A look back: Top 10(ish) of 2022
Second blog post in less than a week. Maybe I’ll be able to keep this up all year. While the newsletter will only go out on Sunday or Monday, I hope to be able to provide more content throughout the week. And that’s what I’m doing now, with a look back by my top 10(ish) images of 2022.
Why “ish”? Well, I just couldn’t decide on some of these. I mean I could, because I made the list, but there were some that juuuuust missed the cut. So I’m sharing the too, because why not? I posted these individually on social media, but a lot of folks asked if I could put them all in one place, and I am a man of the people, so here yinz go. (For those who aren’t from Pittsburgh, yinz=y’all=you guys=yous guys, whatever your particular flavor may be).
#11
A happy little snowman
All right, I said 10ish, and this is #11. Weird, I know. But this is how I kicked off the countdown, and had to share. To be honest, it’s one of my all time favorite winter views. I was waiting for a train on the North Side, when I noticed someone had built this little snowman, and it even looks like he has headphones on. Just vibin’ with the snow. I loved it.
#10 a and b
Ok, so if you see two images, the first one is the ‘official’ one, and the second one is the ‘runner up’ for that spot.
A few years ago I started a Pittsburgh Snowglobe Series, where I would use a flash to illuminate the falling snow and make it looked like you were standing in a snowglobe. I’ve captured a ton of different views around the city, but this one of the Clemente Bridge and its reflection is one of my favorites.
If the second one confuses you, I’ll help. Back in January of 2022, the Fern Hollow Bridge in Frick Park collapsed on a snowy morning in Pittsburgh. There were a handful of cars on the bridge, including a bus. Well, they are to get the bus out of the ravine, and when they did a few days later, this is what it looked like. It was absolutely WILD to see.
#9
A frosty morning
Ohhh man, just posting this images makes me cold. This was a bitter but absolutely stunning morning in Pittsburgh, when the entire area had this insane freezing fog. This meant that every tree, bush, and plant were covered in a few inches of frost, and it made the entire scene glow. I’ve never seen anything like it.
#8 a and b
Ahhh, the most magical (and expensive) place on Earth. Actually, I’m only half serious. Yes, Disney is expensive, but what you get for that money is truly incredible. The shows, the rides, the characters, the looks on your kids’ faces…it doesn’t get much better. This year we spent a week there, and of course had to catch some fireworks shows. At the beginning, a firework reminiscent of Tinkerbell went over the castle, and it was pretty darn magical if you ask me.
Coming in at a verrrrry close second is this image of Galaxy’s Edge. Now, Star Wars is in every aspect of my life. It’s 90% of my Legos. All my coffee cups. 75% of my wardrobe. My last three Halloween costumes. I get up at 3:00 a.m. to watch the new episodes of shows. And walking in Galaxy’s Edge was literally a dream come tree. Seeing the Falcon…my goodness.
#7 a and b
If you follow me on social media, then you know I am all about the night sky. The moon. Meteors. The Milky Way. Comets. Literally anything and everything that has to do with space fascinates me. So if there’s a meteor shower in Pittsburgh, you can be damn sure I’m gonna be out to capture it. Now, just because I’m OUT to capture it, doesn’t mean I actually WILL capture. Meteors are tough around cities, but hey, that’s where I live.
These two images represent only partially futile attempts. While there are a few meteors to be seen between the two images, the star trails over the city were amazing.
#6 a and b
Here they are: the most popular trees in Pittsburgh. It’s funny. Back in 2017, I was driving to East End Brewery (which used to have a shop in the Strip) to grab some beer, when I noticed these bright pink trees across the river. I made a note to go back the next morning, and captured my first images of them. Even though I’m in the city everyday, I had no idea they existed. They have now become the go to spot every spring for their bright flowers, and it’s so fun to see everyone’s interpretations.
These were shot a few weeks apart at the tail end of winter last year, and I couldn’t decide which one I liked more. The way the trees were coated in the first one was amazing, but the glow of the scene with the spring colors popping through looked great as well. I dunno. Still can’t decide.
#5 a and b
It took to spot five, but we finally have some moon images…and you’ll see more at spot three too.
We were lucky this year to see not one, but two total lunar eclipses in Pittsburgh. And that is not something that I was going to miss. This is a view from the first one, back in May, with the moon above one of the spires at PPG Place. Check out the stars around it too…so cool.
The runner up was as image that I’ve had in mind for a long time, and actually captured before, but I just wasn’t happy with it. After shooting moonrise from outside of Pittsburgh, I raced to the Duquesne Incline for this view of the crescent moon above a silhouette of the car. This time, it worked out much better.
#4
After a couple ‘meh’ falls in Pittsburgh, the colors from September to November were just insane this year. They lingered for-ev-er. I’m talking you’re so hungry waiting for that late night pizza to show up forever. And it was so wonderful.
West Park on the North Side of Pittsburgh is always one of my favorite spots in any season, but this fall was particularly gorgeous, especially these trees. Instead of just shooting a single image, I shot a vertorama (a panorama but shot vertically), to capture not only the leaves on the ground, but the tree overhead. With the sun shining through the tree in the center, it was a picture perfect fall scene.
#3s
Top three…almost there. All right, this one was extremely difficult to make a decision on. I still don’t think I can. Both feature the moon and the incline, one at night, one during the morning. One is a crescent, one is full. I’m trying to talk myself into liking one more as I’m writing this and can’t do it.
The one of the crescent moon features the Ft. Duquesne Bridge framing the scene, which adds a lot of interest to the photo. But the one of the full moon as this incredible mix of colors, from the red car, blue sky, green hillside, and orange moon. Too close to call.
#2
The lightning bolt of a lifetime strikes Pittsburgh
There was this insane ten day period in late July where it was just storm after storm after storm in Pittsburgh. I probably put 1,000 miles on my car during that period, driving into the city sometimes four times a day (yes you read that right). Most of the storms were at night, but there were two that happened early in the morning. This is the second.
You can see that it’s light out, so this clearly wasn’t THAT early, but I had been out since about 5:00. I watched the storms roll in from the South Side Slopes, before making the executive decision to head to Mt. Washington. What a choice it was. Not five minutes after I got there, the tower behind me got struck by lightning, and I almost hightailed it back to my car. But I didn’t. I stuck around, and literally seconds later this bolt shook me to my core.
This isn’t a composite, rather one image of lightning striking all over town at once. One of the most insane things I’ve ever witnessed.
#1
There was never a doubt what the #1 image would be. As soon as I saw the mammatus clouds over Pittsburgh back in June, I knew that it would be the best image that I shot all year. And here it is, coming in at the top spot, the night of a million images.
And that million images was just from me. If you add in all the other people around the region, we’re probably talking tens of billions. I’ve seen a few spotty mammatus clouds here and there but nothing like this. Ever. It was completely and utterly otherworldly. Here’s the absolutely hilarious thing: I almost missed it.
See, we were leaving for Disney the next morning, and our flight was 5:00 a.m.. I’m one of those people who like to get there early and just sit at the gate, so my alarm was set for 2:00. Dragging two kids out of bed, even to see the Mouse, was going to be tough. So I was getting ready to turn in when I saw how incredible the sky looked.
I dug my gear back out and raced into town. I never even thought about not going, and I ended up getting just two hours of sleep. It was well worth, and I’d do it again every single time.
And there you have it. My Top 10 list of images of 2022 that actually contains 17 images. I shot 197,805 images in 2022, so narrowing down the top 10 was difficult to say the least. But I’m pretty proud of what I accomplished last year, and can’t wait for this year.
Til next time…
