My Top Photos Of 2012

Best Photos of 2012

Like last year, I am not going to rank these images, but rather will talk about them in chronological order and explain why each one of them has made it into my years top images.  Also, every year Jim Goldstein has a Best of Photography call where our photo peeps submit their best work and Jim compiles it in a single post.  Jim’s call for 2012 is here.  Make sure you pick out your best 5-10 images and send it along.  Its a great opportunity to catch up on the photography of a wide variety of people, particularly with an interest in landscape photography, so you have until Saturday, January 5th at 11:59pm to get your work in.

 

Metabolomic eye

Early in 2012 I found out that this image, a computational rendering of the concentration of amino acids in cells of the retina won first prize in the journal Science and the National Science Foundation‘s Science and Engineering Visualization Challenge for 2011 (video with interviews here).  This image appeared in The Smithsonian Magazine in March, its been on NPRs Science Fridaythe National Geographic websiteWired,Popular SciencePopular MechanicsScience and the Washington Post as well as MSNBC, io9Mother Nature NetworkThe Guardian UKCNET, the Huffington PostNewScientist and many other places.

Computationally rendered after capture from a 63x objective on a Leica Microscope.

 

Ring-of-Fire

In May of 2011, North America was treated to an amazing display of an annular eclipse that I was fortunate enough to have been able to see and photograph.  It was also the first complete eclipse that I’d ever seen in person, made possible because the path of the complete eclipse took it through Southern Utah on a day that I could make it down with perfect weather.

Canon S100 Powershot hooked up to a Zeiss spotting scope.

 

Green Heron

This image of a green heron is to date, perhaps the best image of a bird I’ve managed to make.  One of these days, I might get some longer glass to make more decent images of birds, but for now, this one is it.  P.S. if birds are your thing, this guy is one of the best bird photographers I’ve ever seen.

Canon 1D MkIV and a Canon 70-300mm f/4-5.6 L lens.

 

H in Le Pain Quotidien

I’m getting more comfortable with portrait imaging, particularly in black and white and am starting to experiment more.  This particular image was shot in July on a trip to New York City and made with a rather non-traditional lens for portraits, a fisheye lens.  The Canon EF 8-15mm f/4 L Fisheye USM can be a tricky lens, but its also absolutely unique in the world as being a zoomable fisheye.  Kind of fun to experiment with.

Canon 1D MkIV and a Canon 8-15mm f/4 fisheye USM lens.

 

Sunrise

In August, I shot this image of the sun rising over the desert floor.  Forest fires had made the atmosphere red and thick with smoke.  No filters were used to make this image and I hope that I never have to depend upon this much smoke from forest fires again.  It was a bad fire season brought on by drought and pine beetle infestation.  I loved the mood from this image with the early morning clouds just as the Sun rose.

Canon 1D X and a Canon 70-300mm f/4-5.6 L lens.

 

Portal

This image appeared in Jonesblog in September as an introductory image to a series of portraits, though it was shot in July in Berlin Germany at the Gemäldegalerie.  I loved the form and the gradations in exposure from almost blown to almost black.  Looking at the histogram of this image shows coverage of the *entire* range.

Canon 1D X and a Canon 24-105mm f/4 L lens.

 

Morning

This very quiet morning complete with stars and moon just before sunrise was captured the morning of this years trip out to photograph Bonneville Speed Week.  I loved the solace of this image with the Moon and Venus just as the Sun was rising.

Canon 1D X and a Canon 8-15mm f/4 fisheye USM lens.

 

Oregon Mountains

These mountains in Oregon outside of Portland were imaged from 30,000 feet as the sun was setting.  I loved the layering and depth of this image, yet collapsed down, almost looking like a screen print.

Canon 1D X and a Canon 24-105mm f/4 L lens.

 

Yingbin portrait

The final image is another portrait, this time of Yingbin Fu, one of my colleagues who asked me to shoot his portrait for Research to Prevent Blindness.  I wanted this portrait to have a more sophisticated lighting setup than I’ve gone with in the past.  more and more, I am preferring to go with low light levels and supplementing sources of light in the Strobist style.

