2024 - Best or Favorite Images

[Kayaker72]

Below are a few of my favorite images of 2024:

What made this shot of the short-eared owl stand out a bit for me is that a niece who also enjoys photography was out with me. We took her down to Parker River NWR and happened to come across this Short Eared Owl working the fields.
537A1659 by kayaker72, on Flickr

As I travel for work I often spend the first day walking around trying to stave off jet lag until I can go to sleep at a normal time. This was taken while I was very jet lagged.
537A6634 by kayaker72, on Flickr

Second part of the UK trip was a series of conferences in Belgium. In between I managed a side trip to Bruge. I really enjoyed seeing these two pigeons make their home in the side of an old brick wall overlooking one of the canals.

537A6842 by kayaker72, on Flickr


I'll do two from the eclipse. The weather was hit or miss leading up to the day of the eclipse. We had positioned ourselves in a house rental under totality just outside Austin TX (Spicewood). The forecast was not great, but looking at the app Astrospheric, it gave us a window right at the time of the eclipse. The decision the night before was to stay put. The alternative was to drive hours north. I learned after the fact that my sister lost sleep the night before and almost woke me up to drive north. Leading up to the eclipse, hour by hour it was hit and miss, but the window in the clouds estimated by Astrospheric did not waver....in the end, we were rewarded.

537A7583 by kayaker72, on Flickr

In Explore - 537A7637 by kayaker72, on Flickr

A family reunion in Idaho...moonrise.
537A0323 by kayaker72, on Flickr


From a kayak trip in New Hampshire. We came around a corner to see this fawn which then ran out in front of us and "hide" when I snapped this image:
In Explore-537A0939 by kayaker72, on Flickr


A second image taken with my niece. This time we tried to photograph sunrise at Nubble Light. The forecast had been for some medium but mostly high clouds. Ended up being more medium than expected. I was thinking it might be a bust but then saw some pools and we took turns photographing the reflection. The medium clouds never "popped" like high clouds would, but they did get interesting:
In Explore - 537A2078 by kayaker72, on Flickr


My wife tacked on vacation to a second work trip to Europe. This was in Italy where we were about to do a cooking class. Turns out the people hosting the cooking class took in rescue dogs and this one enjoyed the view so much that the grass was worn to dirt in this area.
537A2891 by kayaker72, on Flickr

A second from Italy, this is taken from Lake Iseo. It looks better in a larger format, but I will likely be putting this on my wall this winter:
537A3461 by kayaker72, on Flickr


Clouds...clouds...more clouds were what I had to deal with during the "peak" of the comet this fall. The first evening without clouds, I had about a 30 min window after sunset and before I had plans. About a 1/2 mile from my house, there is a good vantage point. I was pleased I could even see the comet and snapped a few quick photos:
537A3644 by kayaker72, on Flickr

So, you can only fit 12 images per post. I am tempted to add another from Italy...but I'll go with this shot of fall foliage in Meridith, New Hampshire:
In Explore - 537A3941 by kayaker72, on Flickr

Happy New Year Everyone! I look forward to another year of sharing photos.

--Brant

[Jayson]

Beautiful photos Brant! Looks like it was a great year!

[Jayson]

Here are a few of mine.
I don't have anything great for foreground so I threw myself in there.


My first photos of the Aurora, I need to go north some day


I also made a trip for the first time for the snow goose migration amazing how they can fly and not hit each other.


A simple photo...but it is my first flower garden. I planted the garden to get hummingbirds as I was tired of trying to travel to shoot them.


I think I had 4 different birds this year that I could tell from the photos. I anticipate I will get many more next year. They are my aunts favorite bird and as she is suffering from Alzheimers, I try to take as many as possible for her.


I also found my first owlets this year.


I found something special, but first captured this landing


Lastly, not many know the saga...but a contractor tore down a new eagles nest about a block from my house for a development. It was sad to see them so upset that their home was destroyed, but I found them a couple months later and they had babies. They are now on a lake a few more blocks down the road. I was very happy to see they stuck around. I went over yesterday and they are back and rebuilding the nest so hopefully we have another crop of eaglets! Last year was their first year as they are both about 5 years of age. First photo is not the best but my favorite. Was the first photo of them after I found their new nest.

[neuroanatomist]

Here are some of mine, in chronological order. As usual, click for larger.

"Sunset Skyline" – San Francisco skyline as seen from Treasure Island

EOS R8, RF 24-105mm f/4L IS USM @ 100mm, 2.5 s, f/8, ISO 100

"08Apr2024 Total Eclipse" – Composite of images from the April 8, 2024 total eclipse, seen from Newport, VT.

EOS R3, EF 600mm f/4L IS II + 1.4xIII, 1/80 s - 1/8000 s, f/8, ISO 200, Baader ASTF 140 filter used except during totality

"Prominences and Beads" – April 8, 2024 total eclipse, seen from Newport, VT.

EOS R3, EF 600mm f/4L IS II + 1.4xIII, 1/6400 s, f/8, ISO 200

"Glacier 3000" – Glacier above Les Diablerets, Switzerland, elevation 3000 m.
EOS R8, RF 10-20mm f/L IS STM @ 10mm, 1/400 s, f/8, ISO 100

"Coming at You" – I liked the full frontal view.

EOS R3, EF 600mm f/4L IS II + EF 1.4x III Extender, 1/2500 s, f/5.6, ISO 200

"Comet C2023 A3 Tsuchinshan-ATLAS"

EOS R3, EF 600mm f/4L IS II + EF 1.4x III Extender, 0.8 s, f/5.6, ISO 6400

[Jonathan Huyer]

My favourite thread each year! Most of my best photos came from one photo trip I did, to Brazil. It was my third time visiting the country and it never fails to deliver.


Hyacinth Macaws




Maned Wolf




Giant Anteater




Macaws at sunset




Blue and Yellow Macaws




Closer to home, the aurora storm from May:




And October:




Happy 2025 everyone!