Favourite Photos I took in 2023

Allt an Dubh-lochain & the Dividing Buttress, Beinn a' Bhuird, Cairngorms. Sony a6700 & Sony E 10-20 f4 lens at 15mm. ISO 100, f8 @1/250 sec.

Going through the images I take each year to select favourites is a pleasant if time-consuming task. It's a useful way of analysing my photography too and considering if any themes or changes from past years emerge. Looking at the photos I chose a year ago I noticed an interest in complex cloud landscapes and tree details. I wondered if this would continue in 2023. It did!

Walkers & clouds, Cairn Gorm. Sony a6000 & Sony E 18-135mm lens at 105mm. ISO 100, f8 @ 1/1250 sec

In 2022 my favourite images were all taken with my Sony a6000 camera and Sony E 18-135mm lens. These 2023 images come from four cameras and seven lenses! With the cameras this was because for the first time in many years I bought new cameras (for details see here, here  and here) to replace my ageing ones before they stopped working completely. I also replaced some lenses with newer versions.

View down An Garbh Choire from Braeriach, Cairngorms. Sony a6600 & 11mm lens. ISO 100, f8 @ 1/500 sec

Focal lengths of the images range from 11mm ultra wide angle to 200mm telephoto, a far greater spread than last year's 43mm to 135mm. I don't know why! The 18-135mm was still my most used lens, used for ten of the photos. Second was the Sony 11mm for three images. I suspect this will change  with a whole year with the new lenses.

Mist in the forest. Sony a6700 & 18-135mm lens at 45mm. ISO 100, f8 @ 1/15 sec

As every year these are images I like because I can see new details every time I look at them. I like the complexity.  

I also took many photos of camps. Some of the first can be seen in my post on favourite camps of 2023. Several of these could have featured here. 

The Barns of Bynack, Cairngorms. Sony a6600 & 18-135mm lens at 105mm. ISO 100, f8 @ 1/160 sec

View west from Meall a'Bhuachaille, Cairngorms. Sony a6700 & 70-350mm lens at 200mm. ISO 125, f8 @ 1/200 sec

I always shoot raw files and much of my processing is now done in DxO Photolab. The latest version, Photolab 7, is especially good for converting images to black and white, as in the two photos above.

In snow. Sony a6700 & Sigma 18-50 f2.8 lens at 47.3mm. ISO 100, f8 @ 1/320 sec

Under storm clouds. Sony a6600 & 11mm f1.8 lens. ISO 100, f8 @ 1/640 sec

In mist at dusk. Sony a6000 & 18-135mm lens at 87mm. ISO 100, f8 @ 1/100 sec

I've been photographing a lone birch tree in the field opposite my home for over three decades. In 2023 I took three of my favourite images of this favourite tree.

Goosander family, Loch Morlich, Cairngorms. Sony a6600 & 18-135mm lens at 135mm. ISO 100, f8 @ 1/140 sec

 

 

I'm not a wildlife photographer but I do take wildlife photographs when the opportunity is there. The above image is cropped as I didn't have my 70-350 telephoto zoom with me when I saw this goosander family on a rock in the loch (if I was a wildlife photographer I would have had it with me!). As it is the cropped image is still fine.

Anyway, here's a final selection of images.

River Luineag exiting Loch Morlich, Cairngorms. Sony a6700 & Sigma 18-50mm lens at 18mm. ISO 100, f8 @ 1/125 sec

Lochan na Cruadach & Ben Aden, Knoydart. Sony a6600 & 18-135mm lens at 24mm. ISO 100, f8 @ 1/1000 sec

Loch Morar, Knoydart. Sony a6700 & 11mm lens. ISO 100, f8 @ 1/200 sec

Oak sapling in the mist, Anagach Woods, Grantown-on-Spey. Sony a6700 & 18-135mm lens at 42mm. ISO 400, f8 @1/25 sec

Sgor Gaoith, Cairngorms. Sony a6600 & 18-135mm lens at 42mm. ISO 100, f8 @ 1/100 sec

Pool on the Cairngorm Plateau. Oppo Find X5 Pro, 5.97mm.  ISO 64, f1.7 @ 1/2000 sec

Sunset, Strathspey, Cairngorms. Sony a6700 & 18-135mm lens at 18mm. ISO 100, f8 @ 1/125 sec

I wrote a piece last September about all the photographic gear I've used over the decades. A few of the cameras became favourites for a while., The Sony a6700 has joined them.

I dabbled with film again after discovering some unused rolls for a few months a year or so ago. It reminded me why I like digital so much! In this piece I said I'd post some results from those films. I never bothered. I lost interest too quickly. What I will be doing this year is photographing more of my film slides and prints and posting some of those.