My 10 Favorite Photos of 2019
My Top 10 Photos from 2019
By: Matt Franklin
I saw a blog post recently from Nigel Danson, a photographer that I’ve newly taken a liking to based on the helpfulness and quality of his YouTube content, which is an arena that’s been incredibly helpful thus far for me in my journey as a photographer. His post was about his portfolio additions from all the photos he took in 2019, and it inspired me to take a look back and the past year to decide what my favorite photos are from a great sophomore with the camera.
Number 10: The Columbia River Gorge
Story: My sister and I decided to make an extra stop that evening driving along the gorge after a day filled with hiking. Our initial plan was to capture the sunset from the Vista House, pictured right, but quickly discovered that was the plan for many others as well. On the way to the vista house, I’d noticed a parking lot off to the left coming down the hill and I suggested we try that spot to see if it was quieter. We headed back to the Portland Women’s Forum State Scenic Viewpoint, which though it had no view of the sunset offered this beautiful view of golden light across the gorge in the late afternoon.
Settings: Nikon D750 + 24-120mm; shot taken at 46mm, original crop
Aperture: f/8
Shutter Speed: 1/160”
ISO: 100
Why it makes the cut: Simply put, it’s easy to look at. It keeps my attention for a long time, and I can daydream as long as I like as my eyes wander down the gorge. The golden light is soft and clothes the ridgelines on either side of the river evenly, which doesn’t distract the viewer from the journey up the river. The rays of light cutting between mountains on the north rim of the gorge in the distance is just an added bonus. The dreamy, late afternoon feel captured that evening so well to me. It was “gorge-ous.”
Number 9: Sunset In Neverland
Story: Lauren and I arrived at Secret Beach for sunset on the 5th day of our Oregon Road trip. I’d seen pictures of this place beforehand and had imagined capturing an image of this spot for a while. When we arrived, there was another photographer apparently leading a workshop. One of his students walked out on this rock and the photographer jokingly said, “Stay right there! This looks like a great instagram shot!” They left moments later, and I sent Lauren out on the rock for a similar photo, because I felt that having a person in the frame helped the viewer understand the scale of the photo.
Settings: Nikon D750 + 14-24mm f/2.8, set at 14mm - full crop
Aperture: f/22
Shutter speed: 2.0”
ISO: 50
Why it makes the cut: Although the sunset wasn’t the most spectacular and the colors weren’t as prolific as we always hope, the scene is still beautiful. Lauren’s position on the rock, facing just slightly left of center draws your eyes just left of center toward the horizon between the sea stacks. As I look at the photo, I travel back and forth between her and the channel between the stacks.
Number 8: Milky Way over Strawberry Mountain
Story: This is one of my favorite night sky photos I’ve ever taken. It was also one of the most relaxing shooting sessions I’ve had. I set the camera with a remote and laid against the windshield on the hood of my truck to stare up at the sky. It was the night I got back to John Day, OR after traveling home for my Grandpa’s funeral. I spent some time smiling and remembering him, some time crying over losing him, and some time talking to God about him.
Settings: Nikon D750 + 14-24mm f/2.8 at 14mm; 8 images stacked in Sequator for noise reduction - original crop
Aperture: f/2.8
Shutter Speed: 20”
ISO: 10000
Why it makes the cut: Quite simply, this was my first time stacking star images with good results, and the memory is incredibly special to me.
Number 7: Morning Reflections at Smith Rock
Story: I was on a trip to Bend, OR in March of 2019 when I first visited Smith Rock State Park. Despite the frequent self-applied pressure to wake up and be out shooting early, I took my time this particular morning, visiting Thump Coffee Roasters and streaming my favorite soccer team, Liverpool FC’s game while I slowly sipped a wonderful, sundried Ethiopian coffee. When I arrived at Smith Rock, the climbers were prepping their gear and headed out to the walls, but by noon this place was loaded with people. I found it wonderful that I was able to take my time and move slowly while still being able to capture such beautiful scenes like this in relative solitude.
