The Year that Was 2022 — Stories Behind My Favorite Images of 2022 (Part 4 — The Kentucky Derby)

Happy Holidays!

This is the fourth and last installment of stories behind my favorite images of 2022. The first three can be found here, here, and here.

In November I went to Kentucky for business. Although I missed the Fall colors there, I still had a few good sessions to produce several images, which ended up on my favorites list for 2022.

Click on the image to go to the product page. Without further ado…

At the end of my first day in Kentucky, I went to the waterfront in Louisville for sunset. I arrived in advance, walked around, crossed the Ohio river on the Big Four bridge to the Indiana site, and finally settled to watch the sun go down, with the beautiful sunset washing over the different bridges and Louisville skyline.

Sunset at George Rogers Clark Memorial Bridge and Louisville Downtown Skyline

I was lucky to get a beautiful afterburner that day as well, and had fun to photograph the different bridges, including some night shots I haven’t finished editing yet.

Panorama of the Sunset at Abraham Lincoln Bridge and Louisville Downtown

Abraham Lincoln Bridge and Louisville Downtown Night Shot

After I was done with work on the next day, I drove to Cumberland Falls State Resort Park for the weekend. Although the forecast was for rain on Saturday and partially cloudy Sunday, I didn’t really get any sun. However, I did get some moody shots with brewing clouds and rain.

On the first morning, I went to photograph the beautiful Cumberland Falls. These magnificent falls are sometimes called the Little Niagara or the Niagara of the South. They are set in a beautiful wooded and mountain surrounding in the Daniel Boon National Forest. The falls are one of the few places where you can see a moonbow. Unfortunately, I was a few days too late to see this phenomenon, and I doubt I would have been able to with the heavy cloud cover. However, I had a chance to capture some beautiful moody shots of the waterfalls.

Cumberland Falls

A beautiful black and white version of this shot can be found in the Monochrome gallery. At one point in the morning the light rain turned into a downpour, and I went to have breakfast at the lodge. The restaurant at the lodge has a beautiful view of the river and the mountains. I went to the balcony and took some amazing misty, rainy views, two of which make it to this list.

Panorama of the Stormy Morning at Cumberland Falls State Park

Stormy Morning at Cumberland Falls State Park

The next day I hiked to the Dog Slaughter Falls. The hike winds through a beautiful forest along the Dog Slaughter Creek. It has many opportunities for beautiful woodland scenes in the right light conditions and in Fall. I had the falls all to myself and spent a good amount of time photographing them. Two of the shots make it to the list of my favorites in 2022.

Dog Slaughter Falls 1

Dog Slaughter Falls 2

This concludes the list of my favorite shots in 2022.

Happy Holidays!

The Year that Was 2022 — Stories Behind My Favorite Images of 2022 (Part 3 — New England Fall)

Happy Holidays!

This is the third installment of posts featuring my favorite images of 2022. You can find the first and the second at the links.

This year the fall colors came out in force in New England. In the few years I’ve been here, I believe this one was the best from Fall colors perspective. I am still wading through the many images I took during this period, but I already have several that are among my all time favorite shots.

Click on the image to go to the product page. Let’s get going…

On one of the weekends we went to the White Mountains in New Hampshire. We started at the Little White Church in Eaton, hoping for some mist above the lake, but it didn’t materialize. We drove into the mountains and, as often is the case, noticed a dilapidated farm on our way to Conway. I doubled back and we stopped for a few minutes to photograph the barn. This image also has a very nice black and white version, which didn’t make it onto this list.

Abandoned Barn near Conway, New Hampshire

We drove through the Cancagamus highway, stopping in several locations. most of the images from that drive are still waiting to be edited. In the afternoon we climbed the Artists Bluff hike near Franconia Notch for sunset. The location was extremely crowded to the point of people creating a traffic jam on the way down. We stayed at the overlook until the sun hid behind the mountains. I took out my long lens and took shots of the trees on the mountain slopes across from us, basking in the light of the settling sun, glowing gold.

Fields of Gold. Trees in the Light of the Settling Sun at Artists Bluff, New Hampshire

Last Call. Fall Trees at Franconia Notch as Seen from Artists Bluff, Bathed in Last Rays of Settling Sun

After going to the White Mountains, I spent a couple of days in the Berkshires. On one of the mornings I went to Bash Bish falls for my first visit to that staple of Massachusetts Berkshires. I came early enough for sunrise and was the only person at the falls, giving me the opportunity to take my time and photograph the falls framed by Fall-colored trees.

Bash Bish Falls in Fall Colors

This year I participated in the art fair at the Roseland Cottage in Woodstock, Connecticut. The fair is organized by Historic New England and is one of several I did with them. All the fairs were very well organized and well attended in beautiful locations across New England. At this show I was contracted to do custom work. while doing that I took one of my favorite fall shots this year, which I am including in this list with the clients’ permission.

Light through the Canopy

Often the images we love the most are the ones from our local area or those which remind us of great experiences. There are several locations near Lancaster, Massachusetts, which I pass every day on my way to and from work. One of them is a small wooded area. I always wondered how it would look with some fog. So, one day, I woke to a nice misty morning, grabbed my camera and headed out. When I was almost done and was about to head back, I captured the following image of the most beautiful God Rays breaking through the trees, with the last of the morning mist helping bring them to life.

Let There Be Light

Another location, which I see every day, and which was the source of endless frustration for me is a large wetland area near highway 70. My frustration comes from the fact that the area looks amazing, but there is just no place to stop without risking being run over. One day, I finally got so jealous of the amazing light and mist in this area that I went to google maps and tried to figure out how I can get to it. I found an access point from a cemetery in the residential neighborhood near by. Although I didn’t get the full view of the wetland area, I got enough to capture a few of my favorites this year. Two of them make it to this list, but there are several more, which were “almost”.

Misty Morning in Lancaster

I came early enough to be able to explore a little, to capture the heavier mist during the blue hour, and to capture the rising sun backlighting the mist over the wetland.

Of Sun and Mists

Kimball Farm is another location I pass on my daily commute. One morning, I just had to stop to capture the misty trees there. The wisps of mist backlit by the rising sun created this eerie atmosphere straight out of the Lord of the Rings.

Misty Morning at Kimball Farm

Old Stone Church in West Boylston is a location I keep going back to. It is only a few minutes drive away from my house, and offers a variety of shots in different conditions. I am still missing some good winter shots of the location, but I was able to capture a few good Fall shots this year.

Colors and Reflections

Sunset and Mist at the Old Stone Church

We finished up our Fall season this year with a two-day trip to Cape Cod. This is the first time I went there, and I will definitely go back. On the first evening we stopped at Race Point beach for sunset. This was one of the most amazing sunsets and afterburners I have seen, and it resulted in two images to cap off this installment of my favorite images of 2022. A perfect ending.

Sunset at Race Point Beach

Watching the Sunset

Happy Holidays!