Best Photos of 2023

It's time once again for my annual photography year-in-review. A chance to pause for reflection. To look back at an entire year's worth of fractions of seconds and discover what themes emerge.

Then take those random moments, psychoanalyze them like an armchair therapist, and try to conflate their meaning into something profound.

This year's selection does not disappoint.

They say photography holds up a mirror to both the photographer and the subject. Given the less-and-less-hinged state of 2023, it's fitting that this year's collection of images reflects that.

In January, I was diagnosed with Celiac Disease—an autoimmune disorder that makes it dangerous to eat even trace amounts of gluten (wheat, barley or rye). And, therefore, dangerous to eat in most restaurants due to cross-contact.

As a man whose diet consisted mainly of gluten on gluten with a side of gluten, who arranges entire travel itineraries around rumor of a particularly promising bagel, this diagnosis was a very bitter gluten-free pill to swallow.

It would be melodramatic to say that it turned my life upside down. But it certainly turned my lifestyle.

Between this personal lifequake and the *waves-hand-at-the-state-of-the-world*, it's not a huge stretch to read meaning into this year's photographs:

Disorienting images that raise more questions than answers.

Photos that grasp for different angles, perspectives and ways of seeing to try to make sense of it all.

A search for tranquility.

Let’s break down the threads.

Late last year I started an ongoing New York project called Post No Bills. The images are unintentional artist collaborations between Advertisers and New Yorkers. The construction wall is their canvas and the layers of peeled-off posters create serendipitous art through reduction. A collage in reverse.

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Looking at this year's photos, there are a lot of images that feel inspired by that project.

Last year also marked our ten-year anniversary of living in New York.

Having taken tens of thousands of images of the city, my goal now is to show New York differently.

No longer how it looks, but how it feels.

Chaos and Jazz. Beauty in disorder. A sensory smorgasbord.

(Fortunately, I haven't yet figured out a way to try to capture how New York smells. Although my ongoing Crud project comes close).

In July I converted one of my cameras to infrared. This lets you capture wavelengths of light that are invisible to the human eye. The raw files look like they've been taken through old-timey 3D movie glasses.

Once you have the image, you have to open it in Photoshop and tell Adobe that the sky is blue. That's when magic happens. On a sunny day, the light reflecting off foliage becomes gold or coral. The pictures are mystical.

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Raw infrared file
“The Kennedy Center” Washington, D.C. August 2023
Fujifilm X-Pro1 590nm Infrared Conversion, 35mm, f11, 1/240 ISO 200

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After color conversion

Are the infrared shots symbolic of the familiar world feeling more and more foreign? Or an attempt to make sense of it all by literally looking at things in a new light?

The disorienting and otherworldly work is balanced out by the macro nature photography of flowers and frost. There's a quiet tranquility in those images. A deep cleansing breath among the collection.  

But more than anything, the theme that stood out most from this year is flying. Birds. Planes. Shots taken from higher vantage points.

Maybe it's because I traveled a lot for work this year and took more shots from airplane windows.

But in the spirit of this annual review being all about reading far too deeply into my photography, flight must be symbolic of something.

At first, I thought it might represent feeling distant. Far away from simpler times and a more familiar life.

But then I googled the symbolism of flying.

In literature and dreams, flight represents freedom from struggle and limitations. Rising above. Finding hope and peace.

That was a lightning bolt.

Like an infrared conversion, it made me go back and see this whole collection in a different light.

When I started putting this post together, I expected this Year in Review to represent conflict, turmoil, and a world, in some ways, that became unrecognizable.

Now I realize that’s not it at all.

This year’s collection is flight.

In the face of everything, it is a celebration of life, resilience, and optimism.

With AI images taking over the world in 2023, and the ability to create literally any of the images you’ll find on this website in just a matter of keystrokes (but with better lighting, sharpness, and composition) it got me thinking more fundamentally about photography and why I love it.

Jay Maisel said, "There are two kinds of photographers - those who like photographs and those who like photographing."

I've always thought the reason I love photography is the way I can capture memories. Time is fleeting, but photography can freeze it. It’s like a superpower.

You can hold onto moments, even if only for a hundredth of a second. To look at old photos is like stepping into a time machine. Some images immediately transport me back to a memory. I can hear the sounds. Feel the breeze. Taste the gluten. Photography is a living museum exhibition of my life and it lets me remember it with vivid fondness.

Capturing memories is why I love photographs.

But if I had to choose between Jay’s options, the truth is I love photographing.

This year I had an epiphany about why.

While listening to an interview on Simon Sinek's podcast, A Bit of Optimism, they said one of the most powerful ways to foster happiness and peace of mind is through acts of gratitude. If you practice gratitude and make it a habit to notice the good and beauty in the world, it forces you to be more present and creates joy.

I realized that's why I love photography.

Photography is an act of gratitude.

Every time I press the shutter, it's a gesture of appreciation for something remarkable on the other side of the lens. 

Thanks for indulging me in this year's Year in Review.

I hope you enjoy all of the good that I've noticed.

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“New Yorkers” Midtown Manhattan, September 2023
Fujifilm X-T5, 56mm, f4, 1/35, ISO 6400

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“Oops.” Hardeeville, South Carolina. July 2023
Fujifilm X-T5, 14mm, f18, 1/125, ISO 250

My favorite street photography images are the ones that capture a single moment but make your mind fill in a much bigger story. This one plays out like a cartoon.

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“Park and 125th” Harlem, New York. June 2023
iPhone 14 Pro

I shot this image from the window of a Metro North train while it was stopped at Harlem-125th Street Station. The elevated perspective made all of the elements line up perfectly in the composition. Lucky I chose this seat on the train and not the one behind it.

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“LaGuardia Airport” Queens, New York. July 2023
iPhone 14 Pro

“I really believe there are things nobody would see if I didn’t photograph them.” – Diane Arbus

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“42nd Street Biker” Midtown Manhattan. March 2023
Fujifilm X-Pro2, 55-200mm, f/11, 1/125, ISO 640

I took this shot as part of my ongoing project called Literal Street Photography. A series that treats the roadway as a canvas for geometric abstract art. It’s similar in spirit to my Post No Bills series, but here the artwork is a collaboration between weather, traffic, and infrastructure repair crews.

The patchwork textures and road markings on this little section of 42nd Street made for a great addition to the Literal Street Photography Series. But then this cyclist rode into my frame and turned it into Just Regular Street Photography.

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“Pink and confused” Midtown Manhattan. March 2023
Fujifilm X-T5, 23mm, f/16, 1/125, ISO 5000

I took this image as part of my New York Chaos series, a project to try to capture the sensory overload feeling of New York by, technically speaking, getting as much crap in the frame as I can.

Objectively this is a bad picture. But as I sat with it, I kept coming back to it. There’s something interesting about all the incomplete body parts. Some hair here, half a face there, a floating head, an elbow, a bunch of legs, and Dwayne Johnson looking on, a bit confused by it all.

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“Chrysler Building” 42nd St, New York, July 2023.
Fujifilm X-T5, 70-300mm, f/8, 1/950, ISO 125

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“Brick and glass” 42nd St, New York. April 2023
Fujifilm X-T5, 70-300mm, f/16, 1/125, ISO 400

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“Zebra windows” 42nd St, New York. March 2023
Fujifilm X-Pro2, 55-200mm, f13, 1/125, ISO 640

In the spring my company moved offices from Chelsea to 42nd Street. On a sunny day, the light changes constantly, reflecting the most amazing patterns in all of the windows. That’s my office building in the first image, mirrored in the windows of the Chrysler building.

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“Morning Rush” Grand Central Station, New York. March 2023
Fujifilm X-T5, 23mm, f16, 1s, ISO 320

Everyone who visits Grand Central takes this same picture. I’ve taken this same picture dozens of times. If you go to Grand Central right this very moment, there will be at least five people standing on this same staircase taking this same picture.

But it will never stop being extraordinary.

It’s one of those iconic, timeless New York scenes that you just can’t help but stop and appreciate, no matter how many people have shot the same thing, or how fast AI could spin up something better.

Gratitude.

Here I used a slower shutter speed to capture the feeling of the morning rush.

Of the five photographers taking this photo right now, I bet only one or two of them did that.

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"Traffic” 14th Street, New York. November 2023
Fujifilm X-T5, 55-200mm, f16, 1/125, ISO 4000

As I was putting this collection together, I kept coming back to this picture. It might be my favorite shot from the whole year. I’m not sure why. Technically speaking it’s terrible - it’s not in focus, it’s crooked, there’s a weird pole sticking out of the wall that leads the eye out of frame.

I have a few other shots from this series that are in focus and have better compositions, but this is the only one that stopped me in my tracks. It’s just visceral.

It feels like you’re flying with them.

I didn’t notice it until I was putting this post together, but the molding above the windows mirrors the shape of the pigeons.

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“Wabash Avenue” Chicago, Illinois. October 2023
Fujifilm X-T5, 55-200mm, f4.5, 1/125, ISO 160

I created this bizarre in-camera collage from the window of my hotel room along the Chicago River. I noticed the Marina City buildings reflected in the glass top of the hotel room coffee table. When I kneeled down, I could line the reflection up with the Wabash Avenue Bridge.

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“Reflection collage” 34th Street, New York. March 2023
Fujifilm X-T5, 70-300mm, f11, 1/125, ISO 2500

This is another of my favorite images from the year. It’s so weird and disorienting. There are so many details in the reflections.

This image especially feels inspired by the Post No Bills project

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“Construction Zone” 42nd Street, New York. March 2023
Fujifilm X-Pro2, 55-200mm, f13, 1/125, ISO 1000

I love the contrast between the chaos of the construction zone and this guy seemingly lost in thought, unfazed by it all.

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“Cleaners” Beacon, New York. May 2023
Fujifilm X-T5, 70-300mm, f16, 1/125, ISO 320

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“Models over Houston Street” SoHo, New York. February 2023.
Fujifilm X-Pro2, 35mm, f2.5, 1/125, ISO 1000

Apparently, I was drawn to the shapes, angles, and perspective of this composition in 2023—the next two images share the same visual structure.

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“Government Place” Cincinnati, Ohio. October 2023
iPhone 14 Pro

This street corner in Cincinnati is a study in lines. So very, very, very, many lines.

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“To New Jersey” West Side Highway, New York. August, 2023
Fujifilm X-Pro1 Infrared conversion (590nm), 35mm, f11, 1/200, ISO 200

I took this image of the GW Bridge while driving. For once I was happy to be stuck in bumper-to-bumper traffic.

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“Chrysler Building Spire” 42nd Street, New York. April 2023.
Fujifilm X-T5, 70-300mm, f8, 1/2200, ISO 125

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“It’s corn!” Chicago, Illinois, October 2023.
Fujifilm X-T5, 55-200mm, f 5.6, 1/300, ISO 800

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“Central Park” New York, New York. October 2023
Fujifilm X-T5, 55-200mm, f6.4, 1/450, ISO 125

I was on the fence about whether this image would be better if I cropped out the airplane wing, but I decided to keep it in. The city grid and buildings were all so crisp and perfect, there’s something I like about including the imperfection.

