Happy New Year! I hope you’ve recovered from your New Year’s Eve celebrations. 😉
Like champagne, Times Square, and Auld Lang Syne, it’s become a New Year’s tradition on this blog to pick out my best images from the past year, and once again I’m inviting you to help make these difficult choices. I’ve posted 49 of my best photographs from 2013 below, in chronological order. After you look through these please post a comment listing your ten favorites. (Click on the images to see them larger.) Once the votes are in I’ll put the top ten on this blog, and submit the finalists to Jim Goldstein’s blog project, where he’ll be showcasing the best images of the year from over 100 photographers. The voting deadline is Friday, January 3rd, at midnight Pacific time.
As always, I reserve the right to override the votes if one of my favorites gets panned. But I have yet to exercise this power — the last three years I went with the votes because, well, we’re all better at judging other people’s photographs than our own.
Thanks for your input — I appreciate your help!
—Michael Frye
1. Half Dome, sunbeams, and the Merced River, Yosemite
2. Sandhill cranes, Ross’s geese, white-fronted geese, and American shovelers, San Joaquin Valley
3. Ice formation along the Merced River, Yosemite
4. Redbud along the Merced River, Merced River Canyon
5. Poppies, lupine, and oaks, late afternoon, Sierra Nevada foothills
6. California poppy, Sierra Nevada foothills
7. Storm clouds over Yosemite Valley from Tunnel View, Yosemite
8. Waves in the Merced River, Yosemite NP, CA, USA
9. Dogwoods and reflections along the Merced River, Yosemite
10. Yosemite Falls on a misty spring morning, Yosemite
11. Waves and sea stacks, late afternoon, Redwood NP
12. Redwoods and rhododendron, late afternoon, Redwood NP
13. Sun rising through fog, Prairie Creek Redwoods SP
14. Rocks and sea stacks, late afternoon, Redwood NP
15. Sunbeams and corona in a redwood forest
16. Sunbeams through the redwood canopy, Del Norte Coast Redwoods SP
17. Sun breaking through fog in a redwood forest
18. Moon setting over a High Sierra lake, Yosemite
19. Rocks and reflections, Tenaya Lake, Yosemite
20. Pools in glacially polished granite, Yosemite
21. Clouds and reflections, Tenaya Lake, Yosemite
22. Rocks and reflections along the shore of Tenaya Lake, Yosemite
23. Reflections in an alpine lake, Yosemite
24. Star trails reflected in an alpine lake, Yosemite
25. Milky Way reflected in an alpine lake, Yosemite
26. The Rim Fire at dusk, 8/21/13, from a viewpoint near Mariposa
27. Looking west at the Rim Fire from near the Tioga Pass Rd. at dusk, with Venus setting, 8:57 p.m., 8/22/13, Yosemite
28. Sun on the edge of the smoke plume from the Rim Fire, 8/27/13, Yosemite
29. Autumn aspens, Conway Summit, Inyo NF, CA
30. Aspens and willows during an autumn snowstorm, Toiyabe NF, CA
31. Aspens with a dusting of snow, Conway Summit, Inyo NF, CA
32. Aspens and pines in an autumn snowstorm, Toiyabe NF, CA
33. Bands of sunlight on Laurel Mountain from Convict Lake, Inyo NF, CA
34. Aspens reflected in a beaver pond, Inyo NF, CA
35. Aspen hillside, Tioyable NF, CA
36. Rock formations and autumn color along the base of Laurel Mountain from Convict Lake, Inyo NF, CA
37. Aspen trunks, Lee Vining Canyon, CA
38. Autumn reflections, eastern Sierra, Inyo NF, CA
39. Autumn along a creek in the eastern Sierra Nevada, Inyo NF, CA
40. Aspens and morning sunlight, Inyo NF, CA
41. Mist, sunlight, and a California black oak, Yosemite
42. Mist rising from cottonwood trees, Yosemite NP, CA
43. Half Dome and the Merced River, late afternoon, autumn, Yosemite NP, CA
44. Reeds, cottonwood leaves, and reflections, Sonora, CA
45. Ice formations in the Merced River, Yosemite
46. Snowy black oaks, late autumn, Yosemite
47. Moon reflected in the Merced River with ice and frost, Yosemite
48. Ross’s geese resting in a marsh, San Joaquin Valley, CA
49. Ross’s geese taking flight, San Joaquin Valley, CA
Related Posts: 2011: My Best Images; 2012: My Top Ten Images
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Michael Frye is a professional photographer specializing in landscapes and nature. He is the author or principal photographer of The Photographer’s Guide to Yosemite, Yosemite Meditations, Yosemite Meditations for Women, and Digital Landscape Photography: In the Footsteps of Ansel Adams and the Great Masters. He has also written three eBooks: Light & Land: Landscapes in the Digital Darkroom, Exposure for Outdoor Photography, and Landscapes in Lightroom 5: The Essential Step-by-Step Guide. Michael written numerous magazine articles on the art and technique of photography, and his images have been published in over thirty countries around the world. Michael has lived either in or near Yosemite National Park since 1983, currently residing just outside the park in Mariposa, California.
I pick 43, 33, 40, 1, 3, 24, 45, 47, 4, 15
#25 is my fav!
Also, 4, 14, 15, 29, 31, 34, 37, 43, 46
10, 33 and 43 in that order for me Michael. All fantastic though!
They are all wonderful, I cannot pick one, but I did narrow it to my “Most” favorites. 10, 28, 40, 41, 43, and 46
Great pictures.
1, 2. 3, 5, 23, 26, 40, 44, 46, and 47.
Michael-
Thanks for the opportunity to participate. All the photos are fantastic, but the ten I picked are:
31 – Aspens with a dusting of snow
8 – Waves in the Merced river
6 – California poppy
25 – Milky Way reflected in Alpine Lake
46 – Snowy black oaks
10 – Yosemite Falls on a misty spring morning
4 – Redbud along the Merced river
9 – Dogwoods and reflections along the Merced River
34 – Aspens reflected in a beaver pond
41 – Mist, sunlight and a California black oak
Wonderful group of photos, Michael. I was especially partial to the frosty ones, and to ones that I hadn’t seen before:
44 Reeds, 45 Ice, 46 Snowy, 47 Moon, 48 Ross’, 8 Waves, 13 Sun, 20 Pools, 25 Milky, and 38 Autumn.
Runners up were 3 Ice, 33 Bands, 21 Clouds, 17 Sun, and 19 Rocks.
I enjoyed seeing these. Happy New Year to you!
Fantastic photos, Michael!!!!
My choices are 1, 4, 13, 18, 24, 25, 31, 41, 43, and 44.
Wonderful assortment of photos, Michael! I vote for 2, 3, 4, 13, 14, 28, 31, 34, 37, and 46. Happy New Year to you and Claudia!
4 20 10 9 18 21 43 44 48 49
#16 but they are all fantastic.
7, 17, 41, 43, 12, 4, 25, 18, 27, 40. In that order, wonderful images! I really love tunnel view!
25!!!
Hard to choose, Michael!
3,9,19,20,25,26, couldn’t decide between 31 & 32 (I love how impressionistic they are), 41, 42, 45
Happy New Year to you & Claudia!
1, 3, 5, 6, 15, 21, 25, 28, 37, 45
This is a wonderful set of images Michael, one any photographer would be happy to have in their portfolio. Your proximity to the Sierra allows you to have an intimate relationship with the area, and it really shows in these images. With that said, it becomes difficult, if not impossible, to pick favorites.
