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:

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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