I haven’t done a “best of …” year end post in a couple of years. In part because when it comes to a visual media like photography, “best of” is super subjective. But with all that’s happened in 2020, I thought some positivity would be a nice idea, so decided to post some of what I felt were my best shots of 2020. Even though it was a difficult year in many regards, I’m thankful for my family, our health, that I’m still in business doing what I’m doing, and for the opportunities to capture each of these images I’ll share here at the end of the year. The images that I’ll share are my personal best, not necessarily because of the photo itself but also because of the moment in time. The only rules I imposed on myself was that 1.) I’d post in three categories; mammals, landscapes, and birds in order to diversify the images and 2.) try to not repeat the subject matter. For today and the next couple of days, I’ll share one photo from each category that didn’t make it to my final selection which will be five landscapes, five mammals, and ten birds.

For me personally, it was hard not to include this image of a pronghorn and two fawns as one of my top five wildlife images. Honestly, it’s probably a very close number six. They were part of a larger nursery herd which included about twenty fawns and almost as many mature and immature females. What made this a favorite is not only the beautiful early morning light but, just as important, the background. The doe was standing on a bit of a rise as the fawns moved towards the rest of the group. I framed the photo to purposely include the mountains in the background as I feel backgrounds tell as much of the story as the rest of the image.

I have to admit, I don’t get as excited as I should about things like meteor showers, comets, and such. But when I start to see the amazing photos from other photographers it inspires me to get out and try to do the same. This image didn’t make the final five only because I chose another image of Neowise but I still really enjoy this image too. Again, with an image like this, it’s not just the photo but the experience. I was out with no one else around for no telling how many miles. There was little sound and a slight breeze cooled the summer temperatures down considerably once the sun was gone. But as the sky darkened and the comet became visible, it was a pretty magic moment, to be out in the vastness of it all under the big Montana night sky.

I’ve always enjoyed hummingbird photos and have never really had much of a change to photograph them, until 2020. Again, this one didn’t make the final cut only because I chose a different photo. but I still loved this moment as it brought together two of the things that made the year more bearable; the large number of hummingbirds that came through the backyard and the beautiful sunflowers that bloomed.