Since you’re twisting my arm, though, here are my choices:
7, 8, 12, 33, 37
My very best wishes for a fantastic 2014!
#25 is a fantastic work of photography. Almost looks like it came from the space telescope.
#44 is a wonderful study in still life. I lucked into a similar shot in the Okavonga Delta
But add 7,12,34,36,43,11,16,&24
23,24,25,44,45,41,6! could nt just pick one.fanatastic pics!
They’re all wonderful, Michael. Such a pleasure to see. So many moods and places, each completed with finesse. Takes my breath away. Thank you for sharing them and for sharing how you do it. Happy New Year!
5 6 8 9 12 25 27 40 41 45
Great photos! Thank you for the opportunity for our input.
1 12 16 25 34 40 41 43 46 48
6,23,25,26,34,35,41,43,44,47
9, 20, 25, 34, 5, 4, 12, 17, 10, 18
Michael, Thanks for the share! Have a great 2014.
41, 15, 14, 22, 28, 37, 4, 43, 5, 7
Happy New Year to you and Claudia!
Wow Michael. What tough choices to only pick 10. All are beautiful. I had a trip of a lifetime planned to Bryce Canyon, Yosemite and the Grand Canyon this last fall. Got burned by the 3 year olds in Washington. Did spend the time on the West coast in non-federal parks…..I’ll plan another one… Thankfully I have your pictures to keep me motivated to try again!
My final favorites are 1, 6, 7, 10, 15, 17, 25 (my fav), 26, 31 & 40.
Thanks for sharing! Good luck and have a great holiday season.
I love them all!!! 25, 35, 27, 43, 47, 6, 1, 9….I will stop here… 🙂
I love the Milky Way Reflection.!! I don’t see where to vote.
Thanks Barbara! Just make a comment here and list the numbers of your ten favorite images.
3,4,7,8,18,24,25,40,43,47
BOY that was tough picking this year!!!
25 was my MOST FAVORITE!
3,4,8,9,18,22,24,25,40,43
25 was my favorite!
Amazing photographs! I vote for 3, 8, 16, 25, 34, 40, 41, 43, 44, 45.
Wow …. what a challenge! They are all truly beautiful. So subjective, but that’s normal, I guess. I do lean towards abstraction and back lighting.
My choices:
44(favorite), 25, 40, 8, 41, 31, 36, 20, 9, 18.
Happy New Year, and thanks for the wonderful inspiration!
Here are my favorites:
45, 5, 25, 26, 44, 35, 47,9, 15, 40
There’s something about Ice Formations in the Merced River that really got my attention. Photo #5 was a close tie with #45 for me.
All your pictures are breathtakingly beautiful. I would pick those which are more original in composition….. so my favs would be – 14, 15, 28 and 41.
Hard choices but I pick 7,8,24,29,34,37,38,41,44,45
My favorites being #8 Waves, # 44 reeds and # 45 ice formation.
Thank you for always sharing and making us all better photographers.Happy New Year!
My choices: 1, 5, 10, 12, 14, 15, 17, 41, 43, 48
I love your work.
Such immense talent, Michael! Each photo is spectacular in its own right. But, I’m voting for the ones that tugged the most on my heart and took my breath away.
4
6
7
15
25
26
34
40
41
43
Beautiful!
What an amazing collections of photos.
My favourites are
4, 5, 9, 10, 12, 17, 33, 41, 43, 46
Thank you for sharing Gods wonders
You are a great photographer and it really is hard to chose, but here are my choices: 1,5,6,27,37, and my favorite 46. Happy New Year, Michael!!
My top 10 (not in any particular order 🙂 are:
8, 9, 20, 31, 32, 41, 43, 45, 46, 49
My favorites are: 45, 31, 18, 12, 3, 43, 8, 7, 19, 46 Thank you for sharing, I truly enjoy seeing your work.
Another year of capturing the magic of the wilderness. Thanks for your photographic gifts. My favorites are 1, 9, 10, 17, 20, 30, 40, 41, 46, and 48.
Happy New Year, Michael!
Hi Michael,
All great images, but here are my favorites:
3,4,5,9,10,25 (my absolute favorite),31,34,43,45
Happy New Year Wishes from Austria
Günther
With this link I was able to open all but one.
I really like 95% of them, but the rock is still my #1
5,7,8,10,17,22,25,41,43,48
Happy New Year
Irmgard
Great great collection. My 10 top favorites are:
6, 8, 9, 10, 20, 25, 28, 36, 41, 44
My favorite photos are: 3, 6, 8, 30, 31, 35, 41, 44 45, 46.
Michael;
My choices: 7, 10, 12, 14, 25, 33, 35, 37, 41, 43
All 49 are great. I look forward when we can shoot together again !
Dale Grosbach
Very nice pictures!
4 6 8 12 16 20 27
My top three favorites are 7, 46, 28, followed by 1, 5, 6, 12, 25, 35, 41.
Scrolling, scrolling, scrolling….
Tough to choose 10 out of these but here are my picks:
12. Redwoods and rhododendron
17. Sun breaking through
19. Rocks and reflections
20. Pools
30. Aspens and willows
34. Aspens reflected
41. Mist, sunlight,
44. Reeds, cottonwood leaves (my favorite)
45. Ice formations
47. Moon reflected
3
Such beautiful photographs and so hard to choose…my favourite being 41..
1,4,8,10,13,16,21,28,41,44…
Thank you so much for sharing
And the winners are: 2,5,6,8,9,12,15,41,43, and 44 best of luck Michael!
That’s tough! I’ll go with 1, 8, 15, 25, 26, 32, 40, 43, 45, 49. I’d definitely have a different list tomorrow.
This would have been easier if I could have picked 15 :). My picks:
47,45,44,43,41,37,31,26,25,20.
Michael, I’m an aspen freak so all of the autumn aspen images are on my list but #40 is my favorite.
3, 4, 6, 9, 18, 25, 29, 34, 44, 45
Simply Beautiful images- this was a tough choice-
1, 10, 17, 18, 21, 25, 26, 33, 35, 43
Incredible Michael,
here are my 10 picks… I tried to select a favorite from these, it can’t 🙂
9, 10. 12, 17, 18, 25, 40, 42, 43, 44
Great pictures.
My favorites are: 7, 9, 10, 12, 30, 38, 41, 43, 44, 46.
23, 25, 41, 43, 45, 47
9,44,45,47,43,19,23,14,10,34
Michael, you’ve been busy. Almost all are fantastic. Can’t say all because you wouldn’t believe me.
There are definitely a few I wish I made.
In no particular preference:
1, 3, 5, 17, 20, 31, 32, 33, 41, 45.
Happy Happy,
Jim
Another great year Michael! Thanks so much for including all of us in your journey.
Hard to select just 10, but here’s my favorites: 4, 10, 19, 20, 22, 32, 41, 43, 45, 46.
Bob
Amazing photos… here are my selections…
1. Half Dome, sunbeams, and the Merced River, Yosemite
3. Ice formation along the Merced River, Yosemite
6. California poppy, Sierra Nevada foothills
7. Storm clouds over Yosemite Valley from Tunnel View, Yosemite
15. Sunbeams and corona in a redwood forest
21. Clouds and reflections, Tenaya Lake, Yosemite
25. Milky Way reflected in an alpine lake, Yosemite
27. Looking west at the Rim Fire from near the Tioga Pass Rd.
37. Aspen trunks, Lee Vining Canyon, CA
41. Mist, sunlight, and a California black oak, Yosemite
In no particular order: 8, 10, 22, 25, 28, 33, 37, 40, 43 and 45. Of those, top 3 were 45, 25 and 22, in that order. What a remarkable year!
