2012 is gone and I’ve had a chance to look at all my images from the year and pick my favorites. Time helps clear your vision. Some images I was crazy about right after I took them, are no longer exciting to me. Here I present my favorite images of 2012 in reverse order…Maybe not the most saleable nor necessarily the best portraits (which can be boring), but the shots that I kept coming back to..the ones that intrigued me…or were difficult to get…or were the most creative. And this last bit about creativity brings me to my big announcement for 2013…I will be releasing a new video: GET CREATIVE: WILDLIFE IMAGES BEYOND THE PORTRAIT this year. Stay tuned!
#20—The surprise image of the year…I was perusing photos from my June work for the Minnesota County Biological Survey when I found this very underexposed, blaah image. But then I saw the potential as a high-contrast black and white image. The result was a very graphic silhouette of a foraging Pine Warbler amongst the long delicate needles of a Red Pine. St. Louis County, Minnesota.
#19—I spent much quality time with our backyard hummers this summer. We mainly hosted females but occasionally a bully male would show up…but never when my camera was in place. I was using flash and a Better Beamer to throw light onto the hummer but in this shot the flash did not fire. But I like the resulting softer look…No harsh light blasting the tiny bird. My home in Carlton County, Minnesota.
#18—Fall leaves always seem to vex me…I have a hard time creating interesting images of the stunning scenes around me in late September/early October. On this windy day I used a tripod and a very slow shutter speed to render the leaves a colorful blur while the trunks remained relatively still. I like the contrast of white vs. orange and blur vs. sharp. Rock Pond, UMD, Duluth, Minnesota.
#17—Eye-level Bald Eagle shots are not easy to come by! And this one has a story…It was taken 80 feet up in a firetower! I was visiting Big Bog State Recreation Area in far north central Minnesota and decided to climb the tower to get a bird’s-eye view of Lower Red Lake and surrounding forests. Some distant eagles caught my attention and I thought, wouldn’t it be cool if one flies past me in my aerial perch…And the miraculous part is that one did! It was not a gleaming white and black adult but rather a dramatically patterned youngster. I panned with the bird and amazingly it came out razor sharp.
#16—I cross this bridge over the St.Louis River on the outskirts of Duluth every day on the way to work. It has many moods and this hazy spring afternoon created a bucolic and blue still life of swans, ducks, ice and trees.
#15—My youngest son, Bjorn, shows great promise as a wildlife photographer…At least he looks good in khaki!
#14—Not a set-up! A fortuitous find that resulted in a very nice portrait with a little behavior too. This very rarely happens but it did this August morning on the Gunflint Trail. I’d just returned from a early morning paddle on the Brule River, loaded up the canoe and was pulling out of the dirt parking area when I spotted the foraging Cedar Waxwings in a heavily-fruited Mountain Ash.
#13—Just a very pleasing composition (to me anyway)…a water lily on dark water taken from a low angle to get the reflection. I also love the purplish lily pads. Cook County, Minnesota.
#12—A very long exposure with my 10mm Sigma lens was made possible by a 9-stop ND filter. I love the soft ethereal feel of the powerful Lower Falls of the Yellowstone River, belying the thunderous roar. Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming.
#11—I had to include this portrait as I have been trying to get a decent winter Snowshoe Hare photo for years! And on this snowy Sax-Zim Bog day, I succeeded! The hare really felt it was invisible and stayed put as I crawled closer and closer through the snow.
#10—Seems like I always slip in a non-nature subject. I really enjoy photographing vernacular architecture, including abandoned buildings like this farmhouse. A HDR image and sepia color finished it off. Itasca County, Minnesota.
#9—Abstract macro image of a Polyphemus Moth’s wings turned upside down to create a strange “face” complete with big blue eyes and a puckered mouth. My home in Carlton County, Minnesota.
#8—The banner headline of 2012 for us Duluthians/Carltonians was the Great Flood of June. It affected all of us dramatically. But my most powerful image was this shot of the raging St. Louis River taking out the historic and much loved Swinging Bridge of Jay Cooke State Park. Read more here.
#7—A rite of spring, the congregation of Sharp-tailed Grouse at their dancing grounds or leks, is an event I hate to miss. But it is always difficult shooting. They are most active just before sunrise when the light is poor…And it is April so the weather is often cloudy and windy. Visibility in the cramped blind is not great either. This time I resorted to a slow shutter speed and panning. I love the shot as it conveys the manic intensity of the males as they dance, pursue females, and chase off rival males. Carlton County, Minnesota.
#6—One of the few straight-up wildlife portraits in the collection, but I had to include it. Much has been made of the dramatic decline of Moose in Minnesota…and it makes me very sad. They are one of my favorite mammals. I learned to call Moose years ago…imitating the sound of a female. After a several-year dry spell, I was able to call this young bull in this fall. Intense moments followed as he was deciding whether I was a cow Moose or some stupid human. Thankfully he came to the right conclusion! See the video here.
