BEST OF 2008- POST YOUR SHOTS

Last year, Marc Adamus started a thread like this in the PNWNP forum, and I thought it was a great idea and, may be, a little tradition we could have going here. Post your top 2 shots from the current year.
I'll jump in.

And the second...

Great idea Younes!!! I love those two images! Hopefully this will take off and become an NPN tradition. There are a lot of great images that we all miss when we're away and we might get a last chance to see some classics here. Also it might be interesting to see which images people consider their personal favorites.

Here's #1 for me.

#2

Have a great 09 folks! Your talent keeps amazing me!
JG

# 1
Beautiful work so far guys. Hopefully '09 will be equally beautiful & bountiful.

# 2

Awesome stuff!! That's what I am talking about

This is a great idea. I don't think I could ever pick just two, though. So, lets just say that these are the two that I like most at this moment.

#1

#2

This going to be one very interesting and very long thread. Great idea!

When this female anna's hummingbird finally came in to feed her young, I got that feeling that all of us photographers get....every once in a long while.

Most people who know my work wouldn't choose this as my second image, but I love the funky light. I was "hiding" in the loft of a barn where this great horned owl and it's mate have lived,nested and raised young for at least a few years now. The talon emerging from the shadow and the open beak make this bird look a bit menacing if you ask me.

Excellent

Fantastic thread. Keep them coming...

Great shots!

Here's my #1.

And my #2.

Here's one that I'm pleased with.

Wow Jim, I can't get over how much your image looks like an "Ice Snake", and it even has an eye!

It's almost impossible for me to choose a favorite from the year - I have entirely too many unprocessed images - but this one makes me happy.

And number 2 - but sometimes I like this one better than the first one. Depends upon my mood. ;)

Great shots everyone!
Jim: I was wondering if you could put a sticky on this thread...

Here's one of my favourite shots from 2008...entitled "Tree Swallow: Subtleties at Sunrise".

All the contextual information surrounding this shot (field notes, all camera settings and processing details, conservation, etc.) can be found at:

http://www.naturalart.ca/galleries/birds/songbirds/.

Cheers...

Brad

And here's a slightly more dramatic one from 2008...this one entitled "Jaws, Paws, & Claws".

All the contextual information surrounding this shot (field notes, all camera settings and processing details, conservation, etc.) can be found at:

http://www.naturalart.ca/galleries/mammals/bears/detail_65.html.

Cheers...

Brad

This thunderstorm caught us off guard and moved in on us rather fast. As we ran past the Pearl Spring (Varina ran ahead with the kids), I had to stop and photograph this beautiful blue glow set against the back drop of setting sun and approaching storm. I only had enough time to take one shot...and then I ran to catch up with Varina and the kids.

Two from my favorite shooting location...N.E. Arizona:

Sunrise at the Rock Garden

Great shots! Here is my fav..

This is a fun excercise because I think part of the ability to appreciate and enjoy the place one is in right now comes from looking back on the twists and turns in the road that got you there.

Here are my two based 100% on my own personal emotional connections to the scenes

#1 Mt. Hood from Trillium - I remember feeling a pure sense of peace and calm that morning

#2 Youth - The scene speaks to me of the exuberance of youth and a fantastic family vacation on the Oregon coast

My favorite's, #1

And #2

Great Topic! Nice to see what everyone liked as their favorites.

Here is my #1 favorite for this year

And here is my #2

I like that there's no pressure to critique in this format. We can do what you are really supposed to with beautiful photographs, which is to sit back and soak them in/really enjoy them.

#1

and #2

This one puts the "personal" in "personal favorite" since photographing your wife, who is six months pregnant with your first child, hiking in the VRN is a once in a lifetime opportunity at best. And on the left is my brother.

Thanks to everyone who has and will post in this thread. It's a wonderful tool.

Fantastic stuff everyone!!!!!!!!!!! Here's one of my favorites. Stitch of 4 verticals.

Younes,

This was a great idea - we're seeing some amazing shots posted. Thanks for starting this thread!

Cheers...