OK, OK, Mine are 2-6-17-20-28-
Mike you are making this too difficult 🙂 These are all completely magnificent man!!!
Cheers – Denny Jump from cold and snowy Easton, PA – Go Seahawks
An embarrassment of riches….
#3 – very cool 🙂 never seen that before.
#4 – love the contrast between sharp redbud and flowing water
#18 – very alien. sure it wasn’t shot on Neptune? (is the horizon crooked or are my eyes?)
#20 – cool vs warm. strikes me as the perfect representation of “Sierran”
#25 – “cosmic” 🙂
#27 – though it’s tough between 26 and 27. compositionally different.
#28 – remarkable
#44 – I’m a sucker for Zen reeds…
#45 – Another alien landscape (as is #47)
#49 – Love the way it evokes movement
You don’t make it easy, Michael.
I just noticed that I didn’t pick any “icon” shots. And many of the ones I picked are detail shots. I’m going to have to think about that.
-eric j.
#7
Wow! Michael, I always learn so much from you & absolutely love your work! My fav’s are: 1,5,8,12,13,17,34,40,41, & 44 (in no particular order). Thanks for sharing!
4, 5, 7, 11, 17, 25, 31, 41, 45, 46
You don’t make this easy! #3
1, 8, 10, 25, 27, 39, 40, 43, 45, 46
All great photos; hard to reduce to 10!
9, 10, 17, 22, 25, 34, 41, 42, 45, 48
Again….. not easy! So many artistic ones that I really liked.
My top ten list is:
5 – 6 – 7 – 14 – 22 – 25 – 37 – 40 – 41 – 43
BUT……. this were a couple that really hit me, because they are similar to some artistic shots I’ve taken myself:
3 – 23 – 38 – 44 – 45
I have a few shots very similar to 23 and 38, I love the play of light on water and B&W really intensifies 23.
5, 7, 12, 15, 25, 31, 40, 41, 43, 44
Thank you for capturing and sharing all your inspiring images.
44,40,4,9,38,43,10,15,31,46
Thanks for sharing these Michael. As said by many folks above, picking 10 was no easy task!
Here are my favorites –
49. Ross’s geese taking flight, San Joaquin Valley, CA
30. Aspens and willows during an autumn snowstorm, Toiyabe NF, CA
46. Snowy black oaks, late autumn, Yosemite
41. Mist, sunlight, and a California black oak, Yosemite
43. Half Dome and the Merced River, late afternoon, autumn, Yosemite NP, CA
27. Looking west at the Rim Fire from near the Tioga Pass Rd.
25. Milky Way reflected in an alpine lake, Yosemite
37. Aspen trunks, Lee Vining Canyon, CA
45. Ice formations in the Merced River, Yosemite
44. Reeds, cottonwood leaves, and reflections, Sonora, CA
7
17
24
25
26
33
41
43
46
49
Very difficult! My first pass through had a list of about 20.
Here are my 10: 6-7-12-15-16-27-32-43-46-48
Thanks for sharing!
Larry
Help!
How do I turn off being notified whenever another input to the blog is posted? My computer desk is about to collapse.
Stan
Stan, you apparently subscribed to the comments of this post. You can find an option to unsubscribe at the bottom of all the comments here.
Michael,
It is hard to pick just 10: 4,5,8,17,20,25,38,40,42, & 45
Mike
1-10-12-14-17-31-32-36-38-46
It will be great to view the winner!
Michael,
I had an appreciation of the beautiful images.
These are all great.
My fav. is #38 and I pick 7, 12, 24, 25, 30, 37, 38, 41, 49.
Happy New Year to you~!
I just wanted to chime in an say thank you to all of you who have posted your comments and votes here. I really appreciate it!
My, my! It might be easier to mention the 4 or 5 that didn’t particularly resonate on a quick pass through this wonderful set. A splendid bunch indeed! Thanks for sharing the inspiration.
Michael I’m glad you’re taking part in my blog project and thanks for helping spread the word. One small correction. The deadline is actually Saturday the 4th at midnight PST.
As to which images I like, here are my top 5.
#31 (my #1 favorite)
#46
#45
#25
#10
Thanks for voting Jim! Yes, for anyone who is planning to submit for your blog project, the deadline is Saturday at midnight. However, I need more time than that to tally the votes and post the top ten, so that’s why I’m ending the voting here on Friday at midnight.
I liked #43 best
and all the rest came in second #1 #7 #10 #16 #21 #23 #33 #34 #36
What a great gift and talent you have. I just started in photography about 1 1/2 years ago.
I do fair with a point and shoot and am looking to upgrade this year. If you have a suggestion
please let me know. Happy New Year.
in order, from #1 (most liked) to #10 (tenth-most liked):
45,44,43,3,47,36,27,25,24,9
Wonderful images make it difficult to choose, but these would be my favorites: 3, 4, 8, 12, 17, 25, 26, 33, 43, 45. I especially enjoyed 4, the ice formation on the Merced River and 8, the waves in the Merced River.
7. Storm clouds over Yosemite Valley from Tunnel View, Yosemite
9. Dogwoods and reflections along the Merced River, Yosemite
38. Autumn reflections, eastern Sierra, Inyo NF, CA
41. Mist, sunlight, and a California black oak, Yosemite
46. Snowy black oaks, late autumn, Yosemite
Hard to reduce to ten, but in rough order; 42, 45, 41, 6, 47, 46, 34, 7, 20, 36
Happy New Year, Michael!
My top three and the rest seven:
#45 – 1st
#25 – 2nd
#4 – 3rd
10, 23, 27, 36, 41, 43, 47
Not an easy choise 🙂
1 , 6 , 8 , 14 , 16 , 17 , 31 , 34 , 43 , 46
47 will be my favourite
## 8,9,10,14,18,22,28,30,45, 47!, 48
They are all perfect.
And i dont like 26,27 sorry
All are beautiful; but my picks are
1, 4, 5, 6, 8, 11, 16, 17, 25, 28… not necessarily in that order ; but all excellent!!
No particular order of preference:
3, 6, 7, 11, 17, 25, 34, 41, 44, 46
Great work! and Thanks for sharing with us!
Again, many thanks to all of you for the comments and votes!
41,43,45,38,28,10,8,1
All beautiful. #29 is my favorite
Beautiful. Here are mine, no particular order:
3, 6, 12, 17, 23, 24, 25, 40, 41, 44
Michael,
You don’t make it easy do you?
My 10 favorites in order of preference:
46, 34, 42, 3, 6, 23, 32, 25, 28 and 12.
It was hard ranking them because something about all of them struck a chord………..
25 16 31 (very Monet) 24 23 46 41 40 5 3
Happy New Year to you and Claudia! 🙂
My Favorites:
1.
3.
12.
26.
38.
41.
43.
44.
45.
47.
I’m not going to be much help at all, Michael – I’ll just say that this is a wonderful crop!
Dan
(By the way, your attempt to trick me into thinking that there would be no geese on New Years Day did not work! 😉
Thanks Dan, and I’m glad my trick failed. 🙂
Difficult to choose from among so many wonderful images. Here are my picks:
12, 43, 46, 15, 31, 26, 6, 9, 33, 25
What an inspiring body of work! My top picks would be:
4-6-8-10-16-17-25-26-41-43.
