favorite photos of 2023
Every year I like to revisit the pictures I took, all 6,000+ in 2023. That’s a LOT of space on the hard drives. The wife and I travelled a fair amount this year. Spain in late winter/early Spring, Switzerland in the Summer, an Alaska strike mission in Fall, and finally Japan earlier this month.
New to this year was my decision to convert an old camera to a full-spectrum sensor to experiment with infrared photography. In traditional color photography, the light is usually the best in the early morning or late afternoon. With IR, harsh midday light is where it excels. It’s been a worthwhile experiment so far. The images are so unique, and in the right conditions it can produce an ethereal look straight out of camera.
The following pictures may not be my best work, but they are some of my personal favorites from this year.
The year started off with a lot of vog from Halema’uma’u and light winds. Winter in Hawaii, in my opinion, produces the best sunsets. And you can still be home for dinner at a reasonable hour.
Same afternoon with the wispy high clouds in frame
3 images taken with my 100-400mm lens, probably my favorite (but heaviest) lens that I own. This set tells a very simple story and inserts me right into the scene. It brings back memories of who I was with and how I was feeling that day.
First trip of the year and our first time in Spain. Kids playing football under Las Setas de Sevilla. This wooden sculpture is pretty neat. You can walk on the roof and there’s a market below. I really enjoyed Seville. The food was rustic, the people were friendly, the streets were colorful. Highly recommend visiting if you’re ever in Spain.
Silly goose giving me a cheeky smile. I really like how the water looks like brush strokes. This female swan was being chased by two horny-looking males.
Dick Waffle, Madrid.
This evening I was in my driveway taking pictures of a setting crescent moon and Venus. My buddy, Aaron (IG @aaronmizu/@mizushimaphotography), calls me and tells me to pack my camera gear and head around the corner to Makapu’u. This lightning storm was far off in the channel so we stayed completely dry. It was crazy how consistent the lightning was.
It seems whenever I wake up to shoot a sunrise, I end up wandering aimlessly. I try to keep my expectations at zero. Sometimes I stumble across a scene I like. If I walk away without taking my camera out of my bag, at least I got to enjoy the fresh air.
I like how the water movement and clouds complement each other in this scene. The color in the sky continued to get more and more intense as the sun went down.
The Swiss Alps. You can feel your blood pressure lowering here. And I needed it after the nightmare layover at London Heathrow airport. These mountain and valley towns are plucked straight out of a fairy tale (or the Sound of Music). From the glaciated mountains, the wild flowers in Summer, and the sound of cow bells, this place is amazing. In this shot you have sun rays peaking over the mountain, lighting up a winding path.
Kandersteg. Beautiful morning light catches one of the many waterfalls in the area and an old stone church. We took a gondola up to a trail that leads to an alpine lake (Oeschinensee) and then had the best chips and beer before heading back to Bern.
Aurora activity is usually higher around the equinox and we’re approaching a solar maximum (10-11 year cycles with above average solar activity). We took a chance to head up to Fairbanks for some Aurora chasing. Every night was cloudy, except for a small window on our last night. Luckily, there was a huge solar storm that lit up the entire sky. This shot is facing south as car headlights light up the fall foliage surrounding Olnes pond.
It was an incredible display, but unfortunately the clouds rolled in after an hour or so. Maybe we’ll try again in 2024?
There’s not a lot to see or do in Fairbanks during the day apart from drinking (Black Spruce Brewing and Hoodoo Brewing are awesome if you’re into craft beer). We decided to take a day trip to Denali National Park since part of the road was open to private vehicles. No Denali sighting or wildlife sightings, but it was still worth the 300ish mile round trip.
Next week I’ll post my favorite color shots from Japan. Hope you enjoyed my favorite images of 2023.