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“Chance of rainbows” Washington, D.C. August 2023
Fujifilm X-T5, 55-200mm, f5.6, 1/750, ISO 125

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“Bouquet” Oakland Beach. Rye, New York. July 2023
Fujifilm X-T5, 35mm, f/11, 5s, ISO 125

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“Japanese Andromeda.” Brookside Gardens. Wheaton, Maryland. April 2023
Fujifilm X-T5, 70-300mm, f5.6, 1/125, ISO 640

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“Yellow Frittilary” Brookside Gardens. Wheaton, Maryland. April 2023
Fujifilm X-T5, 70-300mm, f5.6, 1/240, ISO 125

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“Daffodils” Brookside Gardens. Wheaton, Maryland. April 2023
Fujifilm X-T5, 70-300mm, f18, 1/4, ISO 125

On this windy morning at Brookside Gardens, the daffodils were getting whipped around in the breeze. I left the shutter open longer to try to capture the motion. I think it feels like an impressionist painting.

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“Coming attractions” New York Botanical Gardens. Bronx, New York. April 2023
Fujifilm X-T5, 70-300mm, f5.6, 1/125, ISO 125

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“Gentle touch” New York Botanical Gardens. Bronx, New York. April 2023
Fujifilm X-T5, 70-300mm, f13, 1/125, ISO 3200

I love the gesture of these fern leaves. It feels like they’re comforting one another.

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“Dahlia” Rye, New York. May 2023
Fujifilm X-T5, vintage Helios 44mm lens

Sometimes you don’t have to look far for a beautiful photo. This dahlia was in a flower pot on my front step.

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“Panama Pacific Waterlily” NY Botanical Gardens. Bronx, New York. April 2023
Fujifilm X-T5, 70-300mm, f5.6, 1/125, ISO 250

Don’t be fooled by the botanical name. This flower is Italian. 🤌

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“American Goldfinch” Rye, New York, June 2023.
Fujifilm X-T5, 70-300mm, f5.6 ISO 400

This female Goldfinch stopped on a stem of Russian Sage in our front garden to snack on the flowers. The dreamy look is from shooting it through the window screen in my home office.

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“No Picknicking” Rye, New York. October 2023.
iPhone 14 Pro

Tree, 1. Picnic Police, 0.

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“Frost on windshield” Rye, New York. February 2023
Fujifilm X-Pro2, 55-200, f16, 1/125, ISO 2000

During winter, the morning frost creates some incredible patterns on our car. Depending on the conditions overnight, the ice formations always look a bit different. This particular morning was spectacular. This is the windshield.

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“Ring of fire” Grand Central Station, New York. March 2023
Fujifilm X-Pro2, 55-200mm, f5.6, 1/500, ISO 1000

I took this image of the underbelly of a chandelier hanging from the ceiling of Grand Central Station. The filigree looks a bit like the frost in the previous image.

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“Snowflakes” Rye, New York. February 2023
Fujifilm X-Pro2, Legacy Nikon Micro-Nikkor 55mm f3.5 lens

Different morning. Different frost.

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“Sea Pines sunrise” Hilton Head, South Carolina. July 2023
Fujifilm X-T5, 14mm, f11, 1/70, ISO 200

When I noticed the reflection of this stunning sunrise in the water, I crouched down and took a bunch of shots.

I looked down at the 2nd camera hanging from my shoulder and realized my brand new 70-300mm telephoto lens had been half-submerged underwater the entire time.

Very Expensive Facepalm.

R.I.P. 70-300 lens.

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“Harbour Town Sunset” Hilton Head, South Carolina. July 2023
iPhone 14 Pro

It’s a photography cliche that “the best camera is the one you have with you.”

This is the first year that the iPhone camera quality has gotten so good that sometimes I left my Fujis home on the shelf. The ultra-wide lens is something special, as you can see in these three images.

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“Fish Haul Beach” Hilton Head, South Carolina. July 2023
iPhone 14 Pro

I loved the way the clouds created a mirror image of the shoreline. Just a bit further up the beach, we came across a newborn baby sea turtle making its way to the ocean.

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“Gilder Center” American Museum of Natural History, New York September 2023.
iPhone 14 Pro

This is the atrium of the newly opened Gilder Center at New York’s Natural History Museum. I realized while putting this collection together that this composition and the previous one from Hilton Head mirror one another. The shapes are almost identical.

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“Sunrise jog” Hilton Head, South Carolina. July 2023
Fujifilm X-T5, 23mm, f7.1, 1/5, ISO 125

The storm clouds rolling in on this morning in Hilton Head made for a dramatic sunrise. A few minutes after taking this photo, everyone pictured here got very, very wet.

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“Constellation” Upper East Side, New York. February 2023
Fujifilm X-Pro2, 35mm, f8, 1/480, ISO 200

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“Above Below Canal Street” Lower Manhattan, New York. July 2023
Fujifilm X-Pro1 590nm Infrared Conversion, 35mm, f8, 1/500 ISO 200

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“LaGuardia Airport” Queens, New York July 2023
Fujifilm X-Pro1 590nm Infrared Conversion, 35mm, f8, 1/680 ISO 200

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“Three Boroughs, One Photo” New York City, October 2023
Fujifilm X-T5, f6.4, 1/550, ISO 125

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“Central Park” New York, July 2023
Fujifilm X-Pro1 590nm Infrared Conversion, 70-300mm, f5, 1/1900 ISO 200

This shot of Central Park is one of the first infrared images I took. When I converted the file in Photoshop, my jaw hit the desk.

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“George Washington Bridge” New York, July 2023
Fujifilm X-Pro1 590nm Infrared Conversion, 70-300mm, f5, 1/1600 ISO 200

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“Talmadge Memorial Bridge” Savannah, Georgia. July 2023
Fujifilm X-Pro1 590nm Infrared Conversion, 70-300mm, f8, 1/850, ISO 200

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“American” Reagan National Airport, Washington, DC. August 2023
Fujifilm X-T5, f3.5, 1/50, ISO 6400

This shot was lucky timing. My flight was taxiing to the gate and I just managed to get off two shots of this American Airlines jet with the Washington Monument as we drove past. The red signal lights came on for just a moment, illuminating the tarmac.

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“18 Holes” Somewhere over Westchester, New York.
Fujifilm X-Pro1 590nm Infrared Conversion, 55-200mm, f3.5, 1/2000 ISO 200

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“Arlington National Cemetery” Arlington, Virginia. August 2023
Fujifilm X-T5, f4.4, 1/1000, ISO 800

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“Spanish Moss” Hilton Head, South Carolina. July 2023
Fujifilm X-Pro1 590nm Infrared Conversion, 14mm, f5.6, 1/240, ISO 200

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“Coral & blue” Westchester, New York, August 2023
Fujifilm X-Pro1 590nm Infrared Conversion, 55-200mm, f3.9, 1/2000, ISO 200

I took this infrared shot near Westchester County Airport. I think it’s Kenisco Reservoir.

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“Lowcountry in gold” South Carolina. July 2023
Fujifilm X-Pro1 590nm Infrared Conversion, 70-300mm, f8, 1/640, ISO 200

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“Lowcountry in coral” South Carolina. July 2023
Fujifilm X-Pro1 590nm Infrared Conversion, 70-300mm, f8, 1/480, ISO 200

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“Edith Read Wildlife Preserve” Rye, New York. August 2023
Fujifilm X-Pro1 590nm Infrared Conversion, 14mm, f14, 1/500, ISO 200

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“Hilton Head Sunrise” South Carolina. July 2023
Fujifilm X-Pro1 590nm Infrared Conversion, 23mm, f2.8, 1/80, ISO 200

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“Stuytown Sunrise” Lower East Side, Manhattan. February 2023
Fujifilm X-Pro2, 55-200mm, f5.6, 1/140, ISO 200

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“Good morning New York” Lower East Side, Manhattan. February 2023
Fujifilm X-Pro2, 23mm, f11, 1/2, ISO 200

Sometimes at sunrise in New York, the angle is just right for individual buildings to light up while the rest of the city is still in darkness.

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“Shine bright” Lower Manhattan. February 2023
Fujifilm X-Pro2, 23mm, f16, 15s, ISO 200

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“Tribute in Light 2023” Hudson Yards, Manhattan. September 11, 2023
Fujifilm X-T5, 35mm, f4, 1.9s, ISO 400

I’ve been documenting the September 11th Tribute in light every year since moving to New York in 2012. Having shot the lights from so many different angles around the city, it’s getting more and more challenging to find new perspectives.

Thankfully they built a new 100-story tall observation deck in Hudson Yards called The Edge that gave me a new angle for this year. The detail of all the lights across the city was mind-blowing. If you look closely, you can see the Brooklyn, Manhattan and Verrazano Bridges as well as tens of thousands of pizza slices.

I hope you enjoyed this year’s Year in Review.  Thanks for reading!

If you enjoyed this post, please consider donating to Beyond Celiac to help find a cure for Celiac Disease.

And if you want to see more, you can check out the other years in review:

2022’s Year in Review
2020’s Year in Review
2019’s Year in Review
2018’s Year in Review
2017’s Year in Review
2016's Year in Review
2105's Year in Review
2014's Year in Review.

Or follow me on Flickr or Instagram.

Best photos of 2020

2020. Oy. 

Usually, my year-in-review posts are filled with exciting travel photos, epic landscapes, and vibrant New York street scenes.

I also usually have free time, you know, to take pictures. 

But with lockdown/kindergarten-homeschooling/working-from-home/raising a newborn… you can see where I’m going here. My wanderlust these days is to someday be able to go to Costco again. 

So I was pleasantly surprised to find that, despite this complete dumpster fire of a year, there were still some good photos to come out of it. I was expecting a D, and am relieved to present you with a solid C+.

The most interesting part of this annual collection is trying to make sense of it all. What does this random collection of fleeting moments say about the whole year? 

(Yikes.)

Despite never showing anything overtly related to the pandemic (no facemasks, social distancing, etc.) this collection is a surprisingly and unintentionally good reflection of my year.

Our dog passed away in January. Seven days later, my wife gave birth to a beautiful baby daughter. A few weeks after that was COVID, quarantine, washing bananas in the sink, the end of our lease in Brooklyn, and a new chapter in the New York suburbs. 

You don’t need a psych degree to make sense of the themes in these images. Solitude, chaos, tunnel vision. Darkness. A literal rollercoaster. An old life out of focus and disappearing in the rearview mirror. New beginnings. Glimmers of hope.

When shelter-in-place orders were announced in March, we left New York and moved to my in-law’s house in Maryland for three months. Needing to create, but with none of my go-to subjects to work with, I found inspiration in one place I’ve never really looked before: nature.  

I’ve frankly never understood the appeal of flower photography. But with a social-distancing-friendly Botanical garden nearby, I put on a macro lens and some extension tubes and dove in, spending nights studying flower photography tutorials on YouTube and early mornings practicing with new blooms around the yard. 