Happy New Year Michael, What an inspiring line-up of photos this year. You always inspire me to spend more time in the Park looking for those special images. I would have been happy to have taken any of these but my favorites are:
45 (My Favorite), 43, 41, 38, 32, 26, 25, 22, 12, 6
You have taken so many amazing images of the Yosemite “Icons” that I really found myself leaning toward the details and less typical shots. Thanks again for sharing your talent with all of us.
Very difficult to pick only 10! I loved the artistic abstract images, but ended-up picking landscapes with more recognizable subjects. My 10 picks are: 1, 2, 10, 15, 17, 21, 25, 26, 38, 48.
This is not an easy task… so much beauty in every image!
10,17,18,21,22,24,25,40,43,27
Michael this is always so much fun to pick our favorites. For a brief moment we get to go to that place and feel what you saw!
Favorites:10(depicts the dreamy romance your pics oftenhave),14,16,25,26,40,43,44,22,6.
See you soon in the workshop.
10 and 43 say come see this awesome creation for yourself.
25 and 45 are stand alone “cooooool”.
Michael,
Here are my 10 picks.
4
6
8
10
14
18
25
26
29
34
Michael,
Picked 12 but you said 10 so:
6, 11, 14, 15, 25, 28, 34, 44, 45, 47 with 25, 34 and 45 (in order) being my top 3.
Thanks again for the chance to review a marvelous year of photography.
My best to you and your family throughout 2014.
Regards…Marlin
3,8,17,18,25,31,34,41,45,46.
Hello,
the Best one, for me, is the number 1.
Regards Paula Pedro
my picks:
1, 4, 7, 11, 13, 17, 25, 35, 41, 47
Hi Michael, Happy New Year. Congratulations on another year of great work, and thank you again for your great blog. My favs are;
1,4,7,10,16,18,21,23,34,40
-best,
TB
I love all your photos!! My favorite 10 are:
3-ice, 6-California poppy, 8-waves, 9-dogwoods, 15-sunbeams, 26-rim fire, 31-Aspens,
38-Autumn reflections, 43-Half Dome, 47-moon reflected with ice
23, 24, 25 are really cool too!
Thank you! Jane
Tough to get down to 10 – but here they are:
4, 10, 12, 14, 25, 26, 28, 40, 42, 43
A fantastic set of images!
My choices are:
3, 18, 20, 25, 33, 34, 41, 44, 45, 46
Thank you for all of the instruction and inspiration you give through your blog, books, and great images! Happy New Year!
Welcome to a new year Michael. Night falls away, daylight fills the day, a New Year…
My selections are as follows: 1-4-12-15-17-32-34-41-43-46. I think 43 and 41 speak to me the most. They both have depth, quality, light, balance, symmetry and appeal…I’m certain several of your photos will be chosen for the final showing of 100 photographers.
Thank you for all of your teaching and for sharing so much of your knowledge and spirit…Wishing you a fabulous 2014 Michael…
Hard to choose…but: 3,7,12,26,31,41,43,44.
Enjoy your images and blog! Thank you…
Hi Michael —
Happy, healthy & rewarding 2014 to you and your loved ones.
My ten: 3, 10, 14, 19, 31, 32, 34, 44, 45, 46
I think for the most part, these ten images show us something we might not have seen before. Too, I tend to gravitate to images that express a quiet solitude, particularly more intimate landscapes (tho not all of these ten are the landscape at small scale).
Frank
Faves in the order posted, but not in MY order, 😉 I like many of them, these are my favorites, one’s that I would actually hang on a wall somewhere….
7, 10, 17, 19, 28, 35, 41, 43, 45, 46.
Forgot to say, that 45 is my favorite out of the bunch, and it appears for others as well. I love small, intimate images of things that are unusual and out of the ordinary, and for me, 45 was that one.
Great photos! Thanks for being able to participate! My votes:
7 8 15 24 25 28 31 34 40 43
Happy New Year Michael! I choose:
1, 5, 10, 16, 22, 24, 25, 26, 40 and 43
16, 44
All beautiful and hard to choose. Good luck!
16 & 44
Hard to choose. They were all beautiful!
Michael, it’s hard to choose. #2, 5, 10, 15, 17 my favorite, 25, 26, 40, 43, 48.
Happy New Year to you Michael!
Thank you for all your wonderful advice and amazing images throughout the years.
Here are my top 10 choices although it was hard to choose just 10….
4,8,12,14,25,31,34,43,45,49
Hi Michael,
Always a difficult choice!
In no particular order, my 10 are:
3, 13, 17, 20, 25, 28, 32, 44, 45, and 47
I really like those ice formations…fantastic! Of course, my favorites will likely change, but this is the list at this time.
Not easy Michael. But in numeric order:
1,5,7,10,12,21,40,41,43,46.
41 is my absolute favorite.
Great images Michael as always. Here is my selection:
1, 10, 12, 15, 17, 20, 28, 32, 35, 47
Wishing you a very happy new year!
Thank you Michael. I appreciate how you communicate in writing as well as photography. My favorites are listed below;
3, 10, 25, 34, 35, 36, 40, 42, 44, 45.
Happy New Year
Wow, thank you all so much for the votes and comments!
Another great selection this year. I really enjoyed the more abstract photos as they are so much different from the traditional landscape. My selections are: 4,9,15,18,19,22,34,38,44,45.
I found myself picking a lot of closeup shots rather than grand landscapes. My top ten are 3, 6, 30, 31, 34, 37, 39, 41, 45, and 46.
31 is my absolute favorite.
There were nine that really grabbed me. Rather than trying to find one more, I’m just giving you the nine. These are all amazing. Beautiful work, Michael!
6, 8, 11, 13, 23, 28, 31, 41, 45
My selections are 1, 5, 10, 28, 30 and 42—particularly 42!
Thanks for all of these.
Michael, I particularly appreciated the ones of the Rim Fire: 26 & 27.
I’m also drawn to your few black and whites, and your photos that incorporate rays of light. 45, 44, 43, 41, 11, 5 , 15, 17.
Hello Michael,
it is not the first time I am voting on your years best, but this year you made it particularly difficult ;). There is such a wide range of broad views and intimate landscapes, and technical and creative images, the choice of single one is almost impossible. My selection is thus:
#20 and #45 – for contrasting colors, warm and cold tones. Love this combination.
#25 – for technical difficulty.
#31- it looks like a painting. Something I would hang on my wall.
#41- I am partial to black and white, and the atmosphere, light and skillful conversion made it outstanding.
Hi Michael,
Per your request here are my favorites:
1,10,18,21,25,26,28,43
Thanks for the chance to see so many lovely photos in one place!
Here are my choices: 9, 12, 17, 25, 32, 35, 38, 44
Happy new year!
25. Milky Way reflected in an alpine lake, Yosemite
26. The Rim Fire at dusk, 8/21/13, from a viewpoint near Mariposa
34. Aspens reflected in a beaver pond, Inyo NF, CA
41. Mist, sunlight, and a California black oak, Yosemite
43. Half Dome and the Merced River, late afternoon, autumn, Yosemite NP, CA
40. Aspens and morning sunlight, Inyo NF, CA
46. Snowy black oaks, late autumn, Yosemite
18. Moon setting over a High Sierra lake, Yosemite
37. Aspen trunks, Lee Vining Canyon, CA
38. Autumn reflections, eastern Sierra, Inyo NF, CA
1, 8, 10
My favs are:
1,3,10,12,15,31,41,43,46,47
Thanks for your blog!
43!!! Great work…beautiful!
All of them <3 ….#5
26 is my favorite … 25,35,28
Gary, I’m still having a difficult time narrowing it down, but I’m re-voting to add the other five , so I’ll put my entire vote as: 1, 10, 11, 12, 17, 28, 40, 41, 43, and 46
All of them are amazing…
I picked 8,10,11,14,17,34,44,46 my favorite.