#5—Can you tell what this is? Colorful river rocks below a Yellowstone National Park stream. It’s funny…I really don’t like abstract painting but I love much abstract photography.
#4—Two icons of Duluth in one shot! The Aerial Lift Bridge and a Ring-billed Gull. Not your typical wildlife shot but one that is certainly unique. In this technique I learned from flash/lighting guru ??? you set your camera to tungsten white balance (to turn the dark brooding sky blue) and then use a flash with an orange CTO gel to throw a very warm light on the subject, in this case, a Ring-billed Gull.
#3—Often times I’ll get home from a trip and when viewing my images in Aperture, I’ll come across an unexpected prize. It’s like Christmas as a kid! I thought I knew what my favorites would be from viewing them in the field on the back of my camera…but I’m often wrong. This is one such image. It was taken into the sunlight to backlight the Bison’s fur…but it was mostly a “G&G” shot (grab-and-go)…No premeditation, No tripod…Jump out of the car and “snap.” But after converting the image to sepia, I really loved it. Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming.
#2—I really concentrated on wide-angle wildlife this year and this may be my favorite. Crawling on my knees for hours on an Iowa prairie in September finally netted me this image. Read the whole story here. Northeast Iowa.
#1—Drumroll please…My personal favorite from 2012. Read the whole story of this bog encounter here. See the video here. I like the Great Gray Owl’s furtive glance around the trunk of a spruce…It lends an air of mystery. It is very “Brandenburg’s-wolf-peek-esque” if you’ve ever seen his famous photo. Sax-Zim Bog, Minnesota.
16 responses to “Top Twenty Images of 2012”
Sam Cook
January 3rd, 2013 at 10:30
Thanks, Sparky. Nice year.
…Sam
Sparky Stensaas
January 7th, 2013 at 13:46
Thanks Sam!
David Olmstead
January 3rd, 2013 at 15:37
Thanks for sharing. I think your number 1, 2 and 6 choices are my favorite. I think the moose (#6) is a favorite because of the story you told in your earlier post about capturing the shot.
Sparky Stensaas
January 7th, 2013 at 13:46
Thanks David…Yes, Moose calling is an exciting…or boring…hobby…depending on if a Moose comes in on not!
Joey Halvorson
January 3rd, 2013 at 17:31
It must have been hard to choose only 20 but I must say that #1,2, and 3 moved me the most also. I shoot lots of butterflies but have never captured that unique view and lighting. The Bison and the owl give me a similar sense of mystery. Not only in the brooding tones but because I don’t see them often and close enough to feel them. Thank you for this trip through 2012.
Sparky Stensaas
January 7th, 2013 at 13:48
Thanks for your input Joey! Yes, if you find a cooperative and large butterfly next summer, try shooting it with a wide angle lens…Low percentage shooting but lots of fun!
Garrett Conover
January 3rd, 2013 at 18:47
Thanks Sparky, your shots and commentary are always inspiring to me. –Garrett
Sparky Stensaas
January 7th, 2013 at 13:49
Thanks Garrett! This yearly exercise also motivates me to do better each year (because I also get to see all my truly awful photos!)
Mike Powell
January 4th, 2013 at 05:11
The images are beautiful, of course, but their beauty is really enhanced because you took the time to comment on each of them. There is a story behind so many of them and I remember well several of them from the latter months of 2012 when I started following your blog. I love the variety in subjects and techniques (and you’ve already inspired me enough that I just recently bought a wide angle zoom lens to try to get some wildlife shots in a different way).
Sparky Stensaas
January 7th, 2013 at 13:50
Great Mike! Yes, you need to be creative when trying to get wide-angle wildlife shots…but it can be very rewarding when you succeed!
Juliet Minard Stensaas
January 4th, 2013 at 11:20
What a treat to see this 2012 perspective of your stunning work. I really appreciate the time, care and compassion you put into each shot. In my job as a public library librarian, it is such a nice break to take a few minutes to look at nature thru your eyes – thanks!
Sparky Stensaas
January 7th, 2013 at 13:51
Thanks Juliet! I appreciate your comment….from one Stensaas to another!
Rita Wiskowski
January 4th, 2013 at 14:57
I absolutely love your blog and especially your year highlights. You do amazing work.
Sparky Stensaas
January 7th, 2013 at 13:51
Thanks Rita!
Mary Gruhlke-Hall
January 7th, 2013 at 09:54
Just beautiful. I’ve enjoyed following your blog and this iced the cake. I too love the commentaries and vids.
Sparky Stensaas
January 7th, 2013 at 13:51
Thanks Mary! Hoping to make more videos in 2013!