Settings: Nikon D750 + 24-120mm f/4 lens; taken at 30mm - full crop
Aperture: f/8
Shutter Speed: 1/125”
ISO: 250
Why it makes the cut: Landscape photographers aren’t usually fans of bluebird days, but this photo still captures my attention. The haziness and angle of light on the right side of the image gives the viewer the feel that it’s still early in the morning, and the light isn’t yet harsh. The symmetry in the photo from the reflection of the rocks in the water helps create balance in the image, as the leading lines formed by the banks of the stream draw your eyes through the scene.
Number 6: Sahalie Falls
Story: Photos of this waterfall on social media had captivated me for months before I took a trip out to Bend, OR from where I was living in John Day, OR for the first 8 months of 2019. When I arrived at Sahalie falls, I was completely alone. It would have been much easier on be to have arrived before the sun cleared the treeline on the east bank, but perhaps that light helps capture the story in a way shade wouldn’t have. The snow on the hillside was extremely slippery from the overnight freeze, and so I arrived at the base of the hillside on the right on my bottom after accidentally sliding down the hill. At the time, this was the longest I’d ever spent processing an image (nearly 4 hours), and I never quite felt it was ever perfect, but I had to stop. There was so much mist blowing downstream from the falls that it felt like it was raining sideways. I set the camera up and dialed in the settings, taking the lens cap off only for the 4/10th of a second shutter, and I still spent hours removing water droplets from the image.
Settings: Nikon D750 + 14-24mm f/2.8; taken at 14mm - full crop
Aperture: f/22
Shutter Speed: 1/2.5”
ISO: 50
Why it makes the cut: Compositionally, I love the way the hills on either side draw the eyes inward toward the waterfall. The flow of the McKenzie river and the snow on the right bank additionally for diagonal leading lines that all draw the viewer’s eyes toward Sahalie’s incredibly powerful falls. The colors in the water, moss, and ironically, the sunlit bank all add to an interesting combination that keeps my eye moving around to check out the details. Despite my displeasure with the highlights in the bank on the left and in the sky, I still love this photo for both the effort in its process and the memory of being in that beautiful place.
Number 5: Vickery Creek
Story: This is the only shot on the list that doesn’t come from Oregon. Though fall seemed to be beyond it's peak and the light on this particular day beyond the peak of golden hour, I saw this rapid that seemed a very interesting foreground piece. I scrambled around on the rocks to set the tripod up on the camera while avoiding cold November water. After taking this photo, I was blown away by the beauty that could be captured even right under my nose in a place I’d never been in my hometown.
Settings: Nikon D750 + 14-24mm f/2.8; taken at 14mm - full crop
Aperture: f/11
Shutter Speed: 1/3”
ISO: 50
Why it makes the cut: This photo catches my attention and holds it. It’s the first of a few of my recent waterfall or stream photos incorporating slightly faster shutter speeds to better capture foreground motion instead of blurring or averaging it out in longer exposures. With a faster shutter speed such as this one, I was able to catch the reflection of light off of bubbles and ripples in the moving stream rather than having those bits of light lost in a longer exposure. I really enjoy the movement in the water, which helps the viewer understand that the scene is dynamic and changing, whereas much longer exposures of waterfalls cause us to see how the constant of water flow is a part of the landscape itself.
Number 4: The Milky Way at Dixie Lookout
Story: This image comes from one of the most enjoyable nights of stargazing and one of the most successful nights I’ve had photographing the night sky. These images come from a night in August up at Dixie Summit, east of Prairie City Oregon. I made friends with the US Forest Service Lookout about a month before and came up to watch the sunset and stars come out a few times over the course of a month or so. On this night, we watched the sunset, the moonset, and the rise of the Milky Way. Despite the noise, I love the detail captured in the foreground and the lookout.