Great work, Michael! I enjoyed looking at your photos. I just finished the top 10 of my own images. Going through yours was so much easier… maybe I am not emotionally attached to them.
Here we go: 32, 35, 42, 44, 46, 3, 6, 23, 31
Hi Michael,
I agree: very difficult! Tried to narrow it down to three, but had to list four.
In order: #46, #6, #43, #44
Thanks for all your blogs and postings.
43 is my favorite but also REALLY like 4, 8, 9, 10, & 32
25
I love them all but I am going to have to go with number 6 as my favorite for simplicity and color.
this is a tough one… aarg…
i force myself to choose:
1
5
10
14
22
24
25
42
43
47
but among them, i really loved 42
thanks for the chance, and please, keep inspiring us!!
🙂
5, 7, 12, 25, 34, 41
These are the numbers of my favorite Michael Frye images from 2013. That is the ones I would have really liked to make the click on.
Gorgeous images. Thank you for sharing them.
In order: 25-28-34-6… overall a lot of great variety to the images.
I really love studying your images! A tough task, but here are my top 10:
3,8,9,10,14,25,26,28,40 and 45. Thank you for sharing your work and tips.
Happy New Year!
A lot of fun looking! 8 – 17- 22 -29 – 30 – 31 – 38 – 41 – 45 – 48
#7 would be my first choice followed closely by 33, 49, 45, 36, 26, 41, 14, 19, and 22
Hello Michael,
It is hard to choose, but fun, and a good exercise!
Here are mine: 6, 10, 20, 28, 31, 39, 42, 44, 45, 46.
Looking forward to your final list!
In rank order… 43, 44, 12, 40, 5, 46, 2, 45, 49, 41.
I was inclined to select 22 simply because I fear I was the reason the rock in the center was wet on top, but I decided to put my selfishness aside. 🙂
Stunning work so picking favorites is purely subjective as they are all amazing images.
My subjective picks; 47, 45, 28, 22, 6, 4, 3, 5, 17
Very professional work! I like 3, 4, 45 the best but also like 7, 8, 35 and 47! Keep up the great work!
6, 9, 10, 12, 16, 25, 29, 34, 44, 46
If this is even possible to do, Ok here goes:
In order of my favorites:
20
44
45
41
34
25
19
43
6
26
All gorgeous! My favorites: 1,5,17,18,19,26,30,40,44,45
My picks: 1, 7, 15, 17, 25, 27, 29, 41, 43, 49. They’re all great though.
#41 is my first choice and #46 is my second choice. I could look at these and get lost in them.
My picks:
1,25,34,41,443,46.
But they all are fantastic.
Fred
Your work is always fantastic. I prefer the reflection photo #43.
Close seconds would be 7,10,16, 35 & 42.
The true master shot is no. 31. And when I see one really gerat photograph I can not see one more at the same time. That’s mee.
Very tough to limit it to only 10 but here goes….7, 10, 15, 25, 26, 28, 30, 34, 41 & 43.
#46 the best by far.
#31 and #8 for the top three images in my opinion.
MICHAEL , MUY BUENAS TUS FOTOS, SOY AFICIONADO Y CUANDO VEO ESTAS FOTOS ME HACEN TRASLADAR A UN MUNDO DISTINTO
I’m going with 4, 7, 9, 18, 20, 23, 26, 35, 37, 43
TE DECEO, UN MUY BUEN AÑO 2014, PARA TÍ Y PARA TODA TU FAMILIA, Y QUE TE DÉ MUCHOS AÑOS DE VIDA PARA QUE PUEDAS SEGUIR HACIENDO FOTOGRAFIAS, MUY BUENAS COMO LO QUE SABES HACER, CONGRATULACIONES……………..
It is really hard to pick just one, or even just the one I love the most. I guess I will vote for 46, with love for 9 25 34 44 45 48 also. All of your photos are just wonderful!
Very nice work Michael.
3
7
17
21
31
32
33
37
41
43
BUENO ME PARECE QUE ESTOY EQUIVOCADO, NO ENTIENDO INGLES Y EL TRADUCTOR NO ESTÁ , OJALÁ PUEDA PARTICIPAR,
MIS FAVORITAS SON 12, 17, 21 27, 32……….
43
In numerical order: 4,6,7,9,10,31,40,42,43,44
I just started following your blog after getting your LR5 ebook. The book helped me (thanks) and I look forward to your blog posts. Great photography and I really appreciate your answering questions that are posted in the comments. Choosing 10 from the 49 was difficult but helpful in deciding why I picked the ones I did. I had different reasons but it made me think about what I could do better in my photography.
One question for you. If you could only pick one time of year to go to Yosemite, what would it be?
Chris, thanks for your vote, for following the blog, and for purchasing the ebook!
>One question for you. If you could only pick one time of year to go to Yosemite, what would it be?
Tough one. If you’ve never been before I would say spring so you can see the waterfalls at their best. Personally my favorite time is probably November.
Michael, maybe you should extend a separate voting for the “best month” in Yosemite! I’d be split between May and November.
These are all great images, my pick’s are as follows;
41, 1, 4, 7, 43, 40,23, 17, 10, 9.
My favorites by the following decreasing order:
3 (best!)
8
15
22
34
24
43
47
46
38
Great work, as allways. May 2014 inspire you deeper.
Greetings,
Carlos
All excellent- difficult to choose but …. 25, 34, 46, 17, 6, 29, 30, 31, 32, 41
4, 8, 12, 14, 17
I like the variety and colours of your images represented by 6, 17, 37, 38.
BUENO CONSEGUÍ, EL TRADUCTOR, MIS FAVORITAS SON:2, 4,5 ,11,34 ,12, 17, 21,27,32…..TODAS SON HERMOSAS NO SÉ CUAL ELEGIR………………
3,6,8,18,19,23,26,38,40,45,47
3, 8, 13, 19, 23, 24, 27, 41, 44, 47
Happy New Year Michael! Thanks for a great year of enjoying your blog! And I look forward to more this year!
25, 41, 20, 15, 46, 31, 7, 12, 37, 45
Happy New Year
All are very nice.
Hi Mike, amazing photography… a very difficult choice because they are all masterpieces. Such beautiful work and so inspiring. Happy New Year to you and family, I enjoy your newsletter so much.
Here’s my choice ( :
16, 8, 44, 10, 12, 4, 5, 20, 36, 37
37, 1, 21, 41, 43, 46, 15, 10, 25, 22
I pick 45, 41, 7 23,44, 6, 11, 13, 23, 33
Michael, this was a tough choice. I love Yosemite so much that I’m a volunteer for YC. I spend a lot of time there. I think your landscapes of the park are gorgeous but I’m going to vote for one of your shots that isn’t a landscape. I love #3. I would like to know if you altered the shot or if you got those kinds of reflections from redbud and other foliage along the banks of the river without doing a lot of editing. The shot is amazing. If I had to chose a second pic it’s #44. Beautiful closeup.
Thank you Carolyn. At certain angles, with certain kinds of ice, and with the right light, you can see prism effects in ice (like in #3) with a polarizing filter. So it’s not something you would see with the naked eye, but it wasn’t created in software.
My favorites by the following decreasing order:
6,7,12,18,19,25,26,40 (best),43,44
All are inspiring!
Top 5: 17 23 8 49 41
Next 7: 46 44 10 31 25 6 34
(Sorry, couldn’t whittle it down to just 10!)