Brad

Wow, this is a great place for nature photography...
No doubt what my favorite is this year...and here's to another great year!

Very inspiring thread so far!

And another

Osprey and Belted Kingfisher at sunset.

And sunrise during the deer rut.

1 - Vishnu Temple - Cape Royal - North Rim - Grand Canyon

2 - Unison Call - Bosque del Apache - New Mexico

I actually have far more really nice images from this year than I was originally expecting. This one pretty much sums up my year, as I am now on my second layoff in 18 months - this time from a job and company I really enjoyed.

Dan, sorry to hear of your employment woes but this is IMO an excellent photo!

This image has stuck with me and i love it more now than before. (Such great images in this thread -- i hope this one fits in)

BTW -- this and my second choice for the thread both came from my little G9 -- my 20D is getting lonely.

Here is my second choice. But you know some of the one's I took last week or the week before are pretty good too .... maybe I'll repost later on... hard to choose.

I'm not sure about "best" but this shot from Lake Charles is one of my favorites.

This one from West Tennessee Lakes might be number 2.

I can't help it. I still like this image.

Tanzania, Africa

My #1 is Sunrise at Mono Lake photographed in the winter of 1995. This experience helped
to hook me on outdoor photography.

Flax and Poppies is my #2 for two reasons. From this experience I learned that I didn't have
to travel beyond my backyard for a pretty picture, plus it was my first sale.

Robert, thanks for re-posting in this thread - nice shots!

Fantastic images!

Here are two of my favorites from this year. This first one is a snowball made by the wind, along with it's "tracks".

The second one...a yearling Whitetail Deer who was curious enough to stand still and pose for a few minutes.

Thank you every one for doing this. It would be nice if this could be a forum.

Picking two favorites is hard because I have particular emotional connections to images which probably have nothing to do with their merit.

I love the moodiness of this image.

One of my favorites: from Zion in January

and my second: new growth among old

This is from a snow storm on Sonora Pass

My other one. This was a harder decision to make,.

Along the White Rim Road in Canyonlands National Park, Utah.

There are some ridiculously gorgeous images in this thread. Can you imagine a coffee table photo book with all these photos?!

Here's one of my favorites from 2008. Fall in the La Sals, my favorite season and my favorite place to enjoy it.

Common perspective, but the fact that this sunrise occurred on my birthday made it even more special.

Great idea Younes, especially to review the excellent images I missed throughout the year! Here are my two faves. No.1

And No. 2.

Great stuff so far! The talent on this site is pretty darn remarkable! Here are my two favs--both taken during my trip to the Snowy Range a few months ago.

#2

Great thread, but really hard to pick one. I decided to post one that is maybe the epitome of a great trip this year. I got this printed, 40inches wide on canvas for my dad as a Christmas-Gift: The Wenkchemma-Range.
Merry Christmas!
Dietrich

Just wow.
I sending people a link tot his thread.

Wow! What a great collection of work!!

#2

Great idea! What amazing images you all have posted. We are losing a lot of our old barns in Utah and I have started shooting some of them...a bit different than what I usually do but I like it.

I just noticed this, really beautiful collection of fine images. Here is my #1

and #2

And here is my second. A common location but what can I say? Zion Narrows

http://th05.deviantart.com/fs39/300W/i/2008/356/2/2/Mundo_Frio_by_VincerePhotography.jpg

hmm couldn't find how to post images, but I saw the thread and it prompted me to register. You guys are pretty amazing.

Some awesome images!

My favs from 08

#1

and #2

Wow ... what a great amount of wonderful images. Here's my personal favorite of 2008. Shot high up in the Alps after the first snow.

Merry Christmas everybody and a great year 2009.

Some fabulous shots posted so far! I am really glad it has taken off the way it did. Thanks everyone for participating, and looking forward to more entries.
Oh and, almost forgot: Merry Xmas and Happy New Year everyone!

Rehab

I'm late to this party but its a great one. Not too many Flora shots so I thought I would put in at least this first one. Trying to figure the second may be more difficult. I chose this one for a couple of reasons. First is that I love calla lilies and my wife is an expert at growing them. This is one of her finer specimens. Second reason is that this was one of my first images I took this spring after my hip replacement. I had pretty limited mobility at the time so I could only shoot the tall flowers in the garden. I was glad this beauty was standing up well above the rest. >=))>

This is an amazing collection. Here are a couple of my favorites from '08.

,,,,and,,,,

My 1st choice

and my 2nd choice

totally amazing gallery. It is hard to choose, but here are a couple.

#2

It is very difficult to find the heart for thowing photos among so splendid images. All incredible beautiful photos! I am delighted. For Bill.

And ...

Wow, what an incredible assemblage! So nice that everything is self-chosen as well. Happy Holidays and Happy New Year to all.

I'm not sue how to include a pic here, but here's a link.

http://gallery.photo.net/photo/8151615-lg.jpg

and a second

http://gallery.photo.net/photo/8034151-md.jpg

cheers,
greg

Great photos, everybody. With 2008 being such a productive year for me, it's impossible to choose two that rise above all the others, but these two are definitely up there for me.

This one was taken this spring, and was a horror to stitch and blend.

Awesome photographs everyone

Number #1 for me goes to this Flora image of mine

And #2

Incredible, awesome images here! This is one of my favorites from this year. It's a favorite because it's my favorite flower, the day I took this it was beautiful weather, I got to spend a lot of time walking right among the blooms when I shot this, and it just makes me smile

Oops, mixed up my #2 with another one I took yesterday. Here's the one I intended...

How about a Wild Columbine.

And a Lily of the Valley for good measure.

Star of Hope (my # 2)

A pretty conventional capture of a Star of Texas hibiscus but this is another flower with special significance for me. Hurricane Ike went right over us in the dead of night in September. Our home suffered little damage and most of our garden was tattered but survived. We had put this guy in a sheltered alcove in our entry way and when we ventured out the next morning it had opened and greeted us to a new day. I moved the pot to take advantage of pleasing BG elements.

Anhinga with Crappie
Wasn't a difficult image to capture but one of those times I was in the right place at the right time.

This would have to be my #2
Mammoth Hot springs--Yellowstone NP
JG

Fall was incredible in Colorado this year, so # 1 has to be this shot.

and this would be #2. Startling good photographs on this thread.

I agree with Bill, there are not enough Flora photos in this thread. And I know we have had such great stuff in the Flora forum this year. But it still is a great thread! Here is my favourite of this year.

Finally getting around to posting in this thread...here is #1.

Nathan

And one more...

Nathan

Here’s one for 2008, taken at Longwood Gardens this past summer.

My second one is a photo I didn't take a second look at untill recently, almost a year later.

Here are two of my best from 2008.

Will
Edmonton, Alberta
Canada

And the second one.

Thank you.

Will
Edmonton, Alberta
Canada

This is such a wonderful collection. I am blown away. What a treasure

Here's #2

Not enough birds here, so I thought I would post one.

#1 Taken in June I believe, I had been working with American Oystercatchers photographing the adults with their young for weeks. It always makes me smile when I see this image.

And #2 A Red-breasted Merganser taking a break on the shoreline after feeding. A very shallow wave came up on the sand and created a glass-like surface over the sand. Taken in May.

It would have been extremely difficult to choose between all the birds I have been able to image this year, but these two are just special to me.

Johnny come lately... but it is still '08. :-)

Wow, it's such an honor to be able to share the same page with such talent! The images presented here are phenomenal!

I had a great year of photography - made some new friends and spent time in my favorite places. Hard to pick two, but these are a couple of my favorites. Here's the first.

Thanks for starting this thread!

Lon

Here's #2. Maybe not my best of the year, but one of my favorites.

Lon

wow. some incredible photos...
here is my #1

and another one of my favourites...

- Karsten

What a great collection of stellar images. Here is my #1 pick for 2008.

Here is #2.

I'll add my two favorites.
This is a great collection of photos.
Good work everyone.

From Spring
#1

And form Fall
#2

This thread is going to give me things to look at for a great long time! Fantastic! Thanks for doing it.