Best Photos 2025- July-Dec

The second half of the year was really hard to choose the best photo. July had a clear winner, but other months not so much.

As usual for the photography posts, I left the images large so you can click to see them better.

July 2025 Timing is everything, not necessarily location. This is just off my front porch

August 2025 The month of the trip to North Dakota. Lots of nice pictures. But for sheer photography, I choose this one. We were driving out of our campground in the morning. The waterway is the Missouri River and the bluff on the far side is the beginning of the Badlands. The sun was just hitting the bank and making everything glow. I asked Diane to stop. I got out of the car and ran around until I got a shot that didn't have a campsite in it. I like the rippling shadow and the rippling geological lines.

September 2025 I took this just to help with the fern ID. But I love the picture. Marsh Fern spore cases.

October 2025 Too many good choices. The picture I used for the best events of each month is definitely in the running. You could say the light was better in that one, and another one I got, just along the highway. But I choose this one, again because it has a little bit of nostalgic and emotional appeal. Barns and fall go together. They make you think of harvest and conjure up the aroma of apple cider.

November 2025 This photo was pure luck. I was collecting shots for a 6-panel "skyday" post. I was driving home at dusk and realized I hadn't yet taken a shot for that day. Stopped, rolled down the window. Click. I actually had quite a few good pictures from November. But this one wins because I think the colors are a little unusual.

December 2025 It wasn't that long ago you saw this picture. A surprising number of people commented on it. This is my "nature's bonsai" apple tree.

I got my act together today and edited, shopped, chopped veggies and did more kitchen stuff.

See Best Photos 2025- Jan-June

Best Photos 2025, Jan- June

Much to my surprise, it's been several years since I tried to show you the best pictures taken month by month. I was trying to show you some from the big hike, but apparently the last year I really did it was 2021. Wow!

I'm just going to do the first 6 tonight, and the rest tomorrow. Some of the choices were hard. I'm not really a photographer. I don't hang around for the light to be good, or go hunting for super shots. More often I'm trying to make sure the picture shows a certain seedpod or hairy stems, etc.

Anyway, here are tonight's six. I've left them full size, so you can click to see them better if you want.

January 2025 This is the Ludington Lighthouse, taken on a beach drivethrough after one of my many doctor appointments that month.

February 2025 Still mostly in bed. But I opened the kitchen door and got this.

March 2025 Well, it was Flower Show month. How do I pick one photo? ANyway, I seldom get good pictures of people, and I just love this one of Selma. She turns 96 next week, so this is perfect. She needs more help to get around, but Marie says she's still perking.

April 2025 Meh. I didn't take any really stellar pix. This is Hamlin Lake. There were a couple of better pictures from June I could have substituted, but the rules are "one per month!"

May 2025 The rock garden, of course. Well, not of course, because it's about the best picture, not the most pictures. But I think this one wins anyway. Nice color palette, textures, angles, light.

June 2025 Choosing ONE for June was tough. Flowers, Adirondacks. Wow. But the best pictures really make you feel something, right? So rather than a great landscape, I choose this scene on Puffer Pond. Don't you just want to be there?

Today was a total play day. OK, I did wash some dishes. Now I'm going to go watch a movie with Om and walk on the treadmill. Doug is plowing the driveway. Yeah!

See Best of 2025, Month by Month

Photoessay in Black and White

Had a chance to go for a little walk today at Cartier Park. That is a paved trail and it was plowed, so I opted for the easy choice since we got another 5 inches of snow last night. The black-and-white theme is certainly not an original idea, but I like it.

And the full-size photos. I did not convert any of these to black and white. These are all "full color" photos!

Another busy day. Did some editing. Eye doctor appointment, this walk, then a trail meeting in the early evening.

Miles hiked in 2025: 466.9

Cartier Park, Ludington, MI. The paved trail loops. 1.8 miles.

See Skyday #3

Best Photos of July 2022

 Here are the best of the pictures I think I took from July 2022. This was from the big hike. I know that was forever ago, but I've always wanted to try to share the best from each month. I have a lot of bad ones from this month.

I am saying these pictures are "best," not because they necessarily tell the story best, but because I think they are simply the best actual photographs. I've left them full size, so you can click on them and see them larger. That always makes photos look better. Three are cropped a bit, and one had the color saturation increased a tad.

I got a lot of wildlife and flower pictures, but most are only of the quality you can use to ID things, not really nice pictures.

They are chronological from west to east.

This is the Lonetree Wildlife Management Area seen from the eastern end of the McClusky Canal. If that irrigation project had been finished this would all have been flooded. Now, it's a beautiful recreation area. (Some officials realized the irrigation project was headed for environmental disaster).

Next up is showy milkweed. I like that I got several stages of buds and blossoms

I can't really identify this golden dragonfly. I've seen lots of them in North Dakota over the years. I guessed another golden one as an immature saffron-winged meadowhawk, but the wings are different on this one.

Here we have a Western Grebe. Look closely. She has a baby on her back!

This is a worked field with something just coming up. I like the pattern.

There are two amazing railroad bridges across Lake Ashtabula which is a dammed area of the Sheyenne River. This is the Karnak Bridge.