My picks are:
1, 6, 7, 10, and 12
Happy New Year !
Those were tough choices, I kept finding new favorites. And the more I look, the more I change the order.
15, 31, 25, 3, 8, 10, 5, 12, 17, 47.
Just wanted to pick one. My Favorite is 43. Although they are all wonderful!!!
Outstanding photography, Michael.
My picks are 5, 6, 7, 10, 12, 15, 17, 25, 43 46.
Sort of in order with favourites first: 43,31,25,3,46,8,10,46,20,13. But could change my mind!
In photos 8, 9, 19, 23, 44, 45, 48 I was attracted to the quality of the water.
In photos 31 and 46 it was the way you captured the light within the subject matter.
All very beautiful.
Thanks for sharing them.
My favorites: 5,6,13,17,18,22,25,26,34,37
31 and 5, but difficult to choose. Thank you Mr.Frye for capturing these images for my eyes to see
#43, 38, 10, 4, 25, 7, 11, 8, 2, 6, 22..in that order. …This is a beautiful portfolio..I used Bach as my assistant:). -it was a difficult choice as they all have unique qualities. Thanks for sharing.
Not in order but favorites: 9,12,15,16,25,38,40.43,45,47
All the pictures are amazing! But my favorites in order are :
23, 3, 44, 45, 6
Great photos – very difficult to pick favourites.
My vote for top five (in order) is: 44, 7, 20, 36, 43.
Really enjoy your blog and particularly liked the “Top Posts” series. Wishing you a very productive, happy and healthy 2014!
7 & 33
My top five and in the following order are:
7 , 12 , 25 , 17 , 44
Happy New Year, Michael!
It’s fun letting others look decide which photos they like the best, as this is quite a subjective process. I have a preference for colors and tones, which may appear in my selection:
47, 45, 44, 41, 34, 31, 22, 9, 8, 3
Good luck in compiling!
Michael your work is outstanding! Really hard to pick just 10 but here are my picks.
3, 4, 7, 10, 12, 15, 25, 35, 41, and 43
Keep up the good work and I’m really looking forward to the final outcome.
FB
In numerical order: 8 10 17 22 25 31 43 44 45 49
Thanks.
3, 13, 18, 20, 22, 23, 32, 41, 43, 44
Beautiful photographs! It was difficult to choose ten, but here they are:
5, 6, 7, 10, 25, 29, 33, 40, 43, 45.
1,6,8,10,11,15,28,45,46,,47
As always, very hard to decide, although 10,15,28 all jumped out immediately. Thanks for inviting our opinions! Wishing you a spectacular new year!
Could pick many more. Favorites in order, 1, 26, 35 and 3.
Michael,
Your blog and teachings and your generosity to share photo info is wonderful. Of course all of your photos make a statement. Here are the ones I choose. 4,5,7,10,12,31,35,40,41,43 Happy New Year and looking forward to more, Thanks
Beautiful to watch all these wonderful images ,i’ve enjoyed each one of them and my favorites : 3,17,28,33,35,41,45,46,47,49.
Thanks for all your great newsletters .
Hard to chose! My choices, in order, are as follows: 26, 4, 9, 11, 18, 2, 21, 35, 33, 47
Michael;
I love the variety of work here – grand landscapes, closeups, Straight up scenes and some very impressionistic images. All good, but my favorites were 1, 4, 7, 12, 17, 21, 26, 33, 40, and 43. I especially liked #12 with the light violet flowers bringing a surprise and a touch of color to the forest.
Michael,
Following are my top ten photos choices, also in chronological order. Nevertheless, many more are also great shots in their own right and could be exhibited alone for their individual merit. Well done. I like how your vision is changing and growing.
When you are ready to tackle more of the Southwest – I look forward to seeing how your vision will capture it and hope you can join me on some of my outings.
6
8
9
21
22
41
43
44
46
47
Tough to choose, but since Yosemite is in your backyard I lean towards your images away from home.
17
14
12
9
31
41
44
11
5
37
Thanks for ALL of them, as you made it a tough choice.
Jim: # 3, 8, 31, 10, 19, 33
Cathy: # 4, 5, 12, 43
All are mystical and beautiful, drawing us into meditation. Thank you!
Thank you for the visual treat!
5, 8, 10, 17, 19, 39, 40, 43, 45 and 47.
40 is my favourite!
If I had to pick only one it would be #10, but there are too many! So add 7, 8, 23, 43, 45!
Great Work!
My picks are in the following order:
26, 25, 12, 22, 41, 35, 43, 45
Great work!
Happy New Year!
P.S. I still have to find time to reply to your posting on photographing the moon.
So many glorious ones: 8, 17, 25, 26, 31, 34, 37, 41, 44, 46.
This was really hard to but here are my top 5.
25. Milky Way reflected in an alpine lake, Yosemite
35. Aspen hillside, Tioyable NF, CA
26. The Rim Fire at dusk, 8/21/13, from a viewpoint near Mariposa
44. Reeds, cottonwood leaves, and reflections, Sonora, CA
49. Ross’s geese taking flight, San Joaquin Valley, CA
All great… but #25 (best) is a great testimony for ‘light’. As is #43 and how can you leave #7 out?
6
10
12
22
28
41
44
45
47
48
Ferryanto T
Hard to chose! My choices, in order, are as follows:
48,10,12,1,2,46,43,34,28,18
After several viewings…top 10
In this order:
12, 6, 8, 40, 43, 25, 38, 45, 41, 27.
Beautiful, thank you Michael.
10, 12, 14, 17, 28, 41, 42, 46, 49, …my fav is 43
Amazing photos…difficult task.
Thank you for all you do to inspire and assist me in my desire to take the best image in camera that I possibly can.
Happy New Year!
14, 18, 35, 36, 41, 47, 43, 12, 25, 26
All beautiful 🙂 Happy New Year to you!!
I love them all but If I had to pick a favorite would be No. 44
honorable mentions include
3,8,25 and 37
They are all beautiful images! My favorites are:
1, 7, 10, 11, 18, 23, & 28
My favorite are 7 and 20 they have something mistical.
Wow — that’s a lot of comments and votes above me!
in no order: 2, 15, 25, 26, 30, 31, 34, 41, 45, 46, and 49 (and, yep, that’s 11!) 🙂
All beautiful! Amazing! <3
No. 7, 9, 22, 23, 24, 25, 38, 44, 45, 31
It is almost an impossible task, all these images are great, I love the one of the geese in flight (49), so that is my vote!!
My favorites:
7, 10, 12, 19, 25, 31, 34, 35 & 40.
Love ’em all but you only want 10 listed.
Thank you for the honor of voting! (and happy new year wishes to all)
Here are my top ten, though like others I could have added a few more:
17, 25, 31, 34, 36, 38, 40, 42, 43, 44
Cheers.
Mike, so hard to pick one.
#7 looks just like an Ansel Adems photo!!
#8 Waves favorite because of the reflection & colors you were able to capture. Amazing!!!!!!!
# 11 because I LOVE black & white.
and all the rest hold true to my heart. even though I live in Florida I have visited these areas & parks on many occasions. Do you ever go into Muier woods?? another stunning park. to walk through the trails and marvel at the beauty is something I hope to do again…
keep up the stellar work <3
Thanks Hope — it’s been a long, long time since I’ve been to Muir Woods.
Hi Michael. Difficult to choose!
5, 7, 12, 17, 25, 26, 28, 37, 41, 45
Hope you’re doing well.
