Favorite Images – 2025 Edition

One final look back at 2025 before we go barreling ahead into 2026 with hope and vigor.  Let’s visit with some of my favorite images that I captured over the last 12 months.  The list is in chronological order.

In March, I visited Silver Falls State Park in Oregon to wander among the 10 waterfalls found there.  I had particularly good luck with Lower South Falls.  There are two good vantage points to admire this waterfall:

1. Lower South Falls (v1)

2.  Lower South Falls (v2)

Click here to read more about those adventures.

Just a month later (April), I spent several days exploring waterfalls in Southern Washington and a few more located just over the border in Oregon (Columbia River Gorge).  On this trip, I discovered the stunningly beautiful Panther Creek Falls in the Gifford Pinchot National Forest, as shown below.

3.  Panther Creek Falls

Later in April, I visited tulip fields in Skagit County (Washington) for a completely different color palette:

4. Savannah Sparrow in Red

5.  At the Border

While exploring the tulip fields, I also experimented with some abstract takes on the flower scene:

6.  Flower Swirl

You can see more flower abstracts here.

In June, I visited a field of lupines and captured this dreamy meadow scene.

7.  Meadow Dream

Did you notice that the bird was yet again a Savannah Sparrow?!  I seem to find them everywhere i go!

In September, I visited Katmai National Park in Alaska to photograph Brown Bears.  The weather was awful on this trip and our photo opportunities were quite limited, but I was pleased with these images:

8.  Brown Bear Splash

In the image above, I experimented with a slow shutter speed to give a sense of the chaos as the bear barreled through the water in pursuit of a fish.  I really dig how his fur seems to swirl…

9.  Salmon Paw

Above, a dramatic action shot as a brown bear lunges for a salmon.

10.  Mood

Could this image capture the post-holiday mood any better?  He has obviously overindulged on the salmon buffet.

And speaking of bears, here is a video I captured of a bear in hot pursuit of a salmon:

11.  Caddo Lake

My last photo foray of the year was in November when I visited Caddo Lake for the first time.  I spent a glorious week paddling in a kayak through a surreal landscape that combined Texan swamps with autumn colors, creating an environment unlike anything I had seen before.

12.  Great Egret

This is probably my best and favorite image of the year.  I captured this from my kayak before sunrise, and the setting was sublimely serene.   The scene oozes tranquility – “ommmmm.”  The image wonderfully highlights the unique mix of swamp life and autumn colors found here.  I love it.  It will be on my wall soon.

So that was the top 12 images of the year.  A few bonus images for sticking around:

Latecomers:

These two sunset images were taken at Second Beach in the Olympic National Park in 2024, but I didn’t process them until 2025:

13. Beach Blues

14.  Second Beach #2

Favorite Iphone Shots

The cameras on smartphones keep improving, and when in a pinch (or too lazy), I will use mine instead of my “real camera.”

Iphone #1

I visited Cannon Beach in Oregon a couple of times to try and get a great sunset image, but no luck so far.  But one morning, I took this groovy shot with my iPhone.  Where does the sky stop and the beach begin??

Iphone #2

The same morning on Cannon Beach with a dramatic sky by the Sea Stacks.

And finally, a couple of sunrise images from the tulip fields

Iphone #3

The image above is cropped to fit nicely on my phone as a background image.

Iphone #4

Got any favorites from this year’s roundup?

And what didn’t make the list?

1. Bald Eagles:  I made 18 day-trips to photograph bald eagles….Sadly/oddly, I didn’t capture anything worthy of this list (the good news is that I have a pretty good portfolio of Bald Eagle images already, so the bar is pretty high)
2. Tufted Puffin: I went out on two day-trips (on a boat) to see tufted puffins.  I saw those adorable birds for the first time, but no photos were worthy of showing.  I am working on a plan…
3. Cannon Beach Sunset:  As mentioned, I made a couple of trips to Cannon Beach in Oregon to capture an epic sunset scene — so far, no luck in getting the right mix of clouds, weather, and sun.  The quest continues.
4. Pika:  I photographed pika at two different locations but….meh.  But I still need to really go through the images in greater detail.  Perhaps one shot will make next year’s “Latecomer” list.
5. Mt. Rainier:  The fall colors were a bit late, and when we visited, it poured incessantly, and there was no color to be seen.  Complete wash.

Ok, that’s a wrap on 2025.  Thanks for sharing in my adventures and “listening” patiently to my ramblings.

Wishing you a wonderful 2026!!

 

…..michael