Top 20 Photographs

My 2022 best photos capture the interesting scenes and moments I experienced in 20022 that involve landscapes, people, and my family. 2022 turned out to be a largely uneventful year for me. This year was mainly a continuation of 2021 with no major changes. I did have a few opportunities to travel this year but each trip was about visiting family, which I am grateful for. This was my first full year living outside of Dallas in about 11 years and I must say that I miss Dallas. It is pretty out here in Rowlett by Lake Ray Hubbard but you can take only so many photos of the lake until they are not interesting anymore, a few are included here. It was also my first full year shooting with my Leica camera and my first time in 10 years to not do any film photography. I held a full-time job and taught part-time, twice a week in the evenings, at the University of North Texas. Also, I taught UX Design there as an adjunct professor. And I volunteered at my church to help lead men through addiction recovery. All those things took up so much of my time that this year I took the least amount of photos I have taken since I've been seriously pursuing photography, which has been about 12 years. With all that being said I still feel I captured some great photos that I'm really proud of, so here are my 2022 best photos. My 2022 Best Photos Icy Field I took this photo at the beginning of the year. There was an ice storm and a hard freeze that caused all the trees, plants, and grass to be covered with ice. I went for walk and captured this cool, or cold, photo of what it looked like outside. I really like the texture and color of this photo. An Assassin's Dive This photo is actually a photo I took from within a video game. This year I did some experimenting with virtual photography. Virtual photography is basically photos you take virtually within a virtual environment with a virtual camera. This game is called Assassins Creed Valhalla. It was an awesome game with some incredible visuals. Here you can see more photos I took while playing that game: Virtual Photography From Assassin’s Creed Valhalla. A Former Forest This is a pile of mulch near my apartment. I don't love this photo per se, it actually depicts something I was very disappointed about. That pile of mulch is several shredded trees that once stood in its place. Adjacent to my apartment, there was a large undeveloped wooded land. In those woods, there was a pathway through it that I enjoyed going for walks on. I took the ice photo above while walking along that path. Unfortunately, a few months into the year someone decided they wanted to build on that land. So these huge bulldozers came in and systematically pulled up the trees and shredded them on the spot creating numerous piles of mulch like this one until they were sadly all gone. Behind The Giant Eyeball This is the famous Giant Eyeball sculpture in downtown Dallas. I have photographed that eye many times but this time I happened to be walking along the street behind it. So, I included this photo my best 2022 photos because it captures an angle of that sculpture that most people don't see. Eli Running On The Clouds My wife and I visited my brother David and his family in Lake City, Florida. While there we all went on a day trip to St. Augustine and spent some time at the beach and in town. My nephew Eli loved the beach and enjoyed running around on it. Because of the way the water was reflecting the sky, it looked like he was running on the clouds, it was such a cool and beautiful sight. Trees Taking Over An Abandoned Warehouse During my trip to Lake City, Florida I saw what looked like an abandoned building among tall trees from the side of the road. It was really interesting and cool looking. This is my favorite photo from it because I like how the large tree in the center contrasts with the smooth cement frame behind it. I posted more photos of this abandoned warehouse here: Urbex Of An Abandoned Warehouse In A Florida Pine Forest. Reaching For Bubbles Over the summer my wife's grandmother sadly passed away. She lived in Michigan where my wife, Andrea, is from. After the funeral, Andrea's family had a large family dinner at a barn out in the countryside. The weather was beautiful that day, so the gathering drifted outside. While outside, Andrea's cousin started blowing bubbles at the little kids. The moment was perfect, the background, the lighting, the arrangement of the kids, and the floating bubbles. Fortunately, I had my camera in hand and captured it all. The photo came out looking a bit like a Renaissance painting. A House In Fredericksburg In June, Andrea and I celebrated our 5th wedding anniversary. To celebrate it we made a 4-day trip with our dogs to Fredericksburg and rented an Airbnb there. I included this photo my best 2022 photos because I really liked the natural lighting and how the double arches on the porch looked. Gambit The Min Pin This year Andrea and I added a new member to our family. We bought a miniature pincher puppy and named him Gambit II. We had a min pin a couple of years ago that we completely fell in love with who sadly died of liver disease. So we got another min pin but a puppy this time. He has been such a fun and cute puppy. Still Water At Sunset When I took photos of Lake Ray Hubbard most of them felt lacking to me. So I decided to experiment with slow-shutter photography during the daytime. I bought a dense neutral density filter that allowed me to slow my shutter down for several minutes so I could capture photos like this where the water looked almost smooth as glass. Austin Homelessness I went to Austin for a design conference and while there I went for walks around downtown taking photos. Sadly, all over downtown there were homeless people wandering the streets. Normally, I don't take photos of homeless people unless I have a relationship with them and they give me permission. In this case, I felt it was different because I wasn't capturing the man's face. I really like this photo because his shirtless back shows his humanity and vulnerability which triggers deep empathy for him. Michigan Vegetation During the fall Andrea and I made another trip to Michigan to spend time with her family. I had never been up north during the fall so I was excited to see all the fall colors. I know this photo is not a classic "fall" photo but that's why I love it, so I included it with my best 2022 photos. Unexpected Mail While I was in Michigan I went for a walk in the woods along a creek and unexpectedly discovered this mailbox resting in the roots of a tree. There are no roads or trails around here, so I was really surprised to see it. Lil Soccer Player This is my nephew Cove after his last soccer game of the season. Bridges Vanishing In The Fog One morning it was so foggy outside that I could not see more than a hundred feet in front of me or so. I love it when it gets that foggy, I think it's beautiful and inspiring. It completely transforms the landscape into something totally new for a brief amount of time. As soon as I saw the fog I drove over to these two nearby bridges and captured several photos of them in the fog. If you would like to see more photos of these bridges in the fog I posted the photos of them here: A Bridge In Fog Extending Into The Mysterious White Nothingness A Square At Sunset This is a street sculpture in La Paz, Mexico. The golden sunset-colored square looks amazing against the dark blue evening sky. I've seen this square several times before but this time seeing it in the evening made it pop out and look mysterious and interesting. Palm Covered Pickup When I walked up to this scene I immediately stopped in my tracks. I was instantly enamored with the contrasting textures of the palm tree leaves and the smooth panels on the truck. Also, the unusual color combination of light teal and bright red caught my attention. Death Is Watching This yellow skull was painted on the wall of a dry aqueduct in La Paz, Mexico. I had to go exploring deep into the city to find this photo. I like how his eyes have a sense of life in them while he's peaking at you above the sand. Boardwalk Silhouettes In La Paz, there's a several-mile-long boardwalk that goes along the sea. Every evening there are hundreds of people walking all up and down it. Because of that, there are some awesome photo opportunities such as this one. I included this photo my best 2022 photos because it depicts the energy and beauty that happens there almost every night in La Paz. Two Trees In Lake Fog At the end of the year, there was a cold day that was producing a lot of lake fog on the water. Lake Ray Hubbard is a man-made lake so it has a lot of submerged trees in it. Many of those trees have branches that protrude above the surface. I see these two trees often because I live close to this part of the lake. I have photographed them several times but none of the photos came out as interesting as this one.

Top 20 Photographs

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