The end of each year offers us a natural retrospective on our lives over that time, and one thing that I really enjoy doing as a part of that process is selecting a personal favourite set of images from the year. Last year I selected 11 from 2011 and this year I’m picking 12 from 2012! Each and every image means something special to me… I hope you take a moment to read a little about each image. Included along side is a link to the blog post that I originally shared with the image. Enjoy!
12. “The River in Zion National Park”
This image stemmed from a deep realisation that in photographing alone, I really do feel one with the world when I’m fully immersed in it. I zone out, and I’m focussed purely on what’s in my camera’s viewfinder. Sometimes I’m lucky enough that a spectacular after-sunset scene in one of America’s most beautiful national parks happens to be on the other end.
11. “Two Door Cinema Club Live at Showbox SoDo, Seattle WA”
I continued to discover how much I enjoy photographing musicians live on stage throughout 2012, and this image of Alex Trimble from Two Door Cinema Club’s show here in Seattle this year is my favourite concert photograph from this year. These guys played a great show, and for me, this photograph shows the artist immersed in his art… and absolutely loving it.
10. “Sólfar”
Iceland is a country where I’ve wanted to go and visit for a long time, and this monument to Sólfar, aka The Sun Voyager, was one of the first photographs I made when I visited there in March.
09. “Sol Duc Falls”
I remember this weekend like it was just yesterday. I took a few days and spent them driving around the Olympic Peninsula here in Washington state. This is a small waterfall inside the Olympic National Park, called Sol Duc Falls. Buried deep inside an old growth forest, I found a spot by the edge of the falls to catch the sun peering through the canopy of the forest.
08. “Sunset at Picture Lake”
Taken north of Seattle near Mt. Baker, this is the aptly named, Picture Lake. For a long time, I’ve wanted to photograph out here. To me, this photograph depicts the northwest in its purest form. To me, it looks and feels like the great outdoors.
07. “Winter Is Coming”
Mt. Rainier seems to always make an appearance in my highlight images – I just love wide-angle landscape images of the mountains. In this case, a thick belt of fog lifted up and out of the valley in front of the lake revealing the mountain, just after the sun rose from behind the horizon.
06. “Seattle In The Clouds”
I woke up and hoped to photograph a sunrise, but was met with what instead was a very moody and interesting cloud bank hovering just over the tops of the city buildings. The cloud would wander in front of and behind the Space Needle, wrapping itself around the buildings, making for a very dramatic scene. Not what I was expecting that morning at all, but very beautiful nonetheless.
05. “After the Storm”
Just when I thought the day was going to be rained out from an unrelenting storm, the skies slowly stopped pouring with rain, leaving room for people to walk around downtown by Pike Place Market. The water from the storm left on the cobblestone streets reflected the neon glow of the lights in the market. The city came alive.
04. “Aurora Borealis”
I can’t begin to describe how excited I was making this photograph. Or how frozen I was while doing it. Witnessing the northern lights, or the aurora borealis, has been a lifelong dream of mine… something I’d always wanted to see and experience. It’s a magical thing, watching the shades of green light up the night sky and dance their way across the horizon. This image, shot in Iceland back in March, was the first time I saw such a brilliant display.
03. “Winter Sunrise”
It’s pretty hard to catch a colourful sky, Mt. Rainier, and the Space Needle in good light from Kerry Park. At sunset, the colourful light is always in the opposite direction from the city. It’s pretty out west, but this vantage point looks south east. That means getting up early and taking your chance on a good sunrise. Back in January, we were gifted with a stretch of dry weather, and this day was the best of the mornings I saw. This image is now for sale inside the Seattle Space Needle, and is one of my most successful images to date. Getting up early can be totally worth it!
02. “Autumn In The Gorge”
I visited this vantage point in the summertime, and returned in Autumn to witness it in very different weather. What greeted me this time was not the hazy mess that I saw back in the summer, but a fantastical, cloudy, autumnal scene which I found truly beautiful.
01. “An Astral Concerto”
My favourite of my favourite images was an easy choice this year, taken during a wonderful weekend photo trip to the Palouse area of Eastern Washington. The night sky put on a real show, and made for some pretty great fun photographing the famous Palouse Falls with some light painting thrown in for good measure. I want to print this on metal some day.
Thanks to everyone for following my blog and my photography!
See you all in 2013!
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About Jacob
I grew up in Australia, but now I live in the always-beautiful Seattle, WA. I love sharing my stories and experiences through photography.
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Good lord Jacob! If that is 2012….I’m fired up for your 3013!
Thanks Justin – me too!
Someone had a great year! The AB has been a dream of mine as well. I hope that someday I may be able to visit a site where it can be experienced!
I have always wondered – How do photographers capture Rainier and the skyline like that? Is it with a WA lens?
P.S. Sorry for the acronyms; I am hardly awake right now. Ha!
As wonderful a collection of “best of” pictures as I’ve seen anywhere. I’m disappointed at the lack of #NXNW love, though
There’s an “inspired by NXNW” image
I love it when you share a series of images like this Jacob. I can see a definite thread holding quite of few of these together in a common vision and some of your strongest work this year too!
Merry Christmas and wishing you all the best in the New Year!
Thanks Sabrina. I’m starting to get more attuned to the common vision in my landscapes – thanks by and large to ART this year in June. It’s fun to have that realisation.
Have a great holiday season!
Boy. I can’t believe I missed some of these this year. We must talk more.
Seriously, great set of images. Congrats on a creatively productive year!
Jacob,
Fabulous images which have made me realize I haven’t frequented your blog nearly enough in 2012. Unfortunately I wasn’t able to make it up the PNW this year, but maybe in 2013 the stars will align allowing us to hang out for a day. I hope you have a wonderful Christmas. I can’t wait to see what 2013 looks like through your lens.
Terrific collection. Happy new year, and looking forward to more in 2013!
Beautiful selection of images Jacob.
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Very impressive. And thanks for the inspiration. I already have my ‘new moon’ adventure to Palouse Falls marked on my calendar for the summer.
The mood you created in #7 really speaks to me – a wonderful set. Wishing you lots more gorgeous light in 2013! Best Photos of 2012 by JMG-Galleries Blog Readers
Just coming over from Jim’s list and slowly working my way through
Some striking and varied work Jacob. Looks like it was a great year for you.
Terrific images Jacob. I’m blown away by “Aurora Borealis” and really like the subtlety but beauty of “Winter is Coming”. All the best in 2013.
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lovely images all the best for 2013
rgds
Very impressive! A beautiful set! Thank you for sharing.
Thanks everyone!
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