Canon 1D X and a Canon 24-70mm II f/2.8 L lens.

 

 

Update:  Jim Goldstein has posted his list of the 300 participants here.  I am reproducing his list as a bit of link love to the 300 photographers who contributed.  Thanks to Jim for his work setting this up.  Its a ton of work and we all appreciate his efforts.

Best Photos of 2012

  1. Best Photos of 2012 – JMG-Galleries – Jim M. Goldstein
  2. Portraits of 2012 – Janis Janums
  3. Dobson Central Photography – Ken Dobson
  4. The year in review – My favorite photos from 2012 – Ed Rosack
  5. Looking Back – 2012 in images. – Craig Ferguson
  6. Stories From Home – David Patterson
  7. My Favs from 2012 – Jess Wilson
  8. Exploring Light Photography – Chris Moore
  9. Top Photos of 2012 – Alex Filatov
  10. Mawpix Fotografie – Matthias Wassermann
  11. Favorite Photos of 2012 – Jerry Monkman
  12. Top Shots for 2012 – Lisa W. Hale
  13. Dave Wilson Photography – Best of 2012 – Dave Wilson
  14. Dynamics of Light and Shade – Richard Murphy
  15. Anasazi Photography’s Ten Favorite Photos of 2012 – Randy Langstraat
  16. Five Denver Colorado Images from 2012 – Neil Corman
  17. Best of 2012 – A Year in Review – David Richter
  18. Best of Belize 2012 – Tony Rath
  19. In the land of make believe (www.kushagra.in) – Kushagra Shrivastava
  20. Best of 2012 by Chris Irwin – Chris Irwin
  21. Five Favorite Photos – 2012 – Ecuadorian Adventures – Patty Lin
  22. My Top 10 Photos of 2012 – Michael Russell
  23. The Stormtroopers Are Coming! – Michael Toye
  24. My Best underwater photos of 2012 – Suzy Walker
  25. Alpenglow Images Photography – Greg Russell
  26. A Thousand Words – Craig L. Howe
  27. Dakotalapse 2012 – Favorite Photos – Randy Halverson
  28. Milan Hutera Photography – Milan Hutera
  29. Top Ten Photos of 2012 – Steve Cole
  30. My 10 Best Shots from 2012 – Robin Black Photography
  31. My Ten Favorite Images From 2012 – Rachel Cohen
  32. 2012 Year in Review – Brian Rueb
  33. Twelve From Twenty Twelve – Jacob F. Lucas
  34. Best photos of 2012 – Kris Taeleman
  35. Skolai Images – Carl Donohue
  36. Top 10 of 2012 – Joan Masdeu
  37. Free Roaming Photography – Mike Cavaroc
  38. My Faves of 2012 – Evan Gearing
  39. 2012 – My Year in Pictures – Jon McCormack
  40. Scott Shots Photography – 10 Best Photos of 2012 – Scott Thompson
  41. The Stentorian Image / Best Twelve Of 2012 – John Fujimagari
  42. My personal Top 10 photos of 2012 – Alexander S. Kunz
  43. Annika Ruohonen Photography – My Best Shots 2012 – Annika Ruohonen
  44. 10 Best Landscape Photos of 2012 – Cody Duncan
  45. 2012: The Year in Review – Bret Edge
  46. Edith Levy Photography – A Year in Review 12 From 2012 – Edith Levy
  47. Top 10 of 2012 – My 10 Best Landscape & Scenic Photos – Clint Losee
  48. Jonesblog – Bryan William Jones
  49. 2012 Top 10 Photos – Andrei Olariu
  50. Best photos of 2012 – Robert Kusztos
  51. Top 12 of 2012 – Ian McGillvrey
  52. Dave Reichert’s Best of 2012 – Dave Reichert
  53. My Favorites of 2012 – Dan Baumbach
  54. European insects and landscapes – Jeroen Mentens
  55. Vilda European nature photography – Vildaphoto
  56. Russ Bishop Photography | Nature Photo Blog – Russ Bishop
