As 2015 comes to an end, I thought it would be fun to post my favorite images from the year, breaking them down into areas I travelled. Natasha and I started in Michigan and were in Nashville, Tennessee on New Year’s Day. From there we stayed in New Orleans and a couple of cities in Texas before crossing the border into Mexico. We took our time driving through this enormous country, extending stays in cities we liked, and taking the Jeep up and down the mountains. It took us one week to drive Mexico before entering Belize, where we lived for six months, taking a weekend trip to Guatemala to see the sights. So, the Top 10 Images will be my favorites from our travels in the U.S., Mexico, Belize, and Guatemala. I hope you enjoy them and please let me know which ones you like more than others. If I get enough viewer participation, there could be a vote for The Top 10 Images of the Year for 2015!!
This “blue hour” shot is of a friend’s home in Noblesville, Indiana. The couple had recently moved and were trying to sell the house, and asked Natasha and I to be caretakers in their absence. Being an Architectural Photographer I decided to look online at the images that were posted on the local real estate agent’s websites. I didn’t feel the pictures did the home justice, so I decided to take some time and shoot the space. The day this photo was taken I happened to be taking some pictures around the house, interior and exterior, and twilight hour was nearing. So I set up at the end of the farthest dock to take my final shots and I got really lucky! I say that because timing was everything when it comes to this shot…the perfectly calm water coupled with matching blue sky and reflection.
Jerome, Arizona is a town neither Nat nor I knew about. It’s a gorgeous old mining town that, at one time in its history, was a ghost town. I read that the hippies came in when rent was cheap and started turning things around, establishing shops and goods for sale. It’s a picturesque place with stunning views up a crispy, winding road to the top, where one can see for miles.
There is a fairly large mirrored sculpture along Whites River Park in downtown Indianapolis. That’s where I discovered this view of buildings along the canal reflected in the sculpture.
On the way back from Belize, we traveled and stayed in multiple places throughout the Southwest United States, visiting areas neither of us had been to before. By the time we arrived in Missouri, no “must see” sites were on our list, but we stopped at a rest area just outside of Joplin and asked the elderly gentleman behind the desk for a state map and some advice. “What’s Joplin like, any attractions you would recommend?” I asked. The first one he mentioned we didn’t witness because it happens at night, although I discussed staying the night with Natasha and we decided against it. The story is sometimes at night people have witnessed a headlight-type luminescent coming toward them down the street…but nothing else (no car).
Anyway back to Joplin, Missouri, specifically Grand Falls. So we befriended two couples that were checking this bridge after an onslaught of heavy rain and flooding. One man offered to caravan to Grand Falls, around and across from the bridge we were at now. The falls were nice and I wandered around the little pools, you could walk around a lot of it.
At one of the first photo club meetings I attended in Indianapolis, the group was showing photos from a walking tour they had had downtown. A guy there presented a shot he had taken of this waterfall piece at the beginning of the downtown Indianapolis canal walk. I had never been there and he inspired me to go check it out.
Besides me liking my gal Natasha…I like the lines of this shot.
This shot was taken on a speed tour of Houston, thanks to my buddy, The Snow Monkey! Quick stop here to see Williams Tower and the adjacent Waterwall (not pictured).
For more on travel photography, go to my post Travel Photography Tips and Planning.
The Big Easy really is a magical place…probably why the St. Louis Cathedral in Jackson Square looks quite similar to the castle at Disney World.
This image of Notre Dame Cathedral is one of my favorite shots! I love the symmetry and vanishing lines and how the entering sun pours in from the right, bouncing my eyes back and forth through the columns.
They are all so beautiful! I would have to say that I really enjoyed the metal sculpture in Indianapolis, the macro shot – beautiful!, and the Basilica. Each so lovely in their own way, so very hard to say which of the 3 I liked the best. Thanks so much for sharing!
Thank you for that, I’m glad you like them. I lean toward the Basilica shot because I really love architecture, and my gf, Natasha’s favorite is the Indy sculpture one.