I realized, despite the still-life scenes, I could try to approach flowers like street photography. I tried to create images with energy and movement. To find subjects with personality. To capture that elusive quality that Jay Maisel calls “gesture.”   

I took hundreds of nice, quiet portraits of single flowers. But it was the frenetic, busy frames that drew my eye the most. 

Maybe it was just a symptom of missing the crowds and chaos of New York. A desperate, frustrating longing to recreate the feeling of a rush-hour F train when all I had in front of me was a field full of daisies. 

You can take the photographer out of New York, but you can’t take the New York out of the photographer.  

Without further ado, here’s a look back at the very best photos of the very worst year.

Click on any of the images below to see them large in Lightbox mode.

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“Love above all.” SoHo, NYC. January, 2020.
Hasselblad 500 CM, 80mm 2.8, Kodak Portra 400 120 film

I took this photo in SoHo in early January. I liked the way the geometry of the signs and the buildings lined up perfectly. I also liked the tension of everything pulling you in opposite directions. It felt like a Fred Herzog, Stephen Shore, or Joel Meyerowitz composition.

Now, looking back at this photo, it has something else that I couldn't see when I took it back in January: it feels like foreshadowing.  

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“Chowdered.” Coney Island, Brooklyn. March, 2020.
Fuji X-pro2, 35mm, f5.6, 1/200, ISO 200

Speaking of foreshadowing, I took this visceral picture on the beach in Coney Island in mid-march. This clam is all of us. 

(For the record, I did not step on this clam. That would be cruel. I would’ve steamed it with garlic butter.)

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“Thunderbolt.” Coney Island, Brooklyn. March 2020.
Fuji X-pro2, 35mm, f1.4, 1/5400, ISO 200

I took this rollercoaster photo on the same day as the clam. Little did I know how heavy-handed of a metaphor this would be.  

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“Foiled!” Coney Island, Brooklyn. March, 2020
Pentax LX, 50mm, Kodak Portra 400 35mm film

This image is also from that same day in Coney Island. I’m not sure what this one means. But it still feels like 2020.    

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“BQE.” Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn. January 2020
Fuji X-Pro2, f1.4, 1/125, ISO 400

“To be in a state of pleasant confusion sometimes can be very satisfying. Especially if you're slightly crazy.” -Saul Leiter

I took this shot on a BQE overpass on my way to pick up my daughter from school. I love the energy of this image. It feels like the city.

I tried taking a few shots that focused on the traffic instead of the fence, but it was a lot less interesting. This is the same scene, in focus.

Sometimes photography is more effective when you don’t see the thing you’re seeing.

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“Prayer Stop.” Silver Spring, Maryland. June 2020
Fuji X-Pro2, 35mm f5.6, 1/2200, ISO 200

I took a few angles of this roadside prayer stop, but I liked this one best - the way the building became 2-dimensional and how the telephone pole shadow formed a cross, pointing to the lawn chair pews. I also like how dark and ominous the rest of the scene feels - the sunlit building a beacon of light for anyone needing to pull over and take a minute. 

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“Lanterns” Silver Spring, Maryland. April 2020
Fuji X-Pro2, f4.5, 1/140, ISO 200

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“Downpour in the woods” Silver Spring, Maryland. April, 2020
Fuji X-Pro2, 55-200mm, f3.5, 1/125, ISO 800

When shelter-in-place orders were announced at the end of March, we moved to Maryland to live with my in-laws. We set up a temporary work-from-home space by a window in their bedroom, overlooking the woods. This was the view from my desk. It was mesmerizing to watch the forest come to life as winter turned to spring. In the evenings, the sun dipped behind the trees and the new leaves on the tulip poplars lit up like strings of fairy lights. 

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Woodland glow. Silver Spring, Maryland. April, 2020
Fuji X-Pro2, 14mm, f/18, 1/125, ISO 6400

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“Rip curl” Peony. Silver Spring, Maryland. May 2020
Fuji X-Pro2, Legacy Nikon Micro-Nikkor 55mm f3.5 lens, 1/240, ISO 200

As I started to find my style in flower photography, I experimented with getting closer and using an extremely shallow depth of field. I liked the way the soft-focus created a sense of movement and a more painterly look. It also turned the process of making images into more of a scavenger hunt - to find and emphasize individual petals, unique details, and tiny graphic elements.

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“Lipstick” Peony. Silver Spring, Maryland. May 2020
Fuji X-Pro2, Legacy Nikon Micro-Nikkor 55mm f3.5 lens, 1/125, ISO 500

This bit of hot pink on the tip of this peony petal was the only color variegation on the whole flower.

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“Yellow Cosmos” Silver Spring, Maryland. May 2020
Fuji X-Pro2, Legacy Nikon Micro-Nikkor 55mm f3.5 lens, 1/125, ISO 800

Good photos are everywhere. This yellow cosmos flower was growing next to the driveway.

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Tadpoles. Silver Spring, Maryland. April 2020
Fuji X-Pro2, Legacy Nikon Micro-Nikkor 55mm f3.5 lens, 1/105, ISO 6400

One of the unexpected joys of quarantine was taking hikes through the woods with our daughter. It was a whole new world for a city kid. We found morel mushrooms and deer, patches of bluebells and this creek filled with hundreds of tadpoles.

We came back each week to check on the tadpoles and see how much they’d grown. (It was the only proof we had that time was actually passing)

I tried to take a picture to remember the ritual, but with the sky reflecting on the water, it was impossible to see the tadpoles. I held out my had to shade the glare and took this one photo. I ended up liking the image a lot more than I expected.

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“Can Can dancer” Pink Peony. Silver Spring, Maryland. May 2020
Fuji X-Pro2, Legacy Nikon Micro-Nikkor 55mm f3.5 lens, 1/40, ISO 6400

This peony is a slow-motion explosion.

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“Embracing the rules” Cherry Blossoms. Silver Spring, Maryland. May 2020
Fuji X-Pro2, Legacy Nikon Micro-Nikkor 55mm f3.5 lens, 1/125, ISO 400

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“Morning rush” Hay scented fern. Silver Spring, Maryland. May 2020
Fuji X-Pro2, 35mm f5.6, 1/125, ISO 5000

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“Faces in the crowd” Brookside Gardens. Wheaton, Maryland. June 2020
Fuji X-Pro2, 55-200mm, f4.8, 1/125, ISO 500

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“Allium and dewdrops” Silver Spring, Maryland. May 2020
Fuji X-Pro2, Legacy Nikon Micro-Nikkor 55mm f3.5 lens, 1/125, ISO 640

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“Fireworks” Shrubby St. John's Wort. Brookside Gardens, Maryland. June 2020. Fuji X-Pro2, Legacy Nikon Micro-Nikkor 55mm f3.5 lens, 1/125, ISO 1000

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“Graffiti.” Scentimental rose. Brookside Gardens. Wheaton, Maryland. May 2020
2020. Fuji X-Pro2, Legacy Nikon Micro-Nikkor 55mm f3.5 lens, 1/125, ISO 1600

Brookside Gardens has an amazing rose garden with hundreds of hybrid varietals, including this one, the “scentimental rose.” It looks like a graffiti artist snuck into the park overnight and tagged the petals. The way the stamen orbit around the center of the flower is hypnotizing.

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Love-in-a-Mist. Brookside Gardens. Wheaton, Maryland. May 2020
Fuji X-Pro2, 55-200mm, f4.8, 1/200, ISO 200

Love-in-a-mist is a flower from the Nigella family. I’ve used the seeds for cooking before, but I’d never seen the flower. I must’ve taken 200 pictures of this one small patch. If they ever discover life on other planets, I wouldn’t be surprised at all to learn that every flower looks like this one.

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“Tulip riot” Brookside Gardens. Wheaton Maryland. May, 2020
Fuji X-Pro2,55-200mm, f4.4, 1/1100, ISO 200

With more common flowers like tulips, I had to find interesting ways to shoot them to make it even worth making a picture. After all, how many straight-on tulip photos does the world need? These tulips were growing in a tall planter, so I was able to get much lower and show them from a bug’s eye view.

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“The hungry hungry caterpillar.” Brookside Gardens. Wheaton, Maryland. June 2020
2020. Fuji X-Pro2, Legacy Nikon Micro-Nikkor 55mm f3.5 lens. All of the extension tubes. 1/125, ISO 250

Speaking of bugs, this little guy was weaving his way around the flower petals, munching on those crumb-sized pollen balls. I didn’t stick around, but I assume he went on to eat through one slice of chocolate cake, one ice-cream cone, one pickle, one slice of Swiss cheese, one slice of salami, one lollipop, one piece of cherry pie, one sausage, one cupcake and one slice of watermelon.

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“Coming up daisies” Brookside Gardens. Wheaton, Maryland. June 2020
Fuji X-Pro2, f4.8, 1/240, ISO 200

I love the energy in this shot. It feels like the flowers are sprouting before your eyes. To create the effect, I sandwiched the hero flower between blurred ones in both the foreground and the background.

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Canadian Anemone. Brookside Gardens. Wheaton, Maryland. May 2020
Fuji X-Pro2, f4.8, 1/250, ISO 200

All of the flowers in this little patch had straight stems except for this one squiggly one. This image feels more like a painting or botanical drawing than a photograph.

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“Westchester Autumn” Rockwood Hall Preserve. Sleepy Hollow, NY November, 2020
Fuji X-Pro2, 14mm, f3.2, 1/125, ISO 500

At the end of July, we left Brooklyn and moved to Westchester county. When autumn arrived, the fall colors were incredible. After living in cities for the last 20 years, it felt like l’d suddenly relocated to Vermont. There were still some leaves on the trees in mid-November, so we took a trip to Rockwood Hall Preserve, a former Rockefeller family estate along the banks of the Hudson River. I like the way the trail weaves through the forest, disappearing around the bend, way off in the distance. An S-curve that just keeps S-ing.

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“Orbit” Pink Lily. Silver Spring, Maryland. June, 2020
Fuji X-Pro2, Legacy Nikon Micro-Nikkor 55mm f3.5 lens,1/125, ISO 200

Flowers have both male and female reproductive organs. While looking for keywords to tag this image, I learned that the fuzzy bits are the male organs, called “anther,” which comes from the Greek word for “flowery or blooming.” But the word for the female reproductive organ (seen in-focus in the center here) is the “stigma.” Holy misogyny, botman.

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“Eyelashes” Silver Spring, Maryland. June 2020
Fuji X-Pro2, 55-200mm, f10, 1/105, ISO 400

During early quarantine, I started a little container garden patch with my daughter. We planted cherry tomato seeds on the kitchen counter in April, moved them outside in May and by June they started to bear fruit.

When I realized how the sun shining through the trees created this incredible glittery background, I took about 50 images of this little tomato. I had to make sure I got every little hair on the tomato vine sharp.

