2020 Favorite Images
When you take pictures throughout the year, it’s a bit daunting to cull them down to a few favorites for the entire year. In some instances, the images I’ve selected among my 2020 favorites are representative of a series of images taken on one day, or during one trip. These represent diverse locations and circumstances — landscapes, wildlife, flowers - but they have at least two things in common. One, the majority were a welcome diversion from the pandemic that dominated our lives in 2020; photography and social distancing work well together. And two, at the moment I captured each, I knew that I might have something special…a likely keeper because of the light at that exact moment, the fortune to be at the right place at the right time, a compelling subject, or some other circumstance making the moment unique is some way.
I look forward to discovering and capturing more unique moments in 2021.
Chasing sunrises, and sunsets, is like a roll of the dice. Some mornings come up “snake eyes” - overcast and cloudy, or perhaps sunny without a cloud in the sky, still nice but not particularly unique. Some mornings though, like this one in Bethany Beach, DE, this summer, are well-worth the early wake-up call.
This baby rabbit’s leisurely pose under a Norfolk Pine in my backyard is priceless…and infuriating. This particular rabbit devoured annuals and perennials in my yard all yearlong, squarely placing me in the role of a frustrated “Mr. McGregor” playing the foil to this Wiley “Peter Rabbit.”
I live in the Brandywine Valley, which runs from Southeastern Pennsylvania into northern Delaware, and I’ll grab my camera and drive around for an hour or so on random mornings or afternoons looking to capture its beauty. This horse walking along a hilltop in a farm in Chester County was part of a beautiful silhouette against the setting sun.
Eating breakfast one summer morning, I noticed how the light was hitting this hibiscus and raindrops from the preceding night’s storm in my backyard. Right place, right time…
The arrival of the Comet NEOWISE in late July 2020 - something not to be seen again for another 6,800 years - was enticing for many photographers. Where I live, the night sky wasn’t dark enough to see the comet with the naked eye. Using a combination of binoculars and reports of where in the sky to look, I pointed my camera lens (mounted on a tripod) in what seemed like the right direction. After some trial-and-error, I was able to locate the comet using a long exposure.
Bombay Hook National Wildlife Refuge is located along the eastern coast of Kent County, Delaware. It is a refuge, breeding ground and migratory stop for waterfowl along the Atlantic Flyway. On this particular morning March, it was also a nice respite from the pandemic and early days of related travel restrictions.
“Floral portraits” reveal the unique, often fine details of flowers, like these Gerber Daisies.
During a fall trip to Michigan and Wisconsin, I visited about a dozen of the nearly 100 lighthouses that surround Lake Michigan, which behaves more like an ocean than a lake. Each one is unique. The Ludington North Breakwater Light, pictured here, along the western Michigan coast, is nearly 100 years old.
This summer, I took a 30-minute side trip to Hickory Run State Park en route to visit friends in the Pocono Mountains. Worth it!
Chester County represents pastoral life at its best. If you look closely, you can see the small yellow flashes of hundreds of fireflies.
Several times a year I visit the Conowingo Dam along the Susquehanna River in northern Maryland, home to a number of bald eagles and a migratory stop for at least 100 more, from juveniles like this one to mature bald eagles.
Hoping that 2021 brings better days ahead, and many beautiful sunrises like this one.