2013 photo year in review

2013 was a great year for my photography. I feel like I learned a lot; from shooting techniques all the way down to processing techniques. We were fortunate enough to be able to visit a lot of new places, and head back to some familiar places that we love.  It was a year that we pretty much stayed around the west coast, only traveling outside of Cali to head up to the Pacific Northwest again. I also forced myself to get out more and explore the local areas for some good spots. Here is a recap:

1.  February: Up to Santa Barbara to visit the old stomping grounds....and mainly just to go eat at all of our favorite college joints. The picture is from campus point, where I used to bodyboard/surf throughout the years living there.



2. March: Mammoth Lakes. The lakes were still frozen which provided a different perspective from what I normally see. This was when I also first tried my hand at night photography. The Milky Way is best visible pre-dawn in March, so I pretty much woke up at 4am every day to head out to Convict lake and Alkali lake to get some shots. The shot below is a 3-image vertical stitched pano of the Milky Way over Alkali lake.



3. April: Camping in Red Rock Canyon state park. We ALWAYS pass by this place on the way to Mammoth so we finally decided to camp here. Hiked a bit, but it was hot so mostly just relaxed. Since its a bit inland, and the closest town is Mojave, the light pollution is minimal and good for viewing the Milky Way. I took the below picture pre-dawn when J was still sleeping in the tent.



4. May: Camping in Anza Borrego. Always wanted to check this place out as it is part of the dark sky community. We went on a weekend with a new moon, but for some reason it never really got that dark and the Milky Way wasn't that visible. It was also way too hot to hike so we visited the town and the sculptures. We'll be back in March 2014 for a second try at some night shots. The shot below was from the Culp Valley trail where we camped.



5. June: Camping at Wheeler Gorge. This was the first time we brought Georgie camping. She did well, and Nixon had someone to play with. Didn't take many pictures here so here is a random.



6. July: Olympic National Park. This was an awesome park, very diverse with mountains, beaches, rivers, and rain forests all in 1 park. Still, I think if we had a choice, I'd go back to Mt. Rainier instead.

Two of my favorites from Olympic:

Hurricane Ridge



Second Beach



7. August: Some local shooting around the area:

Los Angeles



Palos Verdes



8. October: Solo trip up to Mammoth to capture the fall colors. Love this place in the fall and it's not too far of a drive. I try to make it out here every year. The two below are from Silver lake in the June Loop.





Even had a chance to get back out for some night shots:



9. November: More local shooting

San Pedro tidepools



Manhattan Beach pier



10. November: Camping trip to Montana De Oro. We only stopped by this place previously on the way up to Big Sur. Such a beautiful place along the coast with some crazy rock formations and huge crashing waves. Bit far out but well worth it. The picture below is from the Bluff Trail which is right next to the campground.



That pretty much sums up the year in pictures. hopefully 2014 will allow for some more memorable trips and great photos to look back on.

Brandon Yoshizawa

B.A.Y | photography

www.bay-photography.com