2016 Recap. / by Eric Molyneaux

2016 was a weird year overall but there were definitely some amazing times throughout the year. Had some awesome opportunities and trips, I'll try to keep this short and just make a short list of some bigger things that happened throughout the year and let the photos do the talking :).

* Drove my $1400 Subaru thousands of miles down HWY 1 to LA then straight to Death Valley for a few days then back up HWY 1 to Petaluma. Took the car on some of the craziest off roading I've ever done and it did the whole trip with no problems ^_^.

Walking on the massive salt flat (Bad Water Basin) which was 282 feet below sea level was insane. Same goes for the massive sand dunes that just seemed to never end.  Then of course all the amazing views along HWY 1 both going down there and heading back home are always breathtaking.

*  My friends in Wolf&Bear brought me along on there first mini tour that went to CA, NV, and AZ. Something that I've always wanted to do and hope that I can do lot more of in 2017. Just something about being able to document each night with photos/video and taking those long drives crammed in a van to the next destination. Here's a couple photos from that and a video I threw together at the end of it all.

* Stairway to Heaven / Hawaii trip in October. Didn't take all that much photos with my camera during this trip. But my brother and I decided to attempt the Stairway to Heaven climb/hike which is one of the most amazing things I've ever done. We decided to go in the afternoon even though most people go there between 3-5am when it's easier to sneak in.
Luckily we just talked to the guard and said we'll suffer the consequences if there are any when we come back down, but we were lucky and got out safe. Despite the dozen or so signs saying no trespassing and government property haha.

** There were tons of other little adventures throughout the year as well. Countless day trips up the coast trying to find cool new spots, concerts in S.F. or Sacramento, Point Reyes and all the other places that the bay area has to offer. Here are a couple of my favorite photos from this year.

I was lucky enough to be able to get out and see this ship out at Bodega Bay just a day or two after it got stuck on shore and got this shot which is one of my all time favorite photos.

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This was taken during the Perseids meteor shower, even though there aren't any meteors in this shot haha. Heather and I decided to head out and drive up the coast around midnight or so til we found a good spot to shoot since it was pretty foggy in Bodega Bay. We got lucky after driving for awhile and found this spot that I pulled off on the side of HWY 1 for a couple hours.

The beginning of this year had lots of random day trips and drives, one day we ended up finding this awesome place. House was falling apart but we still had to go through it.

I made a bad decision during May/June to trade my beloved wagon for a subaru SVX...which ended up blowing up on me on the way home. I decided to keep it still and fix it up some...then finally realized I needed my wagon back so luckily the guy traded cars back with me. He got new tires and a new(used) transmission out of it.  Here's the SVX along with a recent photo of how my wagon looks now :).

Glad that 2017 is finally here and I can't wait to see what it brings. Already got a friends wedding to shoot, and hope more photography opportunities come my way soon. Hope everyone has a good 2017!