  57. “top 13 images – Denise Goldberg
  58. Top 12 of ’12 – Lon Overacker
  59. TKM Journal – 2012 Summary – Kent Mearig
  60. 12 for 12 – Robert Lussier
  61. Changing Perspectives – Jenni Brehm
  62. Views Infinitum – Scott Thomas
  63. My favourite shots of 2012 – Catalin Marin
  64. My Photo Blog – Ron Niebrugge
  65. My Best Photos: 2012 – D. Travis North
  66. 2012 Favorite Images – Rob Tilley
  67. Timages Gallery: The Best of 2012 – Tim Mulcahy
  68. Reading on a Sunny Santa Barbara Day – G. Kaltenbrun
  69. Best Photos of 2012 – My Photography Year in Review – Phil Colla
  70. 2012 – A Year In Twelve Images – Werner Priller
  71. Favorite photographs from 2012 – Mark Graf
  72. Reflective Images from 2012 – Rhoda Maurer
  73. Western Skies Top 15 From 2012 – Björn Göhringer
  74. Best of 2012 – Rick Holliday
  75. Best images of 2012 – Regis Vincent
  76. Top Photos of 2012 by Gary Crabbe / Enlightened Images – Gary Crabbe / Enlightened Images
  77. Top 10 Photos from 2012 – Ben Chase Photography
  78. Travel & Landscape Photography – Brent Huntley
  79. KennethVerburg.nl – Mijn top 10 foto’s van 2012 – Kenneth Verburg
  80. M van Renselaar – Matthijs
  81. Favorites – 2012 – Daniel Leu
  82. Favorite Images of 2012 – Jack V. Johnson
  83. Picture Day – 12 in 2012 – Michael Christoferson
  84. G Dan Mitchell Photography – G Dan Mitchell
  85. Best of 2012 – Elena Zeitler Photography
  86. Best of 2012 – Brad Barton Photography
  87. leavesnbloom | Scotland – Rosie Nixon
  88. My 10 Favorite Wildlife Photos of 2012 – Jim Coda
  89. Adventures Through the Lens: Looking Back – Rebecca R Jackrel
  90. Twelve from 2012 – Ed Cooley
  91. Best Photos of the Year…A Duel To The Death – Jim Lundgren
  92. My Top Ten Images From 2012! – Clark Crenshaw
  93. My Favorite Photos of 2012 – Sarah Marino
  94. 2012 – Year in Review (Sort Of) – Ron Coscorrosa
  95. Best Photographs of 2012 – Chuck Goolsbee
  96. My Ten Best Photos of 2012 – Mike Chowla
  97. Chuqui 3.0 – Chuq Von Rospach
  98. 2012 Top 10 by Mario Moreno – Mario Moreno
  99. My Top 10 Favourite Images of 2012 | John Dunne Photography – John Dunne
  100. Kirk Norbury – Nature Photographer – Kirk Norbury
  101. Kurt Lawson Photography – Kurt Lawson
  102. Mark Imhof Photographics – Mark Imhof
  103. Ralf Prien Photography – Ralf Prien
  104. 2012 – Favourite Shots – Chris Blizzard
  105. blackandwhite.ie – Neil McShane (aka Mononeil)
  106. Peter Carroll Photography – Peter Carroll
  107. 12 Best of 2012 – Dru Stefan Stone
  108. Top 10 Favorites of 2012 – Alan Dahl
  109. DigitizedChaos(2012) – Rian Castillo
  110. Lunch is Optional – Ken Trout
  111. My Top 10 Photos of 2012 – Jaymi Heimbuch
  112. Pat Ulrich Wildlife Photography – 2012 Favorites – Pat Ulrich
  113. A Photographer’s Journey: My Best of 2012 – Michael Burkhardt
  114. 2012 The Year’s Ten Best Shots – Gene Lowinger
  115. JSturr 2012 Top Images – JSturr
  116. Sara M. Skinner Photography – Sara M. Skinner
  117. Living Wilderness: Best of 2012 – Kevin Ebi
  118. Best of 2012 – Larry Rosenstein
  119. Best of 2012 – Dave Miller Photography
  120. latoga photography – Greg A. Lato
  121. Art in Nature – Best of 2012 – Floris van Breugel
