The past year was a pretty good one photography-wise. It was aided immensely by two trips — a long weekend in New York City and a two-week trip to Utah. The Utah trip, planned months in advance, occurred during the first two weeks of October and was severely disrupted by the federal government shutdown. However, we were able to visit some spectacular areas not under federal management, and sneaked into quite a few national parks anyway. In short, neither the vacation nor the photography suffered too much. (But that is not forgiveness. We are governed by children.)
Following are my favorite photos of 2013. I hope you enjoy them. And as always, thanks for following my photo blog and for your kind comments throughout the year!
January: Canada Geese in flight; Middle Creek Wildlife Management Area (Pennsylvania)
February: Tundra Swans at takeoff; Middle Creek Wildlife Management Area (Pennsylvania)
February: Snow Geese in flight; Middle Creek Wildlife Management Area (Pennsylvania)
March: Grave, Unknown Soldier; Annapolis, Maryland
April: Sunrise over the Atlantic; Virginia Beach. No color saturation added.
April: Boardwalk and beach; Virginia Beach. Digital manipulation.
May: Street Musician, Central Market, Lancaster, PA.
July: Street scene: Washington Square Park, New York City.
July: Street scene; Washington Square Park, New York City.
July: Warehouse lights; New York City. Digital manipulation.
October: Melanie is not impressed. We hiked in anyway. (Not a great photo. Just a “What were you thinking, Congress?” photo.)
October: Aspens at forest edge; Grand Canyon National Park, AZ. Digital manipulation.
October: Eastern edge, Grand Canyon, as we hiked into the park from a national forest road, toward Point Imperial.
October: Point Imperial vista, Grand Canyon National Park, AZ; We were alone at this overlook thanks to the shutdown. A 5 mile hike round trip.
October: Milky Way on the horizon: at Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park, Utah.
October: Milky Way rising; at Devils Den (near Escalante), Utah.
October: Monument Valley vista; Monument Valley Navajo Tribal Park, Utah / Arizona.
October: Dunes at sunrise; Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park, Utah.
October: Slot canyon; near Escalante, Utah.
October: Slot canyon; near Escalante, Utah.
October: Melanie exploring a slot canyon; near Escalante, Utah.
October: Cisco (abandoned town); north of Moab, Utah.
October: Cisco (abandoned town); north of Moab, Utah.
October: Cisco (abandoned town); north of Moab, Utah.
October: Desert scene; near Corona Arch (Moab Area), Utah.
October: Natural window; near Corona Arch (Moab area), Utah.
October: Three Sisters at Sunrise; Arches National Park, Utah.
October: Panorama; Arches National Park, Utah.
October: Desert scene; Arches National Park, Utah.
Delicate Arch at Sunset; Arches National Park, Utah.
photoriety 
Lovely photographs Bruce! I want to be a photographer in my next life. 😉 Thanks for sharing……..
Sonia
Thanks Pastor Sonia! I’m glad you enjoyed them. And by the way, you could be a photographer in this life, too!
Thanks for sharing your pictures, Bruce! I always enjoy them. Hugs to you guys – Jim Snyder
Hey, Jim — great to hear from you! Hope you’re doing well, and thanks for the kind words.
Bruce, These are all great. Can’t pick a favorite myself!
So sorry I missed seeing you. I didn’t see your message until I got back to Mom and Dad’s in New Oxford and I had committed the last few days of my trip to them.
I did get to spend parts of a few days with Bobby and hopefully contributed to helping him out of his funk. I have grown to really like the guy, and despite the fact that I don’t remember ever running into him during our teen years, feel that he is an old Mahoning Valley friend!
As you plan your next outings, keep a visit to WA in mind and I would love to show you around my corner of the world and meet Melanie.
Shawn Eckman Sipe
“Never trust anyone who has not brought a book with them.” — Lemony Snicket (Horseradish: Bitter Truths You Can’t Avoid)
Hi Shawn, Sorry I missed you while you visited. So many obligations over the holidays! We’d love to visit Washington state again. We’ve been there twice, but not recently. I think Olympic National Park is one of the best national parks that we have in this country, and somehow it is lesser known than the “biggies” like Yosemite, Yellowstone, etc.
I would have bet that you and Bob ran into each other at Mahoning Fire Co. picnics, but guess I would have been wrong. It was nice to see him at Christmas. Wish I could get back to the area more often.
Take good care and give Sheila my best.
Bruce you truly have an eye for marvelous photographs….enjoyed viewing your favorites…as I would imagine was a real tough decision to pick one over the other…I know you take multiple shots and then somehow pick the best one…you’ve learned this art with years of practice and have certainly become an artist in your own right…Thanks for sharing these as I do have the ability to appreciate good work…and these are certainly superb… (Two Thumbs Straight Up Cousin…)
Thanks so much, Bob. You’re right about multiple photos. Sometimes I will stay with a single subject for hours and shoot dozens of images. Not unusual for me to take 100 shots and end up keeping only two or three. As a matter of fact, you had to stand around and wait for me at Yosemite, so you definitely know how it works!