January 2010 Theme – The Best of 2009

For the January 2010 the topic is "The Best of 2009" Post your best or favorite image you shot in 2009. The subject matter is open and not limited to landscape or nature. I expect that there will be quite a few posts, so lets keep it to one image per person for now.

Grand Teton National Park - "Ominous"

Beautiful shot, Jon. Really moody and ominous, in every sense of your title.

Here is a shot from Colorado, near Butler Gulch. It's one of very few images taken all year, and I hope you all enjoy it.

Christopher, you did real good if this is one of the few. I love how the creek stretches from foreground to background. I always like white and green together. Good luck for 2010 and get out and shoot some more. I hope it's ok to reply.

One of my favs from Yellowstone from 2009.

Dean, thanks for the kind words. Right back at you; I saw this image when you posted it before and it has such a calming effect on me personally, which is a quality that we strive for when we're out shooting. The warm colors and the leading line of the river are an awesome match here, well done! Best of luck to you in 2010! CR

Ooooo this thread will be awesome I'm sure! So far so good with Jon, Chris, and Dean's! Tough to pick a favorite from a whole year, but I'd have to go with one from my trip to Norway, and this would probably be it.

EDIT - whoops it got resized upon upload, and lost its color profile... oh well...

Wow Jack, that's incredible. Norway is some kinda place!

Great stuff, guys. This is gonna be a GOOD thread.

A great morning at Maroon Lake

Not my best shot from '09, but certainly my most memorable. Ski descent on North Maroon Peak.

Wow, fantastic stuff so far!
This is probably not my best for 2009, but it's definitely one of my favorites...due to being in the right place at the right time. This is near Telluride, Colorado. Image taken at the end of September.

This thread is a visual feast so far!

Tough choice for me...I had a pretty good year.
Had to go with 'Wings of Stone' taken in SE Utah, though.
I was pleased with how the b&w version developed, and felt blessed when I stumbled upon this magnificent work of art that has remained pristine and untouched by vandalism since its creation.

Since I have posted pretty much all of the good images of landscapes I have made this past year, I decided to post my favorite image of the most important person in my life. Back in August I was fortunate to welcome a healthy baby girl into my life and even though it seriously cut into my time out in the field I have been able to spend that time with my little girl. I figure that the mountains and trees will still be there next year, but kids grow up way too fast.

Since there has already been some fantastic landscapes posted, I'll submit a wildlife image. 2009 was really the year I broadened my photography and shot more wildlife and Avian, and I still have much to learn. I filmed quite a few Great Blue Herons in 2009, but this was probably my favourite of the bunch.

This is one of my favorites for 2009. First it is one of the better images I got in Utah (only been here a year) and I also got this with my new camera at that time the 5D Mark II. Taken at Dead Horse Point one early morning as a storm was clearing, some soft diffused light peaked through the clouds and lit of the canyon below very nicely.

A favorite of mine from much warmer days last year. Wildflowers, reflections and morning light at Clear Lake in the Colorado San Juan Mountains near Silverton.

This image brings back all the memories from my first dory trip through the Grand Canyon last April. The boatmen make it look so easy! Their expertise is astounding! The big pontoon rafts just plow through the rapids, whereas the dories dance between the waves.

Pretty tough crowd to follow. All of the above are pretty amazing. Wouldn't call this my best, but was a amazing morning.

Too much good stuff to single anyone out - one of the best threads ever. While this may not be my "best" of the year, it has the most meaning to me. The greater sage grouse is up for potential ESA listing on 2/26 and Audubon and others are using my sage grouse images for sagebrush ecosystem conservation.

I agree with Dave. One of the best threads ever, and it's just getting started. Just some incredible talent on this forum. This one has gotten the most response from those that have seen the print. I do like the light and color in it. Keep them coming everyone. I am really enjoying the thread.

Watanga Tarn I ~ Rocky Mountain National Park

Beautiful collection of images, everyone! I'm not sure if this is my best, but I think its my favorite from 2009.

I don't know if this is my best, but it's become a personal favorite. Taken in the Pawnee Grasslands.

Superb collection everyone! Interesting that so many people differentiate between "favorite" and "best". I'm the same way. My best is probably the Mt. Sopris image I posted a while back. My favorite is probably this one since it was a great morning and Jennifer's first visit here.

What talent we have in this group! Very inspirational!

Here's one of my favorites taken last March at Monument Valley Tribal Park. This was taken during sunrise with my 70-200mm/2.8 directly into the sun. The rainbow is a very striking artifact from the lens.

Great images so far! Mine is from July at the Bisti Wilderness, not the best shot in the world but it reminds me of the wonderful time I had there. I left the parking area just before sunset and hiked out to this area to camp for the night. In the dim light I came within about 2 feet of stepping on a rattlesnake, luckily it moved before I did. Set up my tent and as the sky darkened just laid back and gazed at the Milky Way. In the morning had a beautiful sunrise to myself and a nice quiet hike back before the temperature became unbearable.

My favorite from 09 turns out to be one of those dreaded iconic shots. It was my first visit to Zion and after some memorable hikes to the Subway and up the Virgin Narrows, this was a nice way to cap it off on my last evening.

My first visit to MV last April was a memorable one and I particularly liked this pano crop of a beautiful sunrise.

Whoa...so many great shots here...and how to pick one's best or favorite from a year of chasing the light. I guess I'll go with one close to home because of that light.

Its hard to choose a favorite, but I think this was probably my strongest photo in 2009.

Going with an image from last winter in Washington Park here in Denver. Almost picked the final Rocky Mountain News image though.

This image of Wash Park was a little different perspective than my first shot in this location in May 2008. While trying a different time of year also played around with the angle and perspective of the shot to bring in the boat house and bench. One of the interesting elements of this shot are the many different stories I have heard in regards to that spot as people view it in the gallery.

Wow, what a thread. The diversity is refreshing.

My best ... from Autumn in the Tetons ...

Many sweet images! This is one I thought was interesting from the Uinta Mountains in Utah.

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2509/3862956400_61143168ca.jpg

This thread is great! This is probably one of my favorite photo's, even though it's a simple concept it was my first time really playing with this technique. (and I'm new here so dear with me and the link to the picture.)

Stunning thread, and cheers to everyone! Mel, your work with really big boulders always knocks my socks off!

Just for fun, for those who don't mind clicking a link, here's my favorite of 2009. I think I have better shots in many ways, but I can't help loving this shot of an Autumn evening in a Turkish mountain village, after a very big hike down from the heights of the Black Sea Range.

Here is my fav from 2009. Taken in Yosemite's tunnel view. It was a very rare light show. Glad I captured it.

Stunning images so far!

I have a shot that might be better, but this is probably my fave, since it has more sentimental value...taken during my first trip to New Zealand.