  122. best of 2012 photos – jj raia – jj raia
  123. Fantasia Photography – Mara Acoma
  124. Anne McKinnell’s Top 10 Photos of 2012 – Anne McKinnell
  125. tingsgrove.blogspot.com – Mary Howell Cromer
  126. Best Photos of 2012 by Ilya Genkin – Ilya Genkin
  127. McPhedran Phocus – Averil McPhedran Hall
  128. Kyle Jones Best of 2012 – Kyle Jones
  129. Best Photos of 2012 – Chaz Curry Photography
  130. 12 Favorites from 2012 – Daniel Schwabe
  131. The View Through My Glass: My top 10 pictures of 2012 – Duffy Knox
  132. danielqua.de – Daniel Quade
  133. suriradha – Surendra
  134. A 2012 Review in 10 Pictures – David Lloyd
  135. Best 2012 – Jim Robertson
  136. abigailgossage.ca – Abigail Gossage
  137. Korwel Photograpy blog – Iza Korwel
  138. Sugar Mountain Photography: 2012 Favorites – Dale King
  139. Greg Clure Photography – Greg Clure
  140. Mike Dooley Photography – Mike Dooley
  141. Colleen Miniuk-Sperry Photography: Favorite Photos From 2012 – Colleen Miniuk-Sperry/CMS Photography
  142. Fred Mertz Photography – Fred Mertz
  143. Best Photos of 2012 by Kenneth Snyder – Kenneth Snyder
  144. Favorite Photos from 2012 – In the Field Photo Blog by Richard Wong – Richard Wong
  145. My favorite photos of 2012 – Kristal Leonard
  146. Best Photos 2012 by Stan Rapada – Stan Rapada
  147. Geoff Shoots the World – Site update and 2012 in Review – Geoff Billing
  148. Gentle Wit – Cyndy Otty
  149. Another Bird Blog – Phil Slade
  150. Best Insect Photos of 2012 – Alex Wild
  151. 2012 Bird Favorites – Lance Warley
  152. My 10 Favorites of 2012 – John W. Wall
  153. Focus Pocus – Alb
  154. Deb Snelson Photography – Deb Snelson
  155. My 12 Greatest Hits Of 2012 – David Leland Hyde/Landscape Photography Blogger
  156. The Carey Adventures – Peter West Carey
  157. Scenery – Aaron
  158. Andrew Thomas Landscape Photographer – Andrew Thomas
  159. 12 Months in 2012 – Petr Hlavacek | NZICESCAPES IMAGES
  160. All The Pages: Favorite Photos from 2012 – Mike Rodriquez
  161. Mike Fitton Photography – Mike Fitton
  162. North Metro Photo – Robert Nopola
  163. Jill Fineis Photography – Jill Fineis
  164. My 2012 in Review – Morkel Erasmus
  165. Best Photos Of 2012 – Daniel McNamara
  166. Artistic Landscape Photographer – Jason Matias
  167. My Top 12 Images Of 2012 – John Paul Caponigro
  168. 56×56 – My Favorites of 2012 – Jim Nickelson
  169. Neal Studios – Mike Neal
  170. Eliya’s top 10 of 2012 – Eliya Selhub
  171. Rob Dweck Photography Top 12 From 2012 – Rob Dweck
  172. Create. Evaluate. Iterate. – Tim Cooper
  173. RonaldSaunders.com – Ronald J. Saunders
  174. Top 10 favorites of 2012 – John Christopher
  175. Dima Barsky – Flickr – Dima Barsky
  176. Curiouser and Curiouser – Reebbhaa Mehta
  177. A Look Back on 2012 – My Top 10 Images of the Year – Ed McGuirk
  178. My Favorite Photograph of 2012 – Jeremy Richter
  179. Top 12 2012 Google plus – Patrick Ottoy
  180. Eiffel Tower during storm – Greg Summers
  181. Jeanne Hoadley Photography – Jeanne Hoadley
  182. Jaakko Paarvala Photography – Jaakko Paarvala
  183. Lisa Kidd Photography – Lisa Kidd
  184. In The Village: Best Photos of 2012 Entries – Andrew Hill
  185. Jaakko Paarvala Photography – Jaakko Paarvala
  186. Welliver Photography – Terry and Beth Welliver
  187. Top 12 Photographs of 12 – Matthew Scott Cooper
  188. Top 10 Images For 2012 – Kyle McDougall
  189. My Favorites 2012 – Alan Grinberg
  190. Top 12 of 2012 – Kristy Massey
  191. Carl-Johan Rådström Photography – Carl-Johan Rådström
  192. Olivier Du Tré Photography – Olivier Du Tré
  193. Around London in 2012 – Jono Hey
  194. Top 12 Photos of 2012 » blargmedia inc. – Ben Wong
  195. Duchess O’Blunt’s Favourites for 2012 – Duchess O’Blunt
  196. Adoring Nature by Vaibhav Tripathi – Vaibhav Tripathi
  197. Jason O’Rourke Photography – Jason O’Rourke
  198. 2012: Our favorite images of the year – Isabel & Steffen Synnatschke
  199. Landscape Astrophotography: The Best of 2012 – Brad Goldpaint
  200. Year in Review – Andrew S. Gray
  201. Wednesdays in Marblehead – Eyal Oren
  202. Top images from 2012 – Andrew McAllister
  203. Michael Frye Photography – Michael Frye
  204. 10 Favorite Photographs from 2012 – Seung Kye Lee
  205. My Top 10 Photos for 2012 – Neil Creek
  206. Tattoography by Alexandria Huff – Alexandria Huff
  207. Lenspiration – James Staddon
  208. Wayne Parris Photography – Wayne Parris
  209. Fine Art America – Steven Taylor
  210. John-Roy Photography – JohnRoyPhoto
  211. David Photography – David Pinsent
  212. Gotham City – Erfu Wang
  213. Best of 2012 Portfolio – Gary A. Piazza
  214. Grant Kaye Photography – Grant Kaye
  215. David Epps Photography – David Epps
  216. Cedarmeade Studios – Shaun Galang
  217. Sheldon’s Personal favorites of 2012 – Sheldon Heatherington
  218. Best of 2012 – Carina Potts
  219. Charles Guy Photo – Charles Guy
  220. Flickr Best of 2012 – Eric Hines
  221. My Best of 2012 – Adam Carter
  222. Best of 2012 – Ryan Andrew Dudik
  223. Top Ten Images of 2012 – Keith Nicodemus Photography
  224. My Creative Outlet – Tiffany Cornwell
  225. Adin Softic Photography – Adin Softi
  226. Journey of 2012 – Russell Hebert
  227. My best for 2012 – Joseph John Thalakkottor
  228. Top 12 for 2012 – Phyllis Whitman Hunter
  229. Michae’s best of 2012 – Michae E. Allen
  230. Daniel Stein Photography – Daniel Stein
  231. Bihter Guillory Photography – Bihter Guillory
  232. 10 Favorites of 2012 – Michael Rabon
  233. Flying Aardvark Ranch Gallery – Lori Ann Cole
  234. Jacob Fricks Photography – Jacob Fricks
  235. Best Photographs of 2012 – Amanda Fehring
  236. Brooks Photo Art – Brook Hoffman
  237. Today’s Photo – Sandy DeWitt
  238. Sean Parker Photography – Sean Parker
  239. Simple Memoirs from 2012 – Victoria Cruz
  240. Phil McGrew Photography – Phil McGrew
  241. 2012 Highlights – Brad Mangas
  242. Castle Graphics – Jan Kohl
  243. Andrew Savasuk Photography – Andrew Savasuk
  244. World Photo Creations: Best of 2012 – Scot D. Weaver
  245. People-2012 – Woodruff Laputka
  246. PriyankaP. Photography – Priyanka Patel
  247. PhotoActive Photography – Chuck Jackson
  248. Best of the Jersey Shore 2012 – Bill McKim
  249. Drecart Photographic Solutions – Derek Byrne
  250. Kichul Shin Photography – Kichul Shin
  251. Landscape and Fine Art Photographer Navin Sarma’s 10 Best Photographs – Navin Sarma
