Best Photos of 2022

*** POST UPDATED ON 1-1-23 to include content from Dec 26-31, 22. ***

This was an amazing year for my photography. I have been thinking about this post for over a month. I have waaaaaay too much content to make this post a true summary of the year.

I have thought about only showing 10 of the best.

Impossible.

Or as Dana Carvey used to say will impersonating George H. Bush, “Not gonna do it!”

So I have decided to create a few categories and post some of my favorites pix from each category. The categories are: Hiking, Family, Music, Cementia, Scott Selfies and Rando. The Rando category includes anything that I could not fit into the previous five.

FAMILY

Since family is first in life, I am making it the first category here as well. There were several key events that took place this year. Yana got married, Juju and Riri graduated high school, all seven of my children were in the same place at the same time, and my friend of almost 45 years experienced the passing of his father.

So here are the best from this category.

(FYI, as you go through and see the galleries of smaller images, you can click on the image to see a bigger version.)

Yana’s Wedding

The wedding of Yana and Joseph took place on a Tuesday, the 2nd day of the 2nd month of the year 2022. It was a super cool wedding. Fun and relaxing.

Juju and Riri Graduation and Prom

Juju and Riri graduated from Mountain View High School a year early. They skipped 8th grade. It was amazing to see my youngest finish school. At the same time, it was a bittersweet experience. I am quite proud of their accomplishments and extraordinarly excited to see what is next for them.

Celebration of Frank Stinson

Frank Stinson was a terrific husband and father. It was challenging to see his health deteriorate. He passed peacefully in his home. Here is a link to a tribute video that I made when I heard the news of his passing. I climbed several miles into the Timpanookee trail to record this.

Other Pix

HIKING

I had another terrific year of hiking. I discovered many new trails both near and far. I also visited my “go-to” trails often.

Out of state hikes included Yellowstone National Park, Grand Teton National Park, Saguaro National Park, Lewis and Clark Historic National Park, Petroglyphs National Monument, and Craters of the Moon National Monument and Reserve. I also discovered new trails in Big Cottonwood Canyon, Little Cottonwood Canyon, Packard Canyon, Spanish Fork Canyon, Provo Canyon, Slate Canyon, Rock Canyon, Hobble Creek Canyon, and Beaver Canyon.

I hiked over 1,000 miles with almost 200,000 feet of elevation change. The most elevation change of the year was over 4,300 feet.

On Dec. 30-31, I did something that is one of the TOP 10 things I have ever done. I went into the backcountry wilderness of Capitol Reef National Park, here in UT. Below are a few of the best images from that off road adventure.

Photos below from various winter scenes on 12/28.

MUSIC

I continued my multi-decade hardcore following of Brave Combo, the two-time Grammy Award winning nuclear polka band from Denton, TX. I saw them seven times this year in the follow Texas cities: Denton, West, Bedford, Blanco, Arlington, and Austin. As usual, every show is unique. The wildest is always Westfest in West, TX. The late night college crowd gets rowdy fun. The Christmas show in at the Bedford Christmas Pickle Party was a special treat due to the pickle theme and the fact that the World’s Greatest Siamese Pickle made an appearance and picked up right where Billy and Bob left off.

While at Westfest this year, Carl also introduced me to famed videographer and documentarian Robert Weiss. He is working on a documentary called “Do Something Different” about Brave Combo. I am going to try to help him in some small way bring the multi-year project to fruition. I am super excited about this!

The video below shows the pickle being invited on stage with the band. The subsequent video is s the band perofmring one of my favorite Christmas tunes, Winter Wonderland (Bump and Grind Version).

I have to share one more BC video. This is what I call the “ChillOut Version of Skokiaan.” It was performed in Arlington, TX on Sep 2. I absolutely love this version and have encouraged Carl to do more of this!

While the Brave Combo fandom continues, Carl Finch of Brave Combo recommended that I come early to WestFest to see and hear Mollie B, Ted Lange and Squeezebox. I followed his advice and I am so glad that I did. As soon as I walked into the Pavillion where they were playing, I knew within seconds they were solid gold.

Mollie B is a one-of-a-kind performer. She sings, she dances, and, oh yea, she plays 17 instruments. Yep, you read that correctly! Counting Westfest, I saw them perform 5 times in the last 4 months of the year. I attended the Mollie B Christmas Show in Reedsburg, WI. It was so much fun. I especially enjoyed her duet with Rachie Sorlie singing Gesu Bambino and her solo performance of Ave Maria.

I have to say that Mollie, her hubbie Ted, her brother Chad and the entire band are some of the nicest people I have met. Not only are they mega-talented superstars, they are just really good people. I am so blessed to know them!

It’s funny how we make connections with people. Carl introduced me to Mollie B, then while hanging with Mollie B, I was introduced to Tanja, who plays drums in the German band called Die Bayrischen Hiatamadln. This was another love at first listen situation. I saw them at Wurstfest in New Braunfels,TX.

When I went to watch them perform one of their shows, Tanja invited me up on stage to take photos. It was a blast and there was so much energy up there! The video below shows clips from my two nights on the stage. I was able to hang with the band in the green room and then photograph them again the next night. The images below again are a blend from both nights. The last video below is one of their super fun songs, So Eine Schoner Tag (It’s Beautiful Day). I totally love this fun song.

Cementia 5309

One of the best parts of the year was working on the Cementia-5309 Horror Sci Fi movie project. It was shot on location in Winganon, OK. While it is still in concept mode, we are looking forward to the full motion picture project. I don’t want to give away too much here. Enjoy some on the scene photos and a few teaser trailer videos.

SELFIES

The following are a few of the selfies I have taken throughout the year.

RANDO

These are the pix that did not really fit well into any of the above categories.

This was a terrific year in just about every way. All aspects of my life seem to be in really good shape. Family, work, travel, hiking, and friends seem to be well and moving forward.

Hopefully you enjoyed seeing at least some of these pictures. I am excited about what is ahead for the 2023.

May it be well for all of us!