I just recently signed up to receive your blog and am really enjoying it. It was difficult restricting my selection to 10 but here are my favorites-
3, 8, 18, 23, 25, 34, 38, 43, 44, 45
Thanks for sharing!
4,9,10,12,30,32,41,41,17,11
Thanks for sharing
The trouble is, Michael, that your artistry is so superb, so perceptive, that it’s hard to narrow a selection from these beautiful images to any reasonable number. Literalist that I am, I’ve chosen 43, 1, 10 and 39 as my personal favorites. But I also recognize that many others are equally remarkable, and I look forward to following your blog in 2014 and beyond.
I’m in LOVE with #3! Love the colors and lines. My other favorites are 1, 6, 7, 14,23, 25, 31, 37, 44.
1,5,8,9,11,16,17,33,40,and 41 flip the switch best….!
Michael,
They are all stunning! My favorites are 1, 4, 5, 21, 25, 31, 32, 35, 39 and 40. I love the color of the Redbud contrasted with the movement of the water in #4. Number 25 transports me to another world! The softness of #32 reminds me of a painting and feels like it’s snowing all around me. My number one favorite, however, is #40, the depth, color, contrast and composition are all awesome!
Thanks!
46, 28, 31, 12, 39, 34, 35, 30, 4, 41 As others have indicated, it was difficult to choose favorites! To put them in order was even more difficult.
I have followed your blog for some time. This is my first time to leave a reply. Thank you for sharing your beautiful photos and willingness to share your knowledge!
It’s a tie between two opposites, the steely B&W #7 and the soft, impressionistic #31.
Striking images all.
It’s quite simple, the Rim Fire shots with 28 capturing the essence.
Definitely not an easy task! However, having scrolled through them several times, I’ve whittled my choices down to these: 3, 6, 7, 8, 22, 26, 31, 37, 44, 45. Looking forward to seeing how the votes tally up!
1,5,22,25,26,28,38,40,41,44
I have looked forward to this every year since joining your blog. This year was a little different because I finally got to spend a week with you on a workshop. I got a small glimpse of your creative eye and appreciate that you get incredible photos with basic, older equipment because I was there and have some of the same shots except yours are much better! I picked your winner last year and I will stick my nose out again and vote for #3 as the best. My next favorite is #31 and both are abstracts. You have taught me to appreciate the best of nature which is sometimes abstract and smaller and not the big iconic landscapes. I have been to many photography workshops but I would have to rate yours as one of the best ever! You love teaching and sharing and have the passion for photography! I still remember how this lady passed us on our hike to Gaylor Lake and asked if you were the famous Michael Frye! I was humbled to be in your company. Forgot to list my other top ten: 25, 27, 41, 12, 24, 40, 45, 46. Again, thanks for sharing all year long! I am sure next year will bring another bevy of incredible images. Happy New Year to you and Claudia!
Thank you Karl, and Happy New Year to you too!
1. Half Dome, sunbeams, and the Merced River, Yosemite — I love the morning mist!
5. Poppies, lupine, and oaks, late afternoon, Sierra Nevada foothills — I love the morning light through the oak’s branches!
10. Yosemite Falls on a misty spring morning, Yosemite — I’m not picking on Yosemite because it’s “Yosemite”
26. The Rim Fire at dusk, 8/21/13, from a viewpoint near Mariposa — the “surreality of fire”
19. Rocks and reflections, Tenaya Lake, Yosemite — My favorite big Sierra lake…in abstract!
42. Mist rising from cottonwood trees, Yosemite NP, CA — again, I love the early morning mist!
49. Ross’s geese taking flight, San Joaquin Valley, CA — a dance of winged motion!
6. California poppy, Sierra Nevada foothills — sweet color contrast!
12. Redwoods and rhododendron, late afternoon, Redwood NP — wonderful light deep within the forest realm
17. Sun breaking through fog in a redwood forest — again, I love the morning light within the forest setting
Michael,
you are a gifted photographer in one of my favorite places in the world! my wife and i sat down and went through these together and she helped me to narrow the vote from my favorite 20 to our favorite 10 (she said that some of mine were just due to sentimentality since i had memories of my time in those areas or because they are reminiscent of some of my favorites by Adams and Sexton;-).
#1, 7, 10, 21, 22, 26, 28, 33, 43, and 44.
thanks for letting me be a part of the selection process. looking forward to many great images from you in 2014!
larry
Michael
Here you go….
46,45,43,41,38,37,35,23,19,17, 7…..and for me 14 stands out
Happy New Year!
Hello Micheal,
All the pics are breath taking. For me the best one is 24.
It was tough to choose but here they are in no particular order
7, 11, 17, 26, 29, 33, 36, 39, 41, 47
Thanks for sharing
44,38,9
Tough to choose!
45, 44, 43, 41, 38, 35, 32, 25, 22, 18.
Hello,
My favs are: 3, 4, 6, 8, 20, 23, 38, 40, 44, & 49.
#6 is so striking and I would love it on a sheer curtain over my window
My favorite is #25. 12, 19, 3, 5, 7, 8, 45, 44, 38. Hard choices— all are beautiful.
I want to buy # 25.
Thank you Sue, and I can send you information about purchasing a print if you like.
#41
Love the light in that one!
I like photographing oaks in the fog too.
Happy New Year Michael!
VERY difficult to narrow down to 10 faves…..
5,7,17,21,22,25,31,35,37 and 46
Of those, my faves are 31 (amazing!) and 46
Best of Luck!
Too many beautiful pictures. At least 1, 10 and 15.
This is my first year doing this – thanks for sharing your vision, your knowledge, and your inspiring images. Very tough to choose – I narrowed these down from 20 initially. My choices in chronological order:
2, 3, 13, 22, 25, 35, 44, 46, 47, 49
19, 46, 20, 8, 25, 29, 36, 48
Tough choices. I tried to narrow down to my fave 3, but couldn’t leave any of these 4 off the list.
31, 11, 6, & 3
I’m a newbie also. Great use of color, and wonderful drama is evident in the black and whites. All are nicely seen.
My choices are:
7, 9, 12, 25,37,41, and 43. 41 is my top pick.
Michael,
All nice images but here are my favorites;
#10 the reflection with a diagonal shoreline adds drama and the fog works well to isolate the trees as the primary subject while letting the falls become the part of the background to set the location.
#13 imparts a peaceful feeling while at the same time giving a feeling of energy from the sun beams.
#31 the colorful painterly effect is great then upon close examination realizing it is a natural effect of a dusting of snow tops it off.
#41 the ghostly effect with the high contrast area horizontally across the image around the tree trunk is perfect.
Bruce
Too hard to choose. Husband and I scrolling and debating.
We both agree on 25. Stunning.
He votes 41 next
I take 42
22,8,3,4,10,45 as we’ll
But how can I really choose?
I love the dreamy abstracts; I love the bold strong landscapes; I love the misty foggy….
My choices are (in chronological order): 4, 5, 7, 12, 14, 17, 18, 25, 41, & 43
I would’ve choosen a few more if that were possible. They’re beautiful. You’re clearly very talented.
3, 4, 6, 8, 14, 24, 31, 33, 38, 45 WOW x 10 but you don’t make it easy. Good luck on the blog submittal!
12, 17
Hi Michael,
I am a fairly new subscriber to your blog and this is my first post. I ordered your Lightroom 5 e-book, which is wonderful! Since I don’t have the budget to take a workshop, I truly appreciate all the information and teaching that you so generously share on your site. I live only a couple of hours from Yosemite, so especially enjoy your connection to that beautiful place and your tips for photographing there. THANK YOU for giving so much of yourself to others! As far as choosing ONLY 10 out of your 49 best photos for 2013, well, it’s almost impossible. But here’s what I came up with, in numerical order: 3, 8, 12, 17, 25, 28, 31, 41, 45, and 47. Happy 2014 to you!
