Saturday, January 4, 2014

Twelve favorite images from 2013

Halemaumau crater at night. November 2013. (c) Meg Weston
 This blog post was inspired by Jim Nickelson's top 10 images of the year.  But I couldn't choose just ten, so I chose twelve.  Right now the Halemaumau crater is my favorite of the year.  It isn't large enough here to see the stars in the sky, but they are clearly there giving a celestial majesty to the reflection of lava in the moving clouds.  I went up to the crater to shoot three different nights before I captured this image.
 In Kalapana on the Big Island of Hawaii I got up each morning to meditate with the sun rise.  This morning, the rains came in instead, and they were every bit as beautiful as the sunrise.
Rainrise in Kalapana. November 2013. (c) Meg Weston

I took Jim Nickleson's Night Landscape class at Maine Media Workshops in October, and learned a lot about night shooting.  He is a gifted teacher, and although night shooting can be pretty technical, he makes it very accessible.  We went up to Acadia the day that the national parks re-opened after the government shutdown this fall.
Nightfall Acadia. October 2013. (c) Meg Weston

In February, my friend Deb Pfeiffer and I took a long weekend excursion to Iceland, met up with Einar Erlendsson of Focus on Nature Tours, and did a whirlwind 3 day visit - a 7 hour drive up north to Akureyi to catch a glimpse of the aurora.  What an incredible trip - and Einar is amazing at finding all the right places at the right times and singing and dancing in the car while he drove!
Aurora near Myvatn. February 2013. (c) Meg Weston

Mudpot Iceland. February 2013. (c) Meg Weston

Mt. Battie Moonrise. October 2013. (c) Meg Weston
Lava Tree Madonna. November 2013. (c) Meg Weston

Kalapana Moonrise. November 2013. (c) Meg Weston


Self-portrait as Eve. November 2013. (c) Meg Weston
Since the beginning of the year, the moon has figured prominently in my images this year.  In Iceland, Maine and Hawaii we are all looking at the same moon, under different skies.  It is a way we are all connected.
Moon over Snow. Iceland February 2013. (c) Meg Weston
Nightfall Halemaumau Crater. November 2013. (c) Meg Weston

Iceland Aurora. February 2013. (c) Meg Weston

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