The Best Photo I Took This Year is…

We are officially into the last two weeks of 2024, and I can’t believe the year has come and gone as quickly as it has. The year didn’t shape up quite as I expected - 250+ real estate shoots can have that effect I guess - and I spent all year in and around the Delaware Beaches. While I had hoped to do some adventuring on the east coast, I’ll just have to push those plans into 2025 for now.

Despite keeping myself local and close to home, I was still fortunate to get out and capture some of the best images I’ve ever taken this year. From time spent on the beach at Gordon’s Pond with Towers 5 and 6, to the different aerial angles I was able to capture of the beach towns, it has been a phenomenal year for photography.

Looking through my portfolio for 2024, one thing I noted was that landscapes seemed to dominate the images I was taking this year. While that is in part due to shooting more drone photos, there were also significantly more landscape photos taken with my normal camera as well. This feels like a slight deviation from the past, where I feel the body of work each year had more of a balance between landscapes and wildlife.

The hardest part of this portfolio review was choosing one image as the best out of all of them. Let’s take a look at some of the photos I considered, before wrapping up with the one that I chose as my best shot this year:

The first shot I considered was this red fox, which I took in the corn field behind my house in November.

I really love the lighting in this photo, and that the fox took a moment to look over at me after I brushed against a tree branch. It shows the environment the fox is in, rather that going for a tighter, portrait-like crop that focuses on just the animal. Experiences like this are always special, too, because I feel like I rarely see foxes when out taking photos.

Another recent image is this black and white shot of the jetty marker on the south side of Indian River Inlet.

I feel as the year went on, my work continued to evolve and improve. This one, a long exposure taken using an ND filter, showed that evolution and growth very well.

Photography is a long-game, and you always have to be willing to learn or try new skills.

December has been no exception, as I have continued to try new techniques in my usual haunts like the Gordon’s Pond Trail.

Just a week or so ago, I found myself out on the Gordon’s Pond Trail for the first time in a few months. It was a pretty foggy start to the day, and I chose to walk the trail from the Lewes side toward Rehoboth.

A little while into the walk, I found myself coming up toward the bend in the image below, and was captivated by the sunlight catching the fog. The golden light was further enhanced by the framing of the pines on either side.

This one just barely missed the cut as the image I would say was the best one I’ve taken this year. It is a really relaxing and calming scene of a well-traveled path, and yet it shows how all it takes is one photographer’s creative perspective to make it shine.

The final image I considered as part of this process was taken in August as I was leaving the beach at Gordon’s Pond one morning.

Just before getting to Surf Avenue, I noticed a trio of bucks grazing along the road in the pine trees. Naturally, I pulled over and hopped out to take a few photos of them. After I took one or two images of them all together, this particular buck took a step or two away from the others and looked up at me.

He couldn’t have chosen a better spot, as when he looked up he was framed perfectly by some low-hanging branches. His coat made for a nice color contrast to the greens of the pine needles and background grasses, too. Once I was satisfied I had gotten the shot, I left him and his friends to graze.

Now, without further ado, let’s take a look at the photo that I feel is the best one I’ve taken in 2024 (and won’t be overtaken by anything in the next two weeks).

This particular image was just taken within the last week, but as I was editing it, I knew it was something really special. The best image I took in 2024 is:

This photo was taken along the Gordon’s Pond Trail the same morning I took the one above, just along a different stretch of the trail. I was really drawn in by the reflections on the pond’s surface, but the various layers in the background were truly special as well. First you have the fog, hanging low over the marsh. Then another wooded area just behind that, while a final set of tree tops stands in the distance with a small bit of cool haze helping them pop against the warm morning sky.

Whenever I end up with an image like this, that I just know is something unique and special, I always take my time working on it to make sure every single detail is perfect. This one took me about an hour or so to edit, and it was certainly worth all the time and effort.

With that, it is time to look ahead to 2025. I’ve had a great time looking back at these images from this year, and though I would have liked to have had a few adventures mixed in to choose from, I’m ecstatic with the growth I’ve seen in my photographic ability over the course of the year.

Thanks for tagging along as we looked back at these images, have a wonderful holiday season, and I’ll catch you back on here in 2025!

- Tyler

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