In my previous throwback, I mentioned feeling a little bit fatigued with the routine but, looking at the photos from January 2013, I immediately felt like continuing with it — while allowing myself to opt out at any given time. :)

So here are a few “survivor” photos that match my current taste for photos. In the winter months, we can draw from so many photographic possibilities here in San Diego County: cool temperatures in the desert, lovely clouds and king tides at the coast, and greening of the inland areas and foothills.

In the desert, I went to see some slot canyons, but while my fascination with these places never ends, the photos that I have don’t excite me as much anymore, or perhaps just not at present. Instead, here is a landscape photo made at the end of day:

This is “Palm Benchmark”, which is on the Sierra Club’s 100 Peaks list for San Diego County. I hiked it a few years later in less than ideal conditions (cold, windy, raining) and it’s one of the list peaks that I would definitely hike again. Below the peak lies a maze of canyons that invite exploration — which is exactly what we did most recently, inspired by looking at this very photo. :)

January 2013 also was when I first met fellow photographer Joseph W. Smith in person, for a morning photo-hike at Hollenbeck Canyon. We had followed each other on Google+ already, pretty much since its inception (was that in summer 2012?), looked at each other’s photos and exchanged comments. I had hiked in the area of Hollenbeck Canyon before, but Joe showed me a wonderful riparian area with terrific oaks of which I wasn’t aware at all. Seeing something that resembles more or a real forest was a treat for my eyes.

A few more from that morning, all in black & white, are here: Hollenbeck Canyon Morning.

Then there was the coast, of course — I was curious about long exposure photography and wanted to know how a much longer exposure time than I’d usually aim for would look, and whether it would be worth pursuing that. This photo provided the answer:

And that answer is: no, it’s not really worth to make 16 minute long exposures. The same look with completely smooth water can be achieved with exposure times in the range of two to four minutes. :)

Towards the end of the month, I asked Joe to go on a desert hike, to repay him for showing me a new place, and obviously by showing him a new place. It was a really special day with beautiful clouds and over time, this photo has become one of my all-time favorites:

More photos from that day are in the Domelands blog post and a few black & whites of the Carrizo Badlands are available too.

And that’s it with the January 2013 throwback. If you want to see it all, you can browse the blog post archive for January 2013. I think the Black Sand Patterns might be worth a look. :)