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“Twelve significant photographs in any one year is a good crop.” – Ansel Adams

It is that time of the year, once again, for me to share with you my Top Twelve Photographs of the Year 2019. This is the 7th edition of a tradition that began in 2013, inspired by Ansel Adams’ quote above. Ansel Easton Adams (February 20, 1902 – April 22, 1984), is one of the most recognizable names in American landscape photography. His black-and-white landscape photographs of the American West, especially Yosemite National Park, have been widely reproduced on calendars, posters, books and prints. He is revered by landscape photographers all over the world, and to this day his extended family continues to own and operate The Ansel Adams Gallery in Yosemite National Park, California.

2019 was an interesting and productive year. I did not travel as far and wide, or as often as I did the previous year, but I enjoyed the places I got to this year, and the wonderful company I had to travel with. In all, a rundown of all the locations photographed in 2019: I loved my journey to Sri Lanka where I got to spend a month early in the year, Yosemite National Park (4 times), Eastern Sierras - Mono Lake (3), Bishop, Big Sur Coastline, and The Palouse area in Washington State.

When you shoot as many images I am fortunate to do in a year, I find it difficult to cull it all down to ‘twelve significant photographs.’ So, as in previous years, I determine my Top Twelve, and the order of the selections, by the amount of responses (Likes) the images received on my social media Facebook. Again this year I will count them down starting with Number 12, its title, some background about each image, and some basic EXIF data.

#12 'Designs in Sand by Neptune' – as mentioned above, I had the privilege of visiting the country of my birth, Sri Lanka, where I spent a month earlier this year in Negombo and 10 days on a short tour of a few east coast locations I had not been to previously as a photographer. For the first time since I began doing this Top Twelve I have an image shot with an iPhone. We stayed at a beautiful, comfortable hotel in Weligambay Beach, Weligama. The bay is so beautiful I decided I wanted to go for a long walk along the beach one morning and came across these these beautiful scalloped sands! While this area is famous for its stilt fisherman, I accidentally discovered that it is a landscape photographer's paradise as well. I am extremely grateful when surprises like this are given by Mother Nature!

*March 21st, Weligambay Beach, Weligama, Sri Lanka; iPhone 7 Plus; exp. 1/4000 sec @ f/1.8; focal length 3.9mm; ISO 120*

#11 ‘Simplicity’ – Soberanes Creek, right off of Highway 1 along the Big Sur Coastline has this beautiful small waterfall as you walk down to shoot the sea stacks at Soberanes Point . I love this little setting where you discover the connection between simplicity and beauty! I had a wonderful few days with two close friends, shooting in between heavy rains and strong winds, which is what makes this coastline memorable!

#10 Fall ‘N Leaves’ – this is the remarkable Fern Springs, Yosemite National Park, CA, highlighted by some colorful fall leaves. Getting the right compositions here can take some time to come one with something eye catching, often interrupted by people stopping by to fill their flasks, bottles and mugs with the pure water from a naturally filtered underground spring. The water is truly remarkable albeit it has taken me too long to try it as I finally did for the first time this year!

#9 – ‘Dance Me to the End of Love’ – this beautiful coastline that stretches from Monterey Bay all the way down to Big Sur and beyond has the most beautiful rugged coastline that is a photographers paradise. When you are given a good size swell by the cold and powerful Pacific Ocean with an offshore wind you get to photograph beautiful shapes and patters of waves crashing in on the shore.

*January 14, Garrapata Beach, Garrapata State Park, CA; exp. 1/25 sec @ f/8; 28-300mm lens @ 280mm; ISO 100*

#8 – ‘The Chapel of Love’ – of the structures in public use in Yosemite National Park, the Yosemite Valley Chapel is now the oldest. The Chapel was built in 1879, is an undenominational fully functioning house of worship in Yosemite Valley. This scene is so beautiful to photograph in the winter after a lot of snow has fallen and the trees are flocked as show in this image.

*February 4, Yosemite Valley Chapel, Yosemite National Park, CA; exp. 1/8 sec @ f/11; 24-105mm lens @ 31mm; ISO 125*

#7 ‘The Crown Jewels’ ~ this structure of tufa’s in the South Tufa Area, Mono Lake, CA, is fondly referred to by photographers as ‘The Shipwreck’. I have shot here many times, but this was the first time I created a panorama from five vertical images stitched together in Lightroom CC. This created an illusion of the tufa structure ‘floating’, coddled amongst the clouds due to the highly reflective nature of the lake on this particular winter’s afternoon . Tufa is a variety of limestone formed when carbonate minerals precipitate out of ambient temperature water.