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“Catch of the day” Great Blue Heron. Brookside Gardens. Wheaton, Maryland
Fuji X-Pro2, 55-200mm, f4.5, 1/1000, ISO 800

This great blue heron liked to hang out by the lake at Brookside Gardens. I set my camera to take 8 frames per second, waited and got lucky. The fish, unfortunately, did not. Tough year for seafood.

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“Tiny celebration.” Philadelphia Daisy Fleabane. Brookside Gardens. Wheaton, Maryland. May 2020. Fujifilm X-Pro2, f4.6, 1/450, ISO 200

You can’t hear it, but the little daisy in the bottom left is saying “woohoo!”

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“Say Aaaah” Rock Cranesbill. Brookside Gardens. Wheaton, Maryland. May 2020
Fuji X-Pro2, Legacy Nikon Micro-Nikkor 55mm f3.5 lens, 1/125, ISO 500

This Rock Cranesbill belongs on that alien planet with the Love-in-a-mist.

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“Shimmer.” Rye, New York. August 2020.
Fuji X100s, 23mm, f11, 1/1100, ISO 200

Two weeks after moving to the suburbs, I bought a kayak and named it The S.S. Midlife Crisis. This was its maiden voyage.

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“Autumn Seascape.” Milton Harbor. Marshlands Conservancy. Rye, NY November 2020
Fuji X-Pro2, 14mm, f8, 1/125, ISO 500

I took this image during low tide at Marshlands Conservancy, a nature preserve in Rye. I liked the way the rock formations looked like cresting waves and how they mirrored the shape of the coastline.

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“Skyscrapers” Marshlands Conservancy. Rye, NY November 2020
Fuji X-Pro2, 14mm, f11, 1/125, ISO 320

I took this shot just a few minutes after the one above. These nearly-bare trees made an amazing silhouette against the gray sky. But it’s that one curvy tree among all the perfectly straight ones that makes the image. I don’t know if its trunk curves because it’s a different species of tree, or if it had to grow that way to find the white space among the crowd.

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“Cotton Candy Sky” Edith Read Wildlife Sanctuary. Rye, NY. December, 2020
Fuji X-Pro2, 14mm, f2.8, 1/100, ISO 200

I took this photo December 13th as the sunset over Rye, our new hometown. This final shot of the year is the closest thing to a return to form of my usual work. Here’s hoping 2021 brings a lot more images like this one, and a lot fewer smashed clams.

I hope you enjoyed this year’s Year in Review.  Thanks for reading! And if you want to see more, you can check out the other years in review:

2019’s Year in Review
2018’s Year in Review
2017’s Year in Review
2016's Year in Review
2105's Year in Review
2014's Year in Review.

Or follow me on Flickr or Instagram.

Happy New Year, all!

Life out of focus

I took this abstract city shot on an overpass above the BQE in Brooklyn on my way to pick up my daughter from school one evening in January. I love the energy and chaos of this image.

Sometimes photography is more effective when you don’t show the thing you’re seeing.

I tried taking a few shots focused on the cars instead of the fence too, because the blue hour color in the sky is what caught my eye in the first place. It was a lot less interesting.

25 Best Photos of 2019

National Geographic photographer Jim Richardson once said: “If you want to be a better photographer, stand in front of more interesting stuff.” 

According to my Lightroom catalog, I took 12,173 photos this year. Granted, not all of the things in front of me were interesting. Or even in focus. But still. It was a prolific year. 

The process of reviewing a year’s worth of pictures is always interesting, because common themes always emerge. As I looked back over previous recaps (mostly to make sure I’m not getting worse at this), I realize my photography style has changed quite a lot over the decade. I’m becoming much more of a landscape, travel and fine art photographer and much less of a street/people shooter. And I’ve definitely become more technically capable. There are pictures in this year’s list that I simply couldn’t capture just 3 years ago - I didn’t know enough about my camera to get the settings right.

The big themes I was drawn to for 2019 were epic scenes, leading lines, sunset palettes and silhouettes. The collection this year is also strangely bipolar. The images are either totally serene or totally chaotic, with not much in between.

2019 was also a big year for new long-term photography projects. Here are four ongoing projects that kicked off in 2019. You can follow the links below to see the full galleries.

2019 PROJECTS:

SHUTTER AND GRIND

Shutter and Grind is a project I’ve had on my “someday” list for a long time. It’s a clothing label of original fine art photography apparel for adults, kids and even babies (What? Babies need cool clothes too!) $1 from every shirt sold goes to help pets at Best Friends Animal Society. Check it out and shop here.

CHAOS

A few years ago, I started a project called “Crud,” a germaphobe’s eye view of the cringe-worthy, yet strangely beautiful “crud formations” in NYC subway stations. It even got a bit of press.

“Chaos” is close, above-ground-relative. It captures another under-appreciated side of NYC life: The Chaos.

Most of the time, photography is about creating focus and reduction. This series is the exact opposite. Each streetscape is a sort-of-still-life, counterintuitively composed to be as sloppy, claustrophobic, and anxiety-inducing as possible. You can see the full Chaos gallery here. For maximum impact, be sure to click into each photo to view them one at a time.

WINDOW SEAT

Much to the chagrin of my sleepy airplane seat-mates, I’m not one to take the window seat and just leave the shade down. This is why. 

ANALOG

I fell in love with photography in the post-digital era. So even though I grew up with film, I never really learned to shoot it, beyond snapshots and disposable point and shoots. But lately I’ve become more and more intrigued by the look, and the more-considered process of shooting film. This year I finally dove in headfirst, and somehow collected a dozen old film cameras along the way. (Apologies to my wife for completely taking over our closet with my toys.) I’m just getting started, but I’m pretty pleased with the results so far. You can see the new gallery of 35mm and medium format film photography here.

THE 25 BEST PHOTOS OF 2019

Without further ado, and in no particular order, here are my 26 best photos of 2019. (I know. It was only supposed to be 25. But I’m bad at math and self-editing).

Click on any image to see it bigger in Lightbox mode.

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Muscle Beach. Santa Monica. Los Angeles, California. July, 2019.
Fujifilm X-Pro2, 35mm, ISO 1000, f/4, 1/500

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“Free.” Santa Monica. Los Angeles, California. July, 2019.
Fujifilm X-Pro2, 23mm, ISO 200, f/5.6, 1/280

Santa Monica beach is one of my favorite places in the country to shoot. I’ve taken a lot of photos from this location during trips to L.A. over the years. But this was the first time I noticed muscle beach. I realized if I got down low enough, underexposed the image, and got the shutter speed fast enough, I could silhouette the people and freeze the action against the pastel sunset.

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Montmorency Falls. Quebec City, Canada. August, 2019.
Fujifilm X-Pro2, 55-200mm, ISO 200, f/4.8, 1/1000

I hate photographing waterfalls. They always look so epic in person and then you get home, download the photos and it’s always disappointing. The pictures just don’t do them any justice. The problem is there’s never a sense of scale. The waterfalls always feel so much smaller in photos than they are in real life. And so, after spending hours shooting mediocre too-small photos of Montmorency Falls in Quebec City, I finally saw this guy fishing in the river at the foot of the falls. If it were less dangerous and more socially acceptable, I would have hugged him.

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DUMBO waterfront. Brooklyn, New York. August, 2019.
Fujifilm X-Pro2, 14mm, ISO 200, f/8, 30s

I love the way long exposures from Brooklyn Bridge Park smooth out the texture of the water and accentuate the reflection of the city lights. The light streaks on the right side of frame are from a tour boat. I’m not sure what hiccup in camera caused the floating lights above the Brooklyn Bridge. It may be the reflection of the lights in the filter I was using in front of the lens. Or UFOs.

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Webbed. Sunset Blvd. West Hollywood, Los Angeles. July, 2019.
Fujifilm X-Pro2, 35mm, ISO 1600, f/1.4, 1/80

This is why we don’t let Spiderman drink anymore.

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Greenport Harbor. North Fork, Long Island. November, 2019.
Fujifilm X-Pro2, 56mm, ISO 200, f/11, 16s

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Sunrise. Greenport Harbor. North Fork, Long Island. November, 2019.
Fujifilm X-Pro2, 14mm, ISO 800, f/5.6, 1/8

Waking up at 4:45 am and getting out a very comfortable, very warm bed to go take sunrise photos on a frosty November morning is the worst thing ever. Until you get out there and it’s the best thing ever.

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Swirl. Jamaica Bay, Queens. September, 2019.
Fujifilm X-Pro2, ISO 200, 55-200mm, f/5, 1/340

I love flying in and out of JFK airport because the view over Jamaica Bay wildlife refuge changes drastically with the tide, the light, and the time of year. This marsh formation looks like the Caribbean. Hard to believe it’s in Queens.

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Mt. Hood. Portland, Oregon.May 2019.
Fujifilm X-Pro2, 55-200mm, ISO 200, f/3.5, 1/6400

Another airplane window seat shot. When you land at Portland, Oregon’s PDX airport you get an amazing view of Mt Hood and the Cascades on the descent. Thanks to Delta for providing the 175,000-pound drone.

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JFK Airport. Queens, NYC. September, 2019.
Fujifilm X-Pro2, 23mm, ISO 1600, f/5, 1/60

I love how much is happening in the shadows of in this image, and the way the lines on the tarmac make your eye zig-zag all over the frame.

“Leave the light on” Chatham. Cape Cod, Massachusetts. July, 2019.
Fujifilm X-Pro2, 35mm, ISO 1250, f/2, 1/125

I used to work hard to crop out power lines and try to get frames “perfect.” Then I spent more time admiring the work by Joel Meyerowitz, Stephen Shore, Fred Herzog and Todd Hido and realized the error of my ways. This photo is the Cape Cod version of this shot from Cape Town from my 2017 best-of list. Funny how some images repeat themselves over time.

Tribute in Light. September 11th. SoHo, NYC.
Fujifilm X-Pro2, 14mm, ISO 200, f/11, 10s

I’ve been documenting the September 11th Tribute in Light for eight years now. It’s my longest running photography project. There are a million photos of the light display, and, at this point, I’ve shot it from two states, three boroughs, and a lot of different angles. Each year, it’s a new challenge to try to find a new perspective. This year, I started my photowalk in SoHo. I realized I could use the cobblestone streets for a more interesting foreground, and the curb as a leading-line. Then I left the the shutter open for 10 seconds to create light trails from a passing truck to create an x-axis of light. This is another shot that echoes one from the past - this 2013 mirror image from the West Side Highway in Tribeca.

TriBeCa, NYC. September 11th Tribute In Light. September 2019.
Fujifilm X-Pro2, 14mm, ISO 200, f/16, 5s

When shooting the Tribute in light, half the battle is finding an interesting foreground. The other half is not getting arrested for kneeling down next to the tire of a police car with a tripod and a bag full of suspicious looking photography equipment.

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Handball. Venice Beach. Los Angeles, California. July 2019
Fujifilm X-Pro2, 55-200mm, ISO 400, f/11, 1/1400

Like I said, I had a thing for silhouettes this year. You could spend a whole day taking photos at the handball courts in Venice Beach.

