Image of the Year

5th Place (Tie) Going to the Game with E-Dawg

At the end of every year, I like to review the images (pictures) that were taken to both remember the events and to select the image of the year. 

5th Place (Tie)
Taking Pictures of Poppies in Oregon

There were over 1300 images in the running this year and I narrowed them to 17. I was surprised that 11 of the images were collected during the July trip to Oregon. Well, Oregon is a stunning place and the forests, wineries, and waterfalls are truly sights that must be visited and enjoyed.

5th Place (Tie)
Sasquatch Hunting in Oregon

Every image has a story behind it--and that is truly the interesting part. It is not the artistic value of the images, but rather the memories they recall that make them truly special to me. 

I wanted to show the top 5, but it turns out that there was a three-way tie for 5th place and so there are 7 images. 

Even culling them down, 5 images from Oregon made the top 5 (or is that 7) for the year. 

4th Place
Chris on Her Morning Walk through the Willamette Valley Vineyards vineyard

Chris and I thoroughly enjoyed wandering through the vineyard every morning during our stay at the Willamette Valley Vineyards. There is something just relaxing and idyllic about starting the morning walking through the grapes on the vines. Every morning was different and enjoyable.

3rd Place
Sunset Across the Willamette Valley

Watching the stunning sunsets across the valley in the evenings was  the perfect way to end the day. Of course, sipping on a glass of wine on the veranda of the guest house is a great addition to the view.

Runner-up
Standing Above the Pacific Ocean on the Trail

After hiking a short mile or so to get to the overlook, the reward was a fabulous view of the Pacific Ocean from a spot, which potentially, Lewis and Clark stood to get a view of the ocean. Stunning, awesome, and expansive are the words that come to mind.

Image of 2014
Looking Over Cayuga Lake

This image was captured during June on a beautiful summer afternoon. This is one of those images that just calls to me through the water and the empty adirondack chairs that just say--come and sit for a while. The scent of the summer was hanging in the air and the lake called to the primal instinct to come down and play in the water.

There they are--my top five (OK--7) images of 2014 and the memories they recall.

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD