My Top 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.

 

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 Friday, the National Geographic website, Wired,Popular Science, Popular Mechanics, Science and the Washington Post as well as MSNBC, io9, Mother Nature Network, The Guardian UK, CNET, the Huffington Post, NewScientist and many other places.

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

 

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.

 

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.

 

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.

 

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.

 

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.

 

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.

 

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.

 

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