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Santa Monica Beach. Los Angeles, California. July 2019.
Fujifilm XPro2, 23mm ISO 200, f/13, 1/140

Another stunner of a sunset from Santa Monica Pier. I like the way the breaking wave and shoreline lead your eye through the crowd of swimmers to the mountains in the distance, and then the reflection of the sunset brings you back around again.

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All at Sea. Santa Monica. Los Angeles, California. July 2019.
Fujifilm X-Pro2, 23mm, ISO 320, f/8 1/125

I took this photo on the pier just a few minutes before the sunset shot above. It’s good in color too, but the Black and White version is much more dramatic. The pattern of the foam almost creates a golden ratio spiral.

Sandwich Boardwalk. Cape Cod, Massachusetts. July 2019.
Fujifilm X-Pro2, 55-200mm, ISO 200, f/8, 1/500

Sandwich Boardwalk. Cape Cod, Massachusetts. July 2019.
Fujifilm X-Pro2, 55-200mm, ISO 200, f/8, 1/500

In the town of Sandwich on Cape Cod’s north shore (mmm, Sandwich), there’s a 1/4 mile long elevated boardwalk that crosses over the salt marshes on the way to the beach. This raised platform is (unofficially) for local high school and college students to show off their acrobatics. The whole scene felt like something from another time - simple, wholesome summer fun, and not a single smartphone or GoPro to be seen. I love the chaotic energy of the shot on the right. Cropping out the water makes it more mysterious and hard to know what’s even going on.

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Public Market. Seattle, Washington. December, 2019.
Fujifilm X-Pro2, 55-200mm, ISO 1250, f/4.8, 1/125

This is another shot where The Old Me would have definitely cropped out the cable car lines at the top of the frame for a cleaner picture. But I think they make the image more interesting. The stripes make this image all about the horizontal lines - the crosswalk, the horizon line on the street, the river, the tree line, and of course the scaffolding on the famous Public Market sign.

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Park Avenue, Kips Bay, NYC. February, 2019.
Fujifilm X100s, 23mm, ISO 200, f/11, 1/500

Manhattanhenge gets all the glory, but my favorite NYC natural phenomena is when the sunlight catches the windows of a building and bounces across the street, creating these wobbly pools of light.

I realized after editing this picture that the direction of light falling on Park Avenue below is strikingly similar to one of my favorite photos – Rene Burri’s iconic “Men on a rooftop” shot from Sao Paulo, Brazil.

“Photographers sometimes take pictures of each other; occasionally they take pictures of each other at work; more usually they take photographs - or versions - of each other's work. Consciously or not they are constantly in dialogue with their contemporaries and predecessors.”
― Geoff Dyer, The Ongoing Moment

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Sunrise. Quebec City, Canada. August, 2019.
Fujifilm X-Pro2, 23mm, ISO 200, f/5.6, 1/8

Old Quebec in Quebec City is a UNESCO World Heritage site, one of the oldest cities in North America, and a pretty spectacular place to watch the sun rise (which, for the record, is a lot easier in August than it is in November.) This shot is taken at the foot of the Citadel in Parc du Bastion-de-la-Reine. The castle-looking building in the center is the Chateau Fronternac, which is French for “that building on all the postcards.” If I was better at photoshop, there wouldn’t be any scaffolding on it.

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Sunrise. Fairmont Le Chateau Frontenac. Quebec City, Canada. August, 2019.
Fujifilm X-Pro2, 14mm, ISO 200, f/8, 0.3s

Another sunrise from Quebec City, taken two days after the one above. This one also features the Chateau Fronternac, this time from Terrasse Dufferin, the hilltop boardwalk that overlooks the St. Laurence River. I got as low as I could for this photo so I could use the planks on the boardwalk as the leading lines into the distance.

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Stage Harbor Lighthouse. Chatham. Cape Cod, Massachusetts. July 2019.
Fujifilm X-Pro2, 35mm, ISO 200, f/5.6, 1/1400

Before our trip to Cape Cod, I saw this location in a photo online and was determined to find it. The building in the distance is an old, deactivated lighthouse called Stage Harbor Lighthouse. I love the way the pool of early morning light is streaming through the trees behind me and bouncing off the water to illuminate the rowboat.

This scene looks so serene. But it wasn’t. The muddy low-tide shoreline where I set up to take this photo was covered in seaweed and swarming with a billion tiny biting gnats. And they were VERY excited to see me. I can’t be certain, but I’m pretty sure, as I was smacking my own face over and over again, I heard one of them taunting, “why are you hitting yourself? why are you hitting yourself? why are you hitting yourself?”

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Old Quebec. Quebec City, Canada. August, 2019.
Fujifilm X-Pro2, 23mm, ISO 400, f/5.6, 1/125

A photo has an amazing way of capturing time. This photo was only 1/125th of a second. But it captured the this poor guy’s entire morning.

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“Beauty and the beach” Santa Monica. Los Angeles, California. July, 2019.
Fujifilm X-Pro2, 55-200mm, ISO 200, f/14, 1/950

It was a legit struggle to not make this recap 100% photos from Santa Monica beach.

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Chinese New Year Firecracker Festival. Chinatown, NYC. February, 2019.
Fujifilm X-Pro2, 23mm, ISO 200, f/4, 1/450

This year, I finally got to check off one of my New York photography bucket list items - covering the Chinese Lunar New Year Firecracker Festival. After the firecrackers are set off, the celebration spills out through the side-streets of Chinatown, with spontaneous drummers and dragon dancers everywhere. Before long, the whole neighborhood is blanketed with confetti and party poppers. I took a million photos. This one of a young girl joyfully flinging fistfuls of confetti into the air was by far my favorite (and luckiest) capture.

Thanks for reading! And if you want to see more, you can check out the last five years in review: 2018’s Year in Review, 2017’s Year in Review, 2016's Year in Review, 2105's Year in Review, or 2014's Year in Review. Or follow me on Flickr or Instagram. Happy New Year, all!

Introducing Shutter and Grind

Original photo clothes and apparel by Brian Eden

I’ve had this on my “someday” list for a long time now. I’m so excited to announce I’ve finally gotten around to launching a clothing label of original photography apparel.

Shutter and Grind is still very much in its infancy but features casual streetwear and accessories for adults, kids and even babies (What? Babies need cool clothes too!)

Everything is custom printed to order so I can offer the best variety of designs and cuts. Check out the store on Etsy and give a follow on Instagram @ShutterAndGrind for all the current looks and stay tuned for lots more in the months ahead.

Cherry Blossom Festival, Washington DC

With the Cherry Blossoms in Washington, D.C. forecast to hit Peak Bloom tomorrow, I thought I’d share a few shots from a Cherry Blossom Festival from years past. Here are some of my favorite shots from the festival in 2014. I went twice - once at sunset and the next morning at sunrise. Enjoy!

20 Best Photos of 2017

Year in Review time!

Having done this a few times now, it seems like it should get easier. But the Fourth Annual “20-best” has been the hardest to cull by far.

This is for two main reasons:
1. I took a lot more photos this year and
2. I’m getting a lot worse at self-editing.

Long story short, “The 20 Best of 2017” is now “The 36 Best of 2017.”

The process of reviewing a year’s worth of photos is always interesting, because common themes always emerge. Last year, I was all about geometry, primary colors and umbrellas. This year, I apparently had a thing for dramatic lighting, pictures of things framed through windows, and wildlife photography taken at dangerously close proximity.

Another big change for this year is that I started work on some longer-term photography projects. These will all be ongoing, but I’m happy to share three works-in-progress. You can follow the links below to see the full galleries:

"Holiday Windows" is a sentimental portrait of people’s reactions to 5th Avenue’s enchanting holiday window displays.

Holiday Windows

"Crud" is a germaphobe’s eye view of the cringe-worthy, yet strangely beautiful “crud formations” in NYC subway stations.

Crud

"American Palace" is, well, that one's pretty self explanatory.    

American Palace

Without further ado, here are my top 20... er... 36 photos from 2017.

"Just Grand" June 7, 2017. Grand Canyon, South Rim
Fujifilm X-Pro2, 10-24mm, f/22, 1/3 sec, ISO 200

As the sun set over the Grand Canyon, I spent a half hour cursing these guys under my breath to get out of my shot. (Photographers spend an inordinate amount of time trying to harness the power of telekinesis to move strangers in and out of their compositions. It's not normal.) 

Eventually the mind trick worked, the guys left, and I had a clear scene.

Of course, when I got back home and downloaded all of the photos from the series, I liked the one with the people in it better. (Although I'm still cursing the guy on the right for wearing his sunglasses on the back of his head like Guy Fieri.)

"London Nights" January 7, 2017. St. Paul's Cathedral. London, England
Fujifilm X-Pro1, 14mm, f/11, 10 seconds, ISO 200

The hardest thing about taking photos of iconic locations like St. Paul's Cathedral in London is that they've been photographed TO DEATH. So you have to work a little harder to try to find something more original than the typical postcard shot.

After taking a dozen photos of this scene, I noticed the traffic pattern and had an idea. Using a trash can as a makeshift tripod, I waited for a double decker bus to pass by on its route, then left the camera shutter open for ten seconds – long enough to create these bus-shaped light trails.

"The Navy and the Pizza." May 23, 2017. Cobble Hill. Brooklyn, NY.
Fujifilm X-Pro2, 23mm, f/2.5, 1/125, ISO 5000

During Fleet Week, Naval officers are nice enough to wander around New York in uniform and sit in front of things, making every photographer feel a bit like Alfred Eisenstaedt.  

"Colors of Cape Town" November 20, 2017. Bo-Kaap. Cape Town, South Africa
Fujifilm X-Pro2, 23mm, f/11, 1/250, ISO 320

I wish I could say that I saw this photo coming together, dropped to the ground and snapped it. But the truth is, I was awkwardly crouching, cheek to the pavement, trying to compose a shot for the stripe and the scooter. Then this guy who perfectly matched the bike (right down to the fur hat and shoelaces) just wandered into frame. 

"We were all yellow" November 17, 2017. Cape Town, South Africa
Fujifilm X-Pro2, 23mm, f/2.8, 1/8000, ISO 400

"Some have said that if you take a great picture in color and take away the color, you’ll have a great black-and-white picture. But if you’re shooting something about color and you take away the color, you’ll have nothing." - Jay Maisel

"Sad Emoticon." January 7, 2017. Notting Hill. London, England. 
Fujifilm X-Pro1, 14mm, f/8, 1/125, ISO 1600

I took this photo at the edge of a triangular island of sidewalk in Notting Hill, London. It's my favorite photo yet in my ongoing Literal Street Photography project. 

"Camp's Bay Beach Crossing" November 9, 2017. Camps Bay, South Africa.
Fujifilm X-Pro2, 23mm, f/8.0, 1/750, ISO 200

Moments after I took this photo, this group of kids took off sprinting across the beach. Pure joy. 

