30 Dec
2010

Posted in: General
By Ian Plant    9 Comments

Best of 2010

As 2010 draws to a close, I thought I’d share with you my personal favorite images that I made this past year. I’ve struggled to narrow the list to only five. Actually, it wasn’t much of a struggle at all—we tend to be our own worst critics, and I’m certainly no exception. Many images that I make, although appealing to me at first, fail to hold my interest over time. A few, however, increasingly grow on me. After a year of review, these five are the ones that have stood the test of time. There are other images that I have made that I really like, and if I were to write this on any other day, I might come up with a slightly different list. But, for better or worse, this is what I have come up with. By the way, I’ve got a bunch more of my favorite photographs from 2010 in a slide show on my website.  

My first favorite image of 2010 comes from my trip to Patagonia. This in an image of a halo of ice crystals that formed over Monte Fitz Roy. I used a stack of neutral density filters to lengthen my exposure to 30 seconds, in order to record the streaking motion of the clouds radiating from the halo. Because the scene lacked color, I converted the image to black & white. To learn more about my Patagonia trip and this photo, read Chapter Two of my Patagonia Photo Journal.   

"Crowning Glory" - Patagonia

My next favorite was taken on the slopes of Mt. Rainier during peak wildflower season. At the end of a sunny, cloudless day, with the mountain in shadow, I despaired at finding a decent image. When I came upon this lone twisted pine in the middle of a flower-carpeted meadow, I knew I had something special. Creative use of lens flare added a personal touch to the image. To learn more about the making of this photo, click here.   

"Light is Life" - Mt. Rainier

My third favorite was taken deep within a sandstone canyon in the Utah desert. I waded through freezing water to find a small, dry space beneath a twin waterfall. I turned to photograph this scene of glowing reflected light through a frame of cascading water. Perhaps my affection for this image is a result of the hypothermia-addled state I entered shortly after making it. You can read more about this photo here.    

"Sanctuary" - Mary Jane Canyon

My fourth favorite was taken a week later in Devil’s Garden in Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument. Not to be undone by a colorless sunset, I decided to add some color myself. Using flash with a peach-tinted gel, I lit up the stone hoodoos during a long exposure. To learn more about my struggles in the Garden, click here.    

"Devil's Twilight" - Grand Staircase-Escalante

My final favorite comes from the sandy shores of the Outer Banks of North Carolina. It was simply one of the most magical sunrise skies I witnessed all year. To read more about this photo, click here.   

"The Lonely Shore" - Outer Banks

Just for fun, I’ve included a poll below—I’ll let you all decide which image is my best of 2010! 

More From Ian Plant Dreamscapes

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About Ian Plant  (275 Posts)

Ian Plant's photographs and instructional articles have appeared in a number of books, calendars, and magazines, including Outdoor Photographer and Popular Photography. Ian writes a regular blog column for Outdoor Photographer online, and he is the author of numerous instructional eBooks and digital processing tutorials. Ian leads several photo tours each year.