  252. ten of twenty twelve – Jaÿa Gascon
  253. My Best of the Best Photographs of 2012 – Adam Schwartz
  254. 2012 Retrospective – Joshua Cripps
  255. pakos.me – Jamie
  256. Best of 2012 by Jack Fusco – Jack Fusco
  257. Best of 2012 – Michael Johnson
  258. Andrew Scharlott Photography – Andrew Scharlott
  259. My Favorite Images of 2012 – Dora Miller
  260. Best of 2012 | Simon Ponder – Simon Ponder
  261. 2012 Favourites – Vasu Shanmugasundaram
  262. Best of 2012 album – Lindsey Williams
  263. Best of 2012 – Matt Infante
  264. Chris the Photog – Chris Hansen
  265. 10 Memories of 2012 – Chris Pritchard
  266. Peter Harris Photography – Peter Harris
  267. Anton Huo Photography – Anton Huo
  268. Out-n-About.de – Alexander Koval
  269. Daniel Hopkins Photography – Best of 2012 – Daniel Hopkins
  270. Flickr – massoud hasanzade
  271. Best of 2012 – Alister Benn
  272. 2012 Through the Seasons – Jim Patterson
  273. Favorite Photographs – 2012 – Sudheendra Kadri
  274. Romain Guy’s Best of 2012 on Curious Creature – Romain Guy
  275. Iceland news and more – Dori Sig
  276. JoshTrudell.com – Josh Trudell
  277. Best of 2012 – Clement Biger
  278. BillHornstein.com – Bill Hornstein
  279. Uncommon Depth: Best of 2012 – Roberta Murray
  280. Organic Light Pan – Youssef Ismail
  281. Stephen Weaver Photography Best of 2012 – Stephen Weaver
  282. Top 12 of 2012 – Chuck Kimmerle
  283. 2012 in Retrospect – Guy Tal
  284. Light, Sky, Land – Images by Matthew Cromer – Matthew Cromer
  285. On Landscape, 12 Significant photos – Tim Parkin
  286. 12 Best Photos of 2012 – Derrald Farnsworth-Livingston
  287. Year 2012 in Review and Favorite Images – QT Luong
  288. My Best in 2012 – Sohail Mamdani
  289. A Few of My Favorite Photos I Shot in 2012 – Austin Fausto
  290. Best of 2012 by Ivan Makarov – Ivan Makarov
  291. One Time Photos – Jason Taylor
  292. R/ZALDY Photography – Rizaldy Celi Jr.
  293. Doppler Photo: Best of 2012 – Omari Stephens
  294. My 2012 Best & Unique Landscape Photographs – Steve Sieren
  295. Rafael Rojas PhotoBlog – Rafael Rojas
  296. Reebbhaa Mehta Photography – Reebbhaa Mehta
  297. 2012 Collection – Matt Anderson
  298. FengLong Photography – Zachary Long
  299. My Best Shot of 2012 – Ron Palarca
  300. Yosemite Steve Natural History Filmmaker – Steven M. Bumgardner

21 Replies to “My Top Photos Of 2012”

    1. Thanks Kris! I’d love to see a year end compilation from your work. You’ve had some amazing imagery coming form that D800 and your travels. Also loved the imagery of the flatiron building.

  1. Hello, I found your site doing some research for camera straps (Luma Cinch) and really like that you’re a scientist/artist. You have a wonderful eye and obvious technical skills.

    1. Thank you Andrea! Much obliged.

      Do check out the Cinch. I have no affiliation with the company other than I’m an enthusiastic user of their products. Its good stuff.

    1. Thank you Rebecca! It was an amazing group of photographers that contributed to this project. Also, many thanks to Jim Goldstein for putting in the effort to showcase all that work.

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