"Rainy Paris" January 15, 2017. The Louvre. Paris, France.
Fujifilm X100s, 23mm, f/4, 1/60, ISO 6400

"A window covered with raindrops interests me more than a photograph of a famous person." - Saul Leiter 

The Louvre is another one of those locations where it's really hard to make an original photograph. After spending the morning walking around the courtyard searching for a unique angle, I found it in an unexpected place - the back seat of the Uber on the way back to my hotel.   

"Park job." November 17, 2017. Cape Town, South Africa
Fujifilm X-Pro2, 23mm, f/8, 1/500, ISO 1250

I traveled halfway around the world to Cape Town and one of my absolute favorite shots is also the most mundane.

"Road trip to Zion" June 9, 2017. Zion National Park, Utah
Fujifilm X-Pro2, 23mm, f/11, 1/125, ISO 500

I took this photo in standstill traffic at the tunnel entrance to Zion National Park. Hey, you've gotta pass the time somehow. 

"Sins and vases." January 7, 2017. Portobello Road Market. London, England. 
Fujifilm X100s, 23mm, f/5.6, 1/125, ISO 1250

I don't take a lot of photos deep with symbolism. But there's a lot going on in this shot. You've got Jesus in the foreground faltering under the weight of the cross, gazing out longingly from between flea market trinkets (including an empty decanter of wine). His plight is completely unnoticed by the crowd of onlookers. And in the background, the weirdly devilish-looking salesman hides a blood-red cloak under his jacket and has ACTUAL HORNS on his truck.  

Art historians, go nuts. 

"Ascend." January 7, 2017. Tate Modern. London, England
Fujifilm X-Pro1, 14mm, f/4, 1/70, ISO 6400

When I visited London, the Tate Modern was hosting "The Radical Eye," an exhibition of Sir Elton John's extensive photography collection. Just beyond the ticket window, I captured this shot for my own collection.   

"Horseshoe Bend" June 8, 2017. Page, Arizona
Fujifilm X-Pro2, 14mm, f/8, 1/13, ISO 200

Horseshoe Bend is not a great location to visit if you're a photographer who is also afraid of heights. I honestly don't know how those rooftopper people do it. I was sitting a good five feet back from the edge, and just holding my tripod near the cliff was making me sweat bullets. 

"Passion." June 8, 2017. Antelope Canyon. Page, Arizona
Fujifilm X-Pro2, 10-24mm, f/8, 1.1 seconds, ISO 400

The photographer's tour of Antelope Canyon is great, because the guides idiot-proof it for you. They tell you what camera settings to use, then show you just where to set your tripod to get all the best angles. Like this heart-shaped skylight in the canyon ceiling. 

"Table Mountain Sunset." November 9, 2017. Cape Town, South Africa
Fujifilm X-Pro2, 14mm, f/5.6, 1/70, ISO 800

I was in Cape Town for two weeks in November, but we spent most of the time in meetings or on location for a film shoot, so I had to find photo-ops wherever I could. Fortunately, this was the view from our pre-production meeting. 

"Canyon Breath." June 8, 2017. Antelope Canyon. Page, Arizona
Fujifilm X-Pro2, 10-24mm, f/8, 0.5 seconds, ISO 200

I've admired these magical photos of light shafts in Antelope Canyon for years. Peter Lik's version of this shot is the most expensive photo ever sold, fetching $6.5 million dollars.  (For the record, I'll happily take ten grand for mine if anyone wants a print. I'll even sign it with Peter Lik's name).

The thing I never knew was how they get that ethereal misty effect in the light beam. 

Here's how: a photo tour guide chucks shovelfuls of sand into the air, then tells you to take a picture.

"Unforgotten." September 11, 2017. Tribute in Light. New York City.
Fujifilm X-Pro2, 14mm, f/2.8, 1/17, ISO 6400

I've been documenting the September 11th Tribute in Light for seven years now. Each time, I try to find a different vantage point. This year I photographed the lights from Staten Island. The shot from over there was nice. But this perfectly-aligned view of the lights haloing the World Trade Center during the Ferry ride back to Manhattan was a total surprise. 

"Hout Bay." November 13, 2017 Chapman's Peak Drive. Cape Town, South Africa
Fujifilm X-Pro2, 23mm, f/8, 1/1000, ISO 640

See? I told you I had a thing for things in windows this year. I took some nice shots of this scene from the overlook a few miles down the road too. But so did ten zillion other photographers.  

"Room with a view" June 7, 2017. Desert View Watchtower. Grand Canyon South Rim
Fujifilm X-Pro2, 35mm, f/11, 1/120, ISO 400

The Grand Canyon is another location that's easy to take a great photo of, but really hard to shoot in an original way. Putting people in the frame helps. So did framing the canyon through this window inside the Desert View Watchtower. 

"Battleship Rock Sunrise." June 7, 2017, Grand Canyon South Rim
Fujifilm X-Pro2, 14mm, f/11, 1/3, ISO 200

...that said, when you get a sunrise like this, you can get away with being a little less original, because, wow. 

"Grand Canyon Sunset" June 6, 2017, Grand Canyon South Rim
Fujifilm X-Pro2, 35mm, f/8, 1/70, ISO 400

Do you think this tree has any idea how good its view is?

"Wide angle wildlife photography: Elk edition" June 8, 2017. Kaibab National Forest, Arizona
Fujifilm X-Pro2, 23mm (23mm!), f/4, 1/125, ISO 320  

I took this photo of an Elk with a 23mm lens (35mm equivalent. For reference, that's just slightly more zoomed-in than your iPhone camera) while crouching in the grass on the side of the road in Kaibab National Forest.  

It is without a doubt one of the dumber things I've done. 

"Wide angle wildlife photography: Cheetah edition." November 19,2017. Botriver, South Africa
Fujifilm X100s, 23mm, f/8, 1/125, ISO 800  

This photo was also taken with a 23mm lens. Which means this kitty was well within booping distance. 

"Artistic license." January 15, 2017. Montmartre, Paris.  
Fujifilm X100s, 23mm, f/5.6, 1/125, ISO 1000.

I just love the skepticism. 

"A better view." November 13, 2017. Kalk Bay, South Africa
Fujifilm X-Pro2, 55-200mm, f/8, 1/5000, ISO 5000

I took this photo from the passenger window of our production van in Cape Town, while going about 30 mph. (Which I think translates to around 190 kilometers per hour).

"Seaside Chapel." September 2, 2017. Ender's Island, Connecticut
Fujifilm X-Pro2, 14mm, f/22, 120 seconds, ISO 200

I took this long exposure of the seaside chapel at Ender's Island, a catholic retreat and sanctuary at the southern tip of Mason's Island, Connecticut. If I were Catholic or in the market for a retreat, I would totally book a stay at this place. It was stunning.

"Flock of tourists." January 14, 2017. Cathedral Notre Dame. Paris, France
Fujifilm X-Pro1, 14mm, f/8, 1/125, ISO 640

The only thing more remarkable than capturing this photo was not being pooped on moments later as these pigeons took off flying over my head. 

"Choreography." January 14, 2017, Musee du Louvre. Paris, France.
Fujifilm X-Pro1, 55-200mm, f/13, 1/125, ISO 1250

This shot at the Louvre in Paris is solid addition to my tourists project

"Tribute in Light" September 11, 2017. Brooklyn, New York
Fujifilm X-Pro2, 14mm, f/11, 45 seconds, ISO 200

This is  pretty popular and well-tread location for taking photos of the Tribute in Light, so I can't say this shot is breaking massively new ground. Although I've never seen the water on the East River calm enough to reflect the lights quite as well as it did this year. 

"Tribute" September 11, 2017. Staten Island Ferry, New York
Fujifilm X-Pro2, 23mm, f/2, 1/50, ISO 3200

Because I've shot the Tribute in Light so many times now, I'm always trying to find original vantage points. I love this one, framed through the window of the Staten Island Ferry, en route from St. George Terminal.

(Because the window thing.)

"Eiffel Tower at Dusk." January 14, 2017. Paris, France. 
Fujifilm X-Pro2. 14mm, f/2.8. 1/5, ISO 400

This shot of the Eiffel Tower nearly got cut from the list because the photo is a little postcard-ish. But one little detail does makes it much different than what you typically see: there are no people. (The lawns on the Champ de Mars were fenced off for the winter).

"Sins vs salvation." January 15, 2017. Montmartre, Paris
Fujifilm X100s, 23mm, f/8, 1/125, ISO 5000

"Hey Mike. What do you think we oughta call this porno shop?"

"Meet you at the bottom" May 18, 2017. Harbes Farm, Mattituck, Long Island
Fujifilm X-Pro2, 23mm, f/8, 1/125, ISO 4000

I usually keep my family photos and my year-in-review photos separate to spare you all from cute baby overload. But this shot of my wife greeting my daughter at the bottom of a slide is objectively one of my favorite shots of the year. 

"Cape Town Nights." November 11, 2017. Cape Town, South Africa. 
Fujifilm X100s, 23mm, f/4, 1/70, ISO 6400

Sometimes you get really lucky, turn a corner and happen upon a pre-lit, period-piece film set. 

"Lion's Head Mountain Sunset." November 18, 2017. Mount Nelson Hotel. Cape Town, South Africa. 
Fujifilm X-Pro2, 23mm, f/2, 1/40, ISO 400

The driveway to the historic Mount Nelson Hotel in Cape Town is lined with palm trees. From the right vantage point (that is to say, smushed awkwardly up against a lamp post) they provide the perfect frame for Lion's Head Mountain.

"Christmas in New York." February 9, 2017. New York, NY
Fujifilm X100s, 23mm, f/2.8, 1/80, ISO 6400

Every year when I go back through all of my photos there are a few gems that I totally overlooked at the time. This photo is interesting, because I have absolutely no memory of taking it. I’m not even sure if I took it in Manhattan or Brooklyn. 

Maybe it's because, as a picture, it’s not actually all that good. But as a representation of what it feels like and means to live in NY? It’s SO good. 

Thanks for reading! And if you want to see more, you can check out 2016's Year in Review, 2105's Year in Review, or 2014's Year in Review. Or follow me on Flickr or Instagram. 

20 Best Photos of 2016

Time once again for the annual struggle to choose 20 photos that best represent my year in photography. As any creative-type might imagine, the process of choosing images for the Year in Review is both rewarding (in sifting through the thousands of photos taken this year, I found a few nice surprises that I'd overlooked at the time) and torturing ("was last year's Year in Review better? Am I actually getting worse at this? Were these really the best shots that I got?")

In choosing this year's favorites, I noticed the following:

1) I took tens of thousands of photos of my 1 year old daughter this year, and not much else. There were just a handful of days this year that I actually went out to take pictures. New Year's Resolution #1 for 2017 is to get out there and shoot more.  

2) I don't know if this represents an evolving personal style, but this year, a few things caught my eye much more-so than in years past: geometry, primary colors and umbrellas. Read into that what you may.

