We will not be denied at least a few ‘best of’ articles to finish off the year! I’ve pulled together 12 images, one from each month, to try and best describe my 2013. It was actually a bit of a struggle with some months having so much going on.

What 2013 was, and 2014 hopefully won’t be (as much), was an exploration of areas close to home that have previously been overlooked in favour of faraway places that seemed more exotic.

We’ll cover the first six months of the year in this article with the next six to follow tomorrow, or even the day after. It’s not that I’m trying to stretch the content out, I just felt that 12 large image files in one article might make for a very slow journey.

The Credit River at Forks of the Credit Provincial Park. I never tire of this place with its waterfalls and rapids. Each season brings a completely different scene. I visited at the end of a nasty cold snap in January, just days before heading south to Florida and the Caribbean for two weeks.

I was hoping to get back there soon for some more images of the ice formations. However, Southern Ontario, along with the rest of the eastern half of the continent, has been coated in a thick layer of ice.

At the start of February, we made our way to Ft. Lauderdale, Florida for a seven night Eastern Caribbean cruise on board the Ruby Princess of Princess Cruises. We were there for a wedding on the ship and it was our first cruise experience.

The ship stopped at Princess Cays in the Bahamas; Philipsburg, Sint Maarten; St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands and Grand Turk. The above image is of Charlotte Amalie and St. Thomas Harbor just before the ship took off for Grand Turk. The highlight of our stop at St. Thomas was spending time at Magens Bay Beach on the other side of the island.

It probably doesn’t look like much but Cannings Falls is the most controversial bit of nature anywhere close to where I live. The waterfall is along the Nottawasaga River on the Niagara Escarpment, just northeast of Orangeville, Ontario.

Cannings Falls is just outside of Hockley Highlands Provincial Park, which houses a portion of the Bruce Trail. It is a physical struggle to get to the waterfall, especially by snowshoe up the river in March when this image was taken.

There are no official trails to the waterfall and it is on private land. The river is surrounding by steep cliffs and the vegetation all around is dense cedar. The owners and their elitist neighbours feel that no one should be allowed to see this feature. Other residents of the area have not shared this vision.

Trying to find a portion of the Bruce Trail in April that was not ice covered led us to Limehouse Conservation Area. It turns out, the area directly along the rocks of the Niagara Escarpment were still quite ice-covered but it was worth the visit to discover this cute little arch over Black Creek.

The arch is remnant of a mill that once stood on the location. Along the sides of the creek, ruins of the mill walls are still visible.

Spring finally sprung in Ontario in May. This scene is actually just walking distance from my home. This is a small pond within Island Lake Conservation Area in Orangeville, Ontario.

The hydroelectric dam at Old Port Dalhousie in St. Catherines, Ontario. This structure and the surrounding area are a living museum of the Welland Canal. This was the original terminus of the world famous canal before it was straightened and re-routed to the other side of St. Catherines.

I was down for a rowing regatta which was delayed for several hours due to high winds. The winds are apparent in the green blur of the vegetation in this long exposure image. I almost chickened out of taking this and several other photos, along with video. The area is tightly fenced off and off-limits to trespassers. However, moving water is most always too much for me to resist.

It turns out, the water within feet from my tripod has a bit of a history taking human life. Most recently, in the past year or so, a young man fell to his death from the sidewalk above in the wee hours of the morning.

Stay tuned for the last six months of the year! Why? Because, quite frankly, the next six images are much more awesome than these six!