I am forever trying to get good pictures of the White Pelicans. They are amazing birds, but very shy. I think this is my best success to date.

A hazy morning in the Sheyenne Valley.

And a brighter afternoon in the Sheyenne River Valley.

Finally, the Sheyenne flows through Fort Ransom State Park and gathers itself into a setting that looks almost eastern. But this was a very appealing scene to me.

And how did today go? Pretty well. I did some computer work, laundry, changed my bed and showered. I'm going to have to be careful to not do too much computer time. Hurts the eyes. I also walked around the house (just inside) for 15 minutes, but that's the most I've done for 10 days. Very encouraging.

See Best Photos from June 2022

Best Photos of June 2022

   
Here are the best of the pictures I took from June 2022. I'm still working on processing trip pictures.

From June 2022, during the big hike, I've chosen what I think are the 10 best pictures to share. Sunshine makes for more nice pictures, but I still have a ton of marginal ones, or just shots that prove I saw something but won't win any kudos.

I am saying these pictures are "best," not because they necessarily tell the story best, but because I think they are simply the best actual photographs. I've left them full size, so you can click on them and see them larger. That always makes photos look better. Two are cropped a bit, and one had the color saturation increased a tad.

I spent June finishing New York and Vermont, and then drove to North Dakoa and started home.

These are arranged chronologically... it seemed to work.

One of the most beautiful places for views on the NCT is Jones Hill. It's not very big by Adirondack standards, but it has the proverbial location, location, location. This is the view to the south with possibly Beech Hill visible across the valley.

And chronologically, only 20 minutes later, the view to the north from the same Jones Hill across the Blue Ridge Range (the one in the Adirondacks) in some mist. Honestly, it's kind of hard to not show ten photos all from that hill!

At Crown Point, NY, on Lake Champlain, this is the Colonial era fort with the new (2011) Lake Champlain Bridge in the background. I like the contrast of shapes and time periods.

You know I'm a sucker for texture pictures. How about going from lush, green eastern mountains to dry cracked mud in North Dakota?

This is some shallows in an arm of Lake Audubon. I liked the various colors of earth and plant material.

I believe I have a few nice pictures of yellow-headed blackbirds from the summer I worked in northern Illinois, but I've hardly seen one of them since then. Not a spectacular picture, but decent.

As you may remember, North Dakota was wonderful for seeing bird life. That doesn't mean I got great pictures, because I'm only a photographer of opportunity. I don't stand around waiting for the right light and spending 30 minutes creeping up on a bird or hoping it will move its head just an inch. Nevertheless, this is the best picture I've every gotten of a northern shoveler duck.

A thirteen-lined ground squirrel was straining to see far ahead from his burrow. It's not the best picture I've ever taken of that critter, but I like the depth in the shot. It almost looks 3-D.

This is just some ordinary grass along the canal, but I like the lighting and contrast of textures.

Finally, this is one of my favorite shots from North Dakota. I just like the shapes defined by the fence and the hill.

Well, I counted wrong. I had one more texture picture, but I think it's not as good, and I've been trying to limit these collections to ten.

In other news: I edited and wrote. What else is new? I must be making progress, the word count goes up.

See Best Photos of May 2022

Best Photos of May 2022

 
Here are the best of the pictures I took from May 2022. Seems like forever ago

From May 2022, during the big hike, I've chosen what I think are the 10 best pictures to share. I would have thought I'd have more nice photos since spring was heading into full summer. I have about 20 good pictures, but not many I'd call great.

I am saying these pictures are "best," not because they necessarily tell the story best, but because I think they are simply the best actual photographs. I've left them full size, so you can click on them and see them larger. That always makes photos look better. Most are tweaked a bit to reduce the blah, flat look of low light sky.

I spent all of May in New York, making it most of the way through the Adirondacks.

These are not arranged chronologically... more for color and tone variety

First up is the angry swan. I managed to remove most of the weed that was across the picture, but if I were ever going to do something serious with this, I'd need to do it more carefully, or pay to have someone with AI fix it.

This is Pillsbury Lake in the Adirondacks in the morning mist.

Next up is a foggy walk in western NY. The blaze clues you in that this is the trail.

Believe it or not, this was accumulated scum below a waterfall. I really like the pattern.

This is a long shot across an historic farm in central NY. Nothing spectacular, but I like the depth and rural character.

Chub Lake in the Adirondacks. So many beautiful lakes to choose from there, but most of the pictures don't do them justice. I like the bands of green and blue in this one.

The outstanding feature of this one is the total green-ness. This is the towpath trail along the Black River Canal. Of course, there would not have been trees at all along at least one side when it was being used as a towpath!

Lick Brook Falls near Ithaca is always gorgeous. I've seen lots better pictures of it than this one, but this is the best I could do on the day I was there.

Here's the Black River near Forestport. I always love this river- so many black volcanic rocks. Of course, it was drizzling that day.

And finally, yet another attempt to get a water pattern picture that I think is worthy. This is not bad, but still not what I'm striving for. Not that it matters, but this is on Bear Lake in the Adirondacks.

I worked hard on The Project, and also did some editing. That covers today!

See