Without further ado: 
 

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"Tribute in Light" September 11, 2016. New York City
Fujifilm XPro1, 14mm, f/8, 10s, ISO 400

I've been photographing the September 11th Tribute in Light for about five years now, and each year I try to find a new vantage point. This year, I planned to start on the Manhattan Bridge and make my way into the city to wander the streets around Lower Manhattan. But the views were so stunning, I spent 3+ hours on the bridge and called it a night.

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"Tribute in Light over Chinatown" September 11, 2016. New York City
Fujifilm XPro1, 14mm, f/4, 2s, ISO 200

Another one from September 11th. This one was taken a few hours later from the Manhattan end of the bridge. The graffiti in the foreground is Chinatown, and the smell from the bridge was amazing. After taking this photo, I called it quits and went for dumplings.   

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"A ray of hope. Wall Street, 9:25 a.m." October, 2016. New York City
Fujifilm X100s, 23mm, f/8, 1/500, ISO 200

Presidential debate #2 between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton was an especially dark, ugly and discouraging affair, sure to make anyone anxious-at-best about the future of our country. The next morning on the way to work, I climbed the stairs from the subway, stepped out onto Wall Street and saw this.  

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"The center of attention" May 2016. Downtown Los Angeles
Fujifilm X100s, 23mm, f/8, 1/125, ISO 1000

I'd love to say this moment just happened. But I camped out in this spot for about 15 minutes hoping a pedestrian would walk through the street instead of along the sidewalk.

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"The Refresher" September 2016. Los Angeles
Fujifilm XPro2, 35mm, f/8, 1/150, ISO 200

Los Angeles' original Farmer's Market is amazing for vintage signs and old school Americana. I was taking photos of this great old soda shop when this guy wandered into my shot. Sometimes the photography gods just hand you a scene from a Wes Anderson movie and you just have to be there to take the picture. 

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"Beautiful" November, 2016. Brick Lane, London U.K. 
Fujifilm X100s, 23mm, f/8, 1/125, ISO 2000

Full credit for this photo goes to the graffiti artist. 

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"Baltimore's Best Pawn" April, 2016. Westminster, MD
Fujifilm X100s, 23mm, f/5.6, 1/350, ISO 200

I mean, come on. You couldn't have asked for a better car to be parked there. Even the colors on the Louisiana license plate match.

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"Stripes and squares" May, 2016. Downtown Los Angeles
Fujifilm X100s, 23mm, f/5.6, 1/250, ISO 200

Downtown L.A. is weird. There are pedestrian overpasses connecting nearly every building so it's entirely possible to traverse the city without ever touching the sidewalk. It must make urban planners insane. On the bright side, the walkways offer some interesting perspectives, transforming the streetscape below into a living Mondrian painting. 

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"Calling for snow" January, 2016. Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn
Fujifilm XPro1, 35mm, f/1.4, 1/2000, ISO 640

In January, New York got the largest snowstorm on record with 27.5 inches falling in Central Park. Laziness prevailed and I only made it about four blocks from home before deciding it was too cold/windy/snowy and calling it quits. I'd make a terrible mailman.   

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"Off duty" January, 2016. Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn
Fujifilm XPro1, 35mm, f/1.4, 1/2000, ISO 400

This photo was taken about a half block down from the previous one. I told you I didn't make it far. 

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"Black and blue" May, 2016. Downtown Los Angeles
Fujifilm XPro1, 56mm, f/8, 1/125, ISO 500

This was another intervention from the photography gods. I was working this scene, taking some really mediocre photos of the reflection of these umbrellas in the marble when this guy in his perfectly matching blue shirt walked out to take a phone call smack in the middle of my shot. 

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"Come together" March, 2016. New York City
Apple iPhone 6

One of my favorite photographers, Jay Maisel, says that all great photographs are about one of three things: Light, Color or Gesture. Light and color are easy to understand. Gesture is a bit harder to explain, but you know it when you see it. 

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"The interloper" September, 2016. The Rose Bowl, Pasadena, CA
Fujifilm XPro2, 14mm, f/8, 1/100, ISO 500

One of these things is not like the others. One of these things just doesn't belong...

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"Buff" May, 2016. Downtown Los Angeles
Fujifilm X100s, 23mm, f/8, 1/100, ISO 6400

We were staying at the Standard Hotel in Downtown L.A. for a quick work trip. I stepped out of the elevators and saw this. 

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"Somewhere West" May, 2016. Location unknown
Fujifilm XPro1, 56mm, f/6.4, 1/2200, ISO 200

I took this photo from the airplane window on the way to the LA trip mentioned above. Taken somewhere between Kansas and California. 

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"Santa Barbara Sunrise" September, 2016. Santa Barbara, CA
Fujifilm XPro2, 56mm, f/8, 1/850, ISO 200

While staying in Santa Barbara, I motivated myself to get out of bed stupid-early in the morning and go try to take some photos from the pier at sunrise. It was the right decision.

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"The night swimmer" August, 2016. Santa Monica, CA
Fujifilm X100s, 23mm, f/2, 1/70, ISO 6400

I took 20 or 30 shots of this kid running in and out of the surf. Not many came out. Not because they were out-of-focus, but because he needed the lightness of the waves crashing in the background in order to make out the shape of his silhouette. 

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"Chase" May, 2016. Pier 5, Brooklyn, NY
Fujifilm X100s, 23mm, f/16, 1/900, ISO 800

The nice thing about taking the ferry to work is that, instead of crowding onto a train and being wedged into a stranger's armpit, your commute home looks more like this. 

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"Limitless" November, 2016. Brighton, U.K. 
Fujifilm X100s, 23mm, f/8, 1/250, ISO 200

At the end of Brighton Pier there's an amusement park. This shot was taken at the trampolines.

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"West Pier" Novmber, 2016. Brighton, U.K.
Fujifilm XPro1, 14mm, f/16, 28s, ISO 200

Closed in 1975, Brighton's West Pier sat vacant and partially collapsed for years, until a fire gutted the structure in 2003. To get the ghostly effect in the water, this photo is a 28 second long exposure. I got this shot just in the nick of time. A few minutes later, those storm clouds unleashed a massive downpour and I went for fish and chips. 

Thanks for reading! And if you want to see more, you can check out 2105's Year in Review. Or 2014's Year in Review. Or follow me on Flickr or Instagram. 

20 Best Photos of 2015

In June, my wife and I had a daughter. Which means that 95% of the photos I took in 2015 were baby photos. Here are the best of the rest. 

Click on any photo to view it in lightbox mode

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"The snowstorm and the smokehouse" January 2015. New York City
Fujifilm X100s, 23mm, f/5.6, 1/20, ISO 6400

In January, winter storm Juno was forecast to bring a major blizzard to New York City. The storm missed New York (sorry Boston!), but gave us enough snow for some magical twilight photos on Stone Street in the Financial District. I love the way the warm glow from the lights plays against the blue evening sky in the distance.  

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"Sunset snapshot" April, 2015 Islamorada, Florida Keys
Fujifilm XPro1, 14mm, f/4.0, 4.3, ISO 200

One of the most annoying things that can happen as a photographer is to frame up a beautiful shot of the last fleeting moments of the sunset only to have a bunch of thirteen year olds walk into said sunset shot and start posing for several hundred iPhone photos. After briefly cursing them and wishing that they would fall off the end of the pier, I realized I could use them to make a more interesting photo. I used a slow shutter speed to capture the flash from their iPhone, which cast a spotlight onto the girls while leaving the boys in silhouette. 

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"Bahia Honda State Park" April, 2015 Florida Keys
Fujifilm XPro1, 14mm, f/11, 210s, ISO 200

Bahia Honda State Park in the Florida Keys is at the foot of an old abandoned railroad bridge.  To get the smooth water effect and movement in the clouds, I used a three minute long exposure. Here's a shot from the other side of the bridge.

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"!" April, 2015, Islamorada Florida
Fujifilm XPro1, 14mm, f/8, 340s, ISO 200

Here's another long exposure shot from the Florida Keys. This photo was taken at the Amara Cay Resort in Islamorada. This exposure was nearly six minutes long. It's also cool in Black and White

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"Daybreak in Jamestown" November, 2015 Jamestown, Rhode Island
Fujifilm XPro1, 56mm, f/16, 1/125, ISO 200

I guess I had a thing for water and pylons this year. This shot is taken at sunrise in Jamestown, Rhode Island. I love the ethereal mood created by the fog rolling across the harbor.

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"Washington, DC sunrise" November, 2015, Washington, DC
Fujifilm XPro1, 56mm, f/8, 1/25, ISO 200

This was taken just before sunrise at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, DC. To get the reflection in the marble, I sat on the floor and set the camera on the ground.   

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"Here comes the sun" November, 2015, Washington, DC
Fujifilm XPro1, 14mm, f/22, 1/125, ISO 1600

It wasn't easy to get this shot from inside the Lincoln Memorial. There was a boot camp class with about three hundred people running laps up and down the stairs and weaving in and out of the pillars. Fortunately, I got enough of a break between runners to make it seem like a much quieter morning than it actually was. The lone runner created just enough mystery to the shot with the shadow on the wall. 

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"The Bird Feeder" December 25, 2015, Coney Island, NY
iPhone 6

Coney Island is magical in the fog. Especially on Christmas Morning. Something about this photo feels like it could have been taken 75 years ago.  

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"Head in the clouds" March 2015, New York, NY
iPhone 6

I took this photo of the clouds draped over downtown Brooklyn from my office window in Lower Manhattan. 

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"Across the bridge" August, 2015 New York, NY
Fujifilm X100s, 23mm, f/16, 1/80, ISO 6400

The new transportation hub at the World Trade Center is controversial because of its four billion dollar price tag. But it does make for some really great photo ops.  

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"Scenes from a Taxi" August 2015, New York, NY
Fujifilm X100s, 23mm, f/4, 1/9, ISO 6400

I took this photo of the World Trade Center from the back seat of a taxi somewhere in TriBeCa. The red glow is from another car's brake lights hitting the plexiglass divider in the cab.

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"31st Street Sunset" August 2015, New York, NY
Fujifilm X100s, 23mm, f/8, 1/90, ISO 6400

I'd just gotten off a train from Washington, DC and turned the corner in front of Amtrak's Penn Station just in time to catch this incredible sunset. I love the way the neon lights along the side of Madison Square Garden blend with the purple glow in the sky and reflect on the buildings across the street.  

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"Never sleeps" November, 2015 New York, NY
Fujifilm XPro1, 35mm, f/8, 8, ISO 200

In November, we edited a film project at a studio called Work in TriBeCa. This is the view from their office. Not bad. 

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"Castle Hill Lighthouse" November 2015, Newport, Rhode Island
Fujifilm XPro1, 14mm, f/11, 1/125, ISO 500

Hard to go wrong with lighthouse shots. This one was from a trip to Newport, Rhode Island in November. I like the way the cracks in the rocky cliffs draw your eye down to the lighthouse. Classic leading lines stuff. 