*January 19, South Tufa Area, Mono Lake, CA; exp. 1/100 sec @ f/11; 24-105mm lens @ 29mm; ISO 100*

#6 ‘In the Still of the Night’ – this was an unusual capture of an image 90 minutes after sundown in Yosemite National Park, CA, due to us serendipitously meeting a young photographer on location who told us that this unusual glow would occur as he had seen it the previous night. I am glad I stayed. I am glad I did not argue that it would be impossible, as the impossible did happen and I am glad I stayed until it did occur! I wrote a blog about this night earlier this year. Full disclosure – I dropped in this sky using the just released Luminar 4 by Skylum, using one of my own skies from a previous image. I intend to write more about this AI (Artificial Intelligence) driven function in an upcoming blog early next year…

#5 ‘The Rising’ – this gathering of clouds happened in about an hour, going from a bald, blue sky to these magical clouds, completely unexpectedly when I was scouting for a workshop beginning the next day! The beauty present on this planet never ceases to amaze and remind me – let’s protect and preserve it to share with the generations to come!

*April 17, Tunnel View, Yosemite National Park, CA; exp. 1/60 sec @ f/11; 24-105mm lens @ 35mm; ISO 100*

#4 ‘Let It Be’ - this was my first portrait in Sri Lanka when I visited the country of my birth in March, where I always saw more joy in people who have almost nothing vs. the psychosis I have seen in people who have almost everything. I have also found the following to be true when it comes to photographing people in the streets; “When you photograph people in color, you photograph their clothes. But when you photograph people in black and white, you photograph their souls!” – Ted Grant, Canadian photojournalist. However, I have also found the exception to this is when photographing faces in India, where the colors are an integral part of what you see and should be included to tell the whole story.

#3. ‘The Golden Hour’ – sunset at Koggala, Sri Lanka, with the stilt fishermen, and a dream come true for me! I had wanted to shoot this scene ever since I went back to Sri Lanka in 2014 after a 55 year absence. These stilt fisherman catch fish by sitting on the stilts, that are owned by individual families and passed down from generation to generation. They make a living when the seas are calm, posing on the stilts for passing by tourists. They do this because when the seas are calm there are no fish to catch because they are all caught further out to sea by net fisherman that scoop everything up in their nets taken out on hundreds of colorful boats every morning. When the seas are rough the boats can’t go out to sea and throw out their nets, so the fish come all the way in and are caught by the stilt fisherman.

*March 21, Koggala, Sri Lanka; exp. 1/4 sec @ f/16; 24-105mm lens @ 56mm; ISO 160*

#2 ‘The Golden One’ – the magnificent Half Dome, Yosemite NP, at sunset reflected on a still Merced River, shot from Sentinel Bridge before clouds rolled in and turned off the lights. California received enough rain and snow earlier this year that officially brought an end to the drought that has plagued the State for too many years. The beginning of our rainy season has begun well and I hope we get back to normal rains and snow levels in 2020 as well.

#1 ‘Reflective Times’ – South Tufa, Mono Lake, CA, in the dead of winter after recent heavy snow falls. I have never been here when there was not a breath of wind blowing, creating an almost mirror-like reflective surface. Along with these beautiful clouds and the snow covered Eastern Sierra mountains this otherworldly landscape suggested that this is where Angels come to play. I continue to be in awe of what Mother Nature creates, and grateful indeed that I was there to view and capture in her amazing works! This is a pano created with 2 horizontal images stitched together in Lightroom CC.

*January 19, South Tufa Area, Mono Lake, CA; exp. 1/160 sec @ f/11; 24-105mm lens @ 60mm; ISO 100*

And there we have it, Top Twelve Photographs for the 2019 year. Also, a continuing tradition, a few observations in closing: 1) two of the Top Twelve images voted on in 2019 were shot in Sri Lanka, 2) two were shot along the Big Sur Coast line of California, and 3) four images from Yosemite National Park, which also happens to be my favorite place on this planet to visit and photograph!

I always feel privileged and fortunate in looking back at the end of each year to see where I have traveled to and the beautiful conditions I was given to photograph and be creative. I’d also like to express a big thank you to all those who expressed their support of my photography on my Facebook page, for taking the time to do so – it is greatly appreciated! As always, I owe a great deal of gratitude to the many people who support me by purchasing my images in print form, and attending my workshops. Last but not least, the wonderful and talented photographers and friends of mine that I travel and live with during these photographic journeys throughout the year – my deepest thank you!

2020 will be the beginning of the next decade. In many ways it is a new beginning and I am excited to be leading a photography workshop and tour into Sri Lanka in 2020, the land of my birth and my family of origin, and welcome you to join me as I show you the sights, sounds and tastes of this beautiful tropical island, named the ‘Pearl of the Indian Ocean’ over the course of 15 days and night!

For full tour details, daily itinerary for the 15 days, FAQs, and how to sign up visit the 2020 Sri Lanka workshop and tour webpage.

I was first introduced to photography at an early age by my father in Sri Lanka. He had a great love for the ocean, and a passion for photography – both passions that I have shared with him all of my life. I can vividly recall the sights and pungent odors in his small darkroom watching him reveal his black and white images on a piece of paper by immersing it in a tray of development liquid. My photography began on the beaches in Sri Lanka with my father, and here I am decades later leading a photography workshop to some of those very same beaches! It is a small world afterall…

Let the new decade begin wishing everybody a Wonderful New Year in 2020!

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2019 Top Twelve Photographs