale, Arizona.

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