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"Lincoln Memorial Reflections" November 2015, Washington, DC
Fujifilm XPro1, 14mm, f/3.2, 1/140, ISO 2500

The trouble with shooting famous landmarks like the Lincoln Memorial is that it's photographed thousands of times every single day. And often by photographers with much fancier equipment. To avoid taking the same postcard picture everyone else took, I came out at sunrise to try to find a unique perspective. I found it in a tiny puddle of water on top of a metal wayfinding sign. 

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"Not Forgotten" September 2015, Jersey City, NJ
Fujifilm XPro1, 56mm, f/2, 1/30, ISO 6400

The September 11th Tribute in Light as seen from the waterfront in Jersey City, New Jersey. 

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"Statue of Liberty at Sunset" December, 2015 Brooklyn, New York
Fujifilm XPro1, 200mm, f/4.8, 1/25, ISO 800

This was shot from the Brooklyn Heights Promenade with my telephoto lens at 200mm, using the fence as a makeshift tripod. 

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"Synchronized selfies" December 2015, Brooklyn Bridge, NY
Fujifilm X100s, 23mm, f/2, 1/20, ISO 3200

Millenials. 

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"But I hadn't run out of things to say to you" July 2015, Brooklyn, NY
iPhone 6

I saw this scene while walking the dog. I have so many questions. 

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"Tough crowd" April, 2015, Central Park, NY
Fujifilm X100s, f/8, 1/240, ISO 400

New Yorkers are a hard bunch to impress. 

Thanks for reading! And if you want to see more, you can check out last year's Year in Review. Or follow me on Flickr or Instagram. 

20 Best Photos of 2014

According to Lightroom, I took well over ten thousand photos in 2014. It wasn't easy to narrow those down to my 20 favorite photographs, but I gave it my best shot. I hope you enjoy them. 

Here's to many more photo-worthy moments in 2015. Happy New Year!

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"Stormy Sunset in New York", October 2014, Brooklyn, New York
Fujifilm X100s, 23mm, f/5.6, 2.6 sec, ISO 500

I've probably taken this shot of lower Manhattan from Brooklyn Bridge Park fifty times now. This one stands out for me, not just because of the amazing sky, but because of the way the metal bands on the tops of the pylons reflect the streetlights behind me. Usually, these poles either fall completely in shadow (like this), or are partially lit and a bit distracting (like this). But on this night, some alchemy of lights, angle and camera settings came together to give each silhouetted pylon a shimmering halo, mirroring the bands of lights along the skyline.

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"Wall Street"  May 2014 , New York City
Fujifilm X100s, 23mm, f/5.6, 1/150, ISO 800

I took this photo on Wall Street, a block east of the New York Stock Exchange. While I'd like to tell you that this was a single, serendipitous moment, it didn't quite come together that way. After noticing the poster on the wall and getting the idea for the photo, I went back to this spot for two days in a row trying to capture this image. It must have taken 200 tries before I got one with a single businessman walking in the right direction, looking just the right amount of unhappy, who was just the right height so the rope would intersect the back of his neck, and frozen at just the right moment so those two inches of rope would actually attach to his collar. 

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"Cherry Blossom Festival"  April 2014 , Washington, DC
Fujifilm X100s, 23mm, f/11, 1/35, ISO 800

Even though I lived in the DC area for most of my life, I never actually made it to the Cherry Blossom Festival during its peak. This year, a visit home was timed perfectly to catch "peak bloom." I arrived at the Tidal Basin before sunrise along with dozens of other crazy photographers. I got  some great shots from the sunrise, but this one from a bit later in the morning is my favorite. When the early morning sun hit the cherry blossoms, the pinks just lit up. 

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"Man in the Middle" January 2014, New York City
Fujifilm X100s, 23mm, f/8, 2.1 sec, ISO 250

On a rainy weekend in January, my wife and I went to New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art. I was playing around with a slow shutter speed to give this stoic scene of the Grand Staircase a sense of energy. But then this guy stopped right in the center to check his phone, which froze him while everyone else blurred. Totally unplanned. But it totally made the shot. This may be the only instance in history where a guy checking his smartphone has actually improved a photo. 

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"Your Journey Continues" April 2014, New York Botanical Gardens, Bronx, New York
Fujifilm X100s, 23mm, f/11, 1/125, ISO 5000

I take it back. Maybe there are two instances in history where a guy checking his smartphone has improved a photo. I may be the only photographer to ever visit the New York Botanical Gardens and come away most excited about a photo of a guy in front of a beige cinderblock wall, not a flower in sight. I don't do much in the way of social commentary in my work, but I just love this one. The guy, completely oblivious to the journey that lies ahead. The total blandness of this space. The polite sign trying to encourage him on to bigger and better things. The ray of light from the heavens beckoning him on to something unimaginably amazing. He's blind to it all. Right now, there's candy to be crushed.   

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"Storm over Williamsburg" June 2014, Brooklyn, New York
Fujifilm XPro1, 14mm, f/8, 1/40, ISO 1600

In June, I drove to Grand Ferry Park in Williamsburg to photograph an event called the "World Naked Bike Ride." It was going to be a bizarrely great photo op. But nature had other plans. Not more than 15 minutes before the official meet-up time for naked bike riding, this storm rolled in. I stayed around just long enough to take a few dramatic shots before the sky opened up, dumping a monsoon of rain across the city. I'll never know if they went ahead with the naked bike ride. 

A day after I posted this photo, I got a notification that one of my favorite National Geographic photographers, Jim Richardson added it as a favorite on Flickr, which is the photography equivalent of Frank Sinatra stopping by to compliment your karaoke performance. 

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"Watching the storm roll in" June 2014, Brooklyn, New York
Fujifilm X100s, 23mm, f/8, 1/150, ISO 320

This photo was taken just eight minutes earlier than the one above. I started shooting this scene down low along the rocks. But then I stood up and saw the couple with the umbrellas. As a rule of thumb, people are almost always more interesting than rocks. 

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"Covered Bridge at Sunset" March 2014, South Woodstock, Vermont
Fujifilm X100s, 23mm, f/4, 1/80, ISO 250

In March, we planned a long weekend trip to Vermont. Two days before we were scheduled to go, a storm dropped 24 inches of snow across the state. While the snowstorm made for some harrowing driving moments on the less-plowed side roads, it also made for this covered bridge photo op, which is about as iconic Winter-In-Vermont as it gets. Much to my good fortune, they even left their Christmas Wreath up for St Patrick's Day. 

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"The Long Walk Back" March 2014, Burlington, Vermont
Fujifilm X100s, 23mm, f/16, 1/320, ISO 200

When we checked into our hotel in Burlington, the concierge suggested we take a walk across the frozen Lake Champlain. This seemed like a terrible and dangerous idea. But sure enough, people were out there traipsing around all over the ice. So we took a walk on the lake. After all, "when in Rome." Sure enough, it was frozen solid, clear across to New York. This is the first time the winter has been cold enough for the lake to freeze since 2007. 

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"The Flatiron Building at Sunset" November 2014, New York City
Fujifilm X-T1, 35mm, f/1.4, 1/30, ISO 800

In November, we edited at a studio on 5th Avenue called Rock, Paper Scissors. This is the view from their kitchen. Wowsers. 

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"The Birdwatcher" November 2014, New York City
Fujifilm XPro1, 63mm, f/4.5, 1/60, ISO 200

The trouble with taking photos of iconic New York landmarks like the Bow Bridge in Central Park is that they've been photographed a zillion times before. Fortunately, this birdwatcher gave me the opportunity to capture something more unique than the typical postcard view. 

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"Two Bridges" May 2014, New York City
Fujifilm XPro1, 14mm, f/8, 250 seconds, ISO 200

Sticking with the bridge theme, here's one of the Manhattan and Brooklyn Bridges that I shot from the East River Promenade. This was a four minute long exposure, which made the water on the East River go silky and created the sense of movement in the clouds.  

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"Brooklyn Bridge" May 2014, New York City
Fujifilm XPro1, 14mm, f/8, 240 seconds, ISO 200

Here's another shot from the same evening. I love how foggy the water looks around the pylons. The scene feels totally silent except for the flapping of the flag on top of the bridge. (Of course, it was far from it, with horns blaring overhead on the FDR Expressway)

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"Coney Island Reflected" June 2014, Brooklyn, New York
Fujifilm XPro1, 74mm, f/5, 1/750 seconds, ISO 200

My favorite shot from Coney Island's raucous Mermaid Parade wasn't even of a mermaid. It was this quiet moment of an amused spectator, sitting on the boardwalk railing, taking in all the madness. I love how isolated he is against the blown-out sky. It's only when you see the reflections in his sunglasses that you get a sense of place. A jam-packed boardwalk with Deno's Wonder Wheel spinning in the background. 

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"Bonk" April, 2014 New York City
Fujifilm XPro1, 35mm, f/4, 1/55 seconds, ISO 1250

It's hard to create slapstick humor in a scene without any people. But when I spotted this poster at the Broadway/Lafayette Street subway station in SoHo, I knew I had to come back with my camera. I took this photo on 4/2/14, so it may have been inspired by April Fools Day. Or, more appropriately, tax day. 

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"Little Cupcake Bakeshop" January, 2014 New York City
Fujifilm X100s, 23mm, f/2.8, 1/105 seconds, ISO 6400

I love the feeling of this photo. There's something kind of Edward Hopper about it. And there are so many little details. The glimpse of the Empire State Building in the distance. The snowflake decorations that make the cupcake shop feel just a bit cozier. And the fact that the two people crossing on either corner of the street are perfect mirror images of each other. 

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"Indecent Proposal" May, 2014 Brooklyn, New York
Fujifilm XPro1, 14mm, f/8, 1/40 seconds, ISO 400

I have so many questions. Was it a real marriage proposal? Did she say yes? Did they cash his check? Was the tiny shrub in the shipping crate part of the proposal? 

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"Houston Street Noise" May, 2014, New York City
Fujifilm XPro1, 35mm, f/8, 1/160 seconds, ISO 1600

This famous mural on the corner of Houston and Bowery Streets has had rotating artist installations for 30 years, including work by Keith Haring and Shepard Fairey. I've just learned that the wall has been temporarily dismantled for the construction of a new building. This mural by Cope2 was the final installation. 

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"Welcome Freedom Creators" December, 2014, Edgewood, Maryland
Fujifilm X100s, 23mm, f/8, 1/160, ISO 200

I took this photo just a few days ago. We were driving home for the holidays and pulled off I-95 to to get gas. This hotel was next door. This is why you always carry a camera. 

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"MacDougal Street Snowstorm" January, 2014, New York City
Fujifilm X100s, 23mm, f/2, 1/125 seconds, ISO 2500

This year was one of the ten snowiest winters on record for New York City. So there was no shortage of picturesque snowglobe-quality photo opportunities. But of all the winter photos that I took this year, this shot from Greenwich Village is my favorite. I took this photo while kneeling in the center of MacDougal Street. I snapped a few shots, played around with settings, and tried to compose something interesting. But then this guy stepped off the curb in the distance and crossed into the middle of street. Sometimes it's that tiniest of details that makes all the difference. The other photos from this series are totally unremarkable. This one is magic.