Thanks for chiming in Laurel – and for the votes and very kind words.
My favorite is # 43……this was hard
Of course I love them all, but if I must pick one or two, I have to go with the Ross geese bird shot at the end, with a close second place being your beautiful lead image in black and white. Really, who could pick…they are all great!
Hard to limit it to just 10 with all your beautiful work, and so please read my disclaimer left as a comment on your FB page… That being said,
here are my top 10, ehrr… 14. Sorry, could not leave out any others, considering*
3-ice formations
4- redbud
5- poppies
8-waves
9-dogwoods
15-sunbeams
18- moon setting
20- pools
21- clouds and reflections
22- rocks and reflections
25-miky way
35-aspen hillsides
41- mist
45- ice formations
Michael, your images are astoundingly beautiful. Impressive variety and technique. I surprised myself by choosing ice, snow and abstract over familiar icons. Happy New Year to you and Claudia. Here are my top ten choices. 8, 15, 20, 32, 34, 44, 45, 46, 47, 49
Hi Michael,
All great images, but here are my favorites:
8,11,17,24,25,31,41,45,46 & 47.
All the best !
Hi Michael,
Awesome images..hard to pick just a few!
My vote goes to the following in order
28,
41,
42,
47,
10
Michael,
My picks are:
3, 9, 12, 22, 25, 34, 41, 45, 46 and 49. Looks like a lot of variance on people’s picks, but for what it’s worth – these quickly stood out from the other (also good) shots for me due to their newer/unique characteristics.
Thanks for your Blog and contributing so much to the art & science of photography…
Note also my (amateur) portfolio website I launched in August listed.
Incredible work! My favorites are: 1, 3 10, 24, 25, 40, 41, 43, 45, 47. Thanks for your great work!
Happy New Year!
All photos are great and it’s a tough job to choose only 10 🙂 I’d love to vote the following 10 photos.
3, 5, 12, 17, 18, 24, 31, 40, 41 and 46
Looking forward to more photos in 2014.
There are way too many comments here for me to reply to each one individually, but please know that I’ve read them all, and I really appreciate all the kind words, and the votes! Claudia is busily tallying the picks, and we’ll post the top ten sometime tomorrow. If you haven’t voted yet, you still have two hours!
fabulous!
my faves, in order:
35(aspen hillside); 44(reeds); 8(waves in Merced); 3(ice formation)
tx for your insights
Michael- Quite a productive year. You should be both pleased and proud. It was hard to just pick out 10, but for me these were the most striking: 4,7,8,11,12,26,39,40,41, and 43. May the new year be as productive for you.
Some tough choices Michael. I think I’m going with #41 though. Second choice is #46. Happy New Year to you.
Happy New Year Michael–here is the list that rang my chimes: 43, 41,25, 6, 15, 26, 37, 42, 40, and 19. Thanks for your insight and perspective.
in this order 41, 44, 8, 6, 18, 22, 25, 31 , 17, 45
soooo hard to chose
thanks for a productive and inspiring year
43
Beautiful photos…so hard to choose! My favorites: 6, 9, 12, 17, 21, 25, 31, 35, 40 and 41
It was grueling to have to not choose any! Here are my favorites: 3, 8, 9, 10, 17, 25, 31, 40, 45, 46
So difficult! But here goes: 1, 2, 5, 7, 11, 19, 21, 26 33, 41
Always inspirational and informative Michael…. thanks for all you do from the legions out here that look forward to your images and inspiration. Fully appreciating the concept of “there’s no accounting for peoples taste”, here’s ,my picks: 11,28,43,45.
Hope 2014 is the year you’ve always dreamed of.
So many outstanding ones to choose from, I narrowed my choices down to 1, 3, 7, 9, 17, 23, 31, 41, 44, 45. Good luck on counting all of the numbers. Have a wonderful 2014 and don’t stop taking photographs!
Great images, great inspiration. My choice 5:12:25:31:38:41:42:43:44:46.
ALL /however, it is difficult to pick out the best and congratulate. this are my pick
12
16
17
20
25
40
41
43
#43 would be my pick
My picks are: 4, 12, 22, 37, 41, 44, 47
Great variety of images. Difficult to limit the choices to 10.
My final selections would be: 43, 12, 40, 4, 10, 41, 17, 39, 8, and 11.
The top 3 on my list are: 43, 12, and 40.
Thanks for letting us choose. Anxious to see the results.
As an Australian I am delighted to be in regular touch with Michael’s photographic talent.
Much appreciated.
I chose image 3 for its abstract impact, 17 for it draws me into being there in the Redwood Forest (which I have never experienced) and 43 for an earlier holiday visit to Yosemite was a lifetime experience
Thanks for the opportunity, difficult as ever! Such a lovely selection.
8,10,16,28,31,41,42,45,46,47.
No 7, Reminds me of Ansel.
47, 44, 46, 10, 25, 42, 49, 34, 40, 11
As always, a tough choice. Your photos are awesome, inspiring & make me see things through my camera lens in a much different light.
So… here are my favorites –
5, 8, 10, 14, 17, 21, 25, 40, 43, 44
Difficult, but I pick 42, 49, 12, 38, 44, 46, 47, 32, 17, 25
Hi Michael. Sorry I missed the deadline due to holiday traveling, but just wanted to give you my faves anyway. Best, Craig.
3, 6, 7, 10, 19, 23, 31, 41, 45, 47 (41 being my fave-fave!)
Hi, Michael, Its late maybe, but … 17, 30, 34, 37, 38, 41, 42 and 47 are full of Serenity and Harmony.
Thank you.
Martin
Thanks for sharing your beautiful work, Michael. I’m going with #25–gotta love that “Milky Way”!
Very grateful to admire your work.
3, 4, 8, 38, 45
Thanks
Geez Michael. Don’t make it easy will ya?
wonderful shots. great ideas. I remember some of them.
here are mine
2,3,6,20,22,35,40,43,44,46
Well it’s too late for your votes to count, but thanks for letting me know Kent!
Michael,
I found it hard to pick just 10 as my favorites. What were your favorite 10 images?
Peter
Peter, as Clinton Smith once told me, we don’t get to choose our best photographs – the world does. I have a personal connection to some images that didn’t make the list (and some that did), but that doesn’t mean they’re better in any objective sense than the ones my readers picked.
difficult tu choose ; but at least
1 ; 2 ; 17 ; 22 ; 28 ; 32 ; 35 ; 36 ; 43 ; 45 ; 46
Bravo ! magnifique
Thank you Cath!
Call me crazy but 42 was my top pick—not sure why this did not do better in the voting.
Ted
Ted, I thought 42 would get more votes too. You never know about these things!
Hello Michael,
I’m in Yosemite for a few days, attempting to put your great advice from blog posts and books to work in the field — thank you!
Looking through your Top 10 of 2013, I am dazzled by the ice formations photo.But I can’t find any discussion of it in your blog; maybe it’s one you never posted?
If you wouldn’t mind, could you either point to the link about it, or provide a few “you are there” comments about how you made it?
Sylvia
Sylvia, could you please clarify which ice photo you’re asking about?
7, 41, 43
Many memorable images, some of these scenes I was fortunate enough to see in 1988!
My favourites:
3, 8, 9, 20, 25, 31, 41, 43, 44, 48.
Continuing success with your work and your site!