Settings: Nikon D750 + 14-24mm f/2.8, taken at 14mm; 4 shots stacked in Sequator for noise reduction
Aperture: f/2.8
Shutter Speed: 20”
ISO: 6400
Lighting in the lookout tower: Lume Cube + warming gels and diffusion filter set to 1% brightness for entire 20” duration of each shot
Why it makes the cut: Again, despite the noise, I love the detail and accuracy of the coloration of the foreground. The composition again guides the viewer up the hillside to the illuminated lookout tower and on to the Milky Way. I’m excited for what I’ve learned in this “off season” in regards to capturing wonderful foreground detail that will improve images like this even more.
Number 3: Milky Way at Moonset on Dixie
Story: This set of 5 photos stacked to form a single image comes from the same night as the previous photo. As I said before, it was one of the best nights I’ve ever had for astrophotography. We sat on this hillside long enough to watch the Earth rotate through the stars.
Settings: Nikon D750 + 14-24mm f/2.8, taken at 14mm; 5 images stacked in Sequator for noise reduction
Aperture: f/2.8
Shutter Speed: 20”
ISO: 2000
Why it makes the cut: This photo has perhaps the cleanest foreground of any single or stack of photos that I’ve ever taken. And better yet: what was my foreground lighting? The moonset. A setting, deep orange crescent moon wonderfully lit the Dixie lookout along with the rocks and wildflowers at the summit. It’s unusual to see both the moon and the Milky Way at the same time, as the light of the moon usually washes out the Milky Way due to its brightness, but this was a beautiful moment stopped in time and captured forever in this image.
Number 2: Dreams in the Alvord Desert
Story: This was one of the best nights in my life. I dreamed of creating this shot for 6 months before ever going to the Alvord. I had a long weekend over the 4th of July and went down to car-camp in the desert, which turned out to be one of the best experiences I’ve ever had. I set up my tent and cooked dinner out on the playa while l listened to music on a bluetooth speaker. The temperature was perfect all through the day into the early evening, and I was barefoot until the temperature began to drop at night. It was truly a wonderful time. Though this isn’t a single image (it’s 24 actually), it captures what I feel were the most profound things about my time in this place: the beautiful and endless sea of playa and the night sky.
Settings: Nikon D750 + 14-24mm f/2.8
Ground: single photo, taken just after sunset at 14mm
Aperture: f/11
Shutter Speed: 1.6”
ISO: 50
Sky: 23 photos stacked in Sequator for noise reduction, accidentally taken at 15mm instead of 14mm
Aperture: f/2.8
Shutter Speed: 20”
ISO: 8000
Why it makes the cut: Well, look at it! It was my first composite of any type in photoshop, but it was an image I dreamed about for 6 months before it came to fruition.
Number 1: Alvord Nights
Story: Although this image is from the same place as the previous image, it actually comes from the following night. After the first night of my trip in the Alvord, I’d planned to camp up on the Steens Mountains east of Frenchglen, OR, but when I got up onto the Steens, I was met with what felt like crowds of people compared to the solitude of the Alvord. I was standing on top of the Steens looking out over the Alvord Desert when I decided to take the 2 hour drive back to the desert for another silent, breathtaking night under the stars.
Settings: Nikon D750 + 14-24mm f/2.8; single photo taken at 14mm
Aperture: f/2.8
Shutter Speed: 20”
ISO: 10000
Tent lighting: Illuminated by Lume Cube + warming gels and diffusion filter at 1-2% brightness for 8 seconds in the second half of the 20” exposure
Why it’s my number 1: The detail in the foreground is wonderful, and the light from the Lume Cube in the tent provided opportunity to capture good detail in the playa in the foreground nearby. The sky is also wonderfully clean for 10000 ISO, The composition is simple and easy to understand, and the contrast between the green tent and the deep blues and purples in the night sky is easy on the eyes. Overall, I believe that this is the best single exposure I’ve ever taken of the night sky!
Well, that was extremely challenging! It took me several hours to narrow down thousands of images to pick a top 10 for the year, but it makes me excited for what’s to come in 2020, and I’ve got some plans that are *hopefully* sure to produce some of my favorite images for 2020 - and perhaps some of my favorites for life!
Thanks for reading along! We’ll see you next time!