Reflections along the Merced River, winter, Yosemite NP, CA, USA
It’s become a tradition on this blog to ask my readers to help pick my best images of the year, so on January 1st I’ll be posting the nominees for 2016 and asking all of you to vote for your favorites. It’s always fun to see what people pick!
Last year readers voted this snow scene into the top ten. It actually got the fifth-most votes, which was a pleasant surprise for an intimate landscape like this. (You can see last year’s nominees here, and the top ten here.)
While it’s fun to invite readers to vote for their favorite images of the year, I don’t often have that much help with editing. Usually I have to pick (with Claudia’s help, of course) which photographs to post or submit to a publication. And most photographers are in the same boat – we have to be our own editors, and select, out of the thousands of images in our archives, which ones to show to the world. This is something many photographers struggle with, but you might find this post about editing helpful.
Like anything, editing takes practice, and the end of the calendar year is a great opportunity to practice editing your work. Even if you don’t plan on posting the results anywhere, I encourage you to go back through your images from 2016 and pick out your top ten, or fifteen, or twenty. This is a valuable exercise, and will also force you to look through your images from the year again, where you might discover some previously-overlooked gems. That’s always fun.
And if you like the resulting collection, consider posting it somewhere to get feedback. Photography is about communication, and it’s always interesting to learn which of your images speak most clearly to other people. And while you’re at it, why not submit that collection to Jim Goldstein’s blog project? His annual project is a great way to see what other people have been doing, and perhaps get more exposure for your own photography.
I look forward to hearing your thoughts about my photographs from 2016, and to seeing everyone else’s collections!
— Michael Frye
Related Posts: The Art of Editing; Picking My Best Images of 2015; My Top Photographs of 2015
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, Yosemite Meditations for Adventurers, 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: The Essential Step-by-Step Guide. Michael has 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.
Michael, Thanks for your great comments and advice on editing. I really need motivation to go through all the past year and save the good and discard the others. After that is done, then I can edit the good to find the best.
Always appreciate your posts.
Happy New Year
You’re welcome John – good luck with the editing.
As always I’m looking forward to this year’s list Michael. Thanks for all the tips and sharing you do throughout the year.
Thanks John, and you’re welcome!
Looking forward to seeing your best images for 2016. I’m traveling to Yosemite in February and looking at your images gets me motivated to see what I can come home with. Also, reading your book The Photographer’s Guide to Yosemite. Great read
Thanks John! I’m glad you’re finding the book helpful, and I hope you have a great trip to Yosemite in February.
Editing is always a real challenge. I think I’m getting better over time, but it’s still a challenge. As you say, though, it’s fun to go back over the images, see how your feelings might have changed, and what you can learn from it. Looking forward to your nominees!
No doubt that editing is a challenge. It does get easier with practice, as you alluded to. And it can definitely be rewarding going back over older images and seeing them with fresh eyes.
Dear Michael,
Thanks for your excellent suggestion to go through all the images at the end of the year. It allowed me to reflect my 2016 photography journey in broader perspective and I was able to find some good images that I ignored earlier.
I can’t wait to see the nominees of your best images of 2016 and wish you a wonderful 2017!
Best,
George
Glad that helped George!
Great post Michael! I find editing to be at times a daunting task. However, the second most rewarding aspect of my photography is the year end edit. It gives me some purpose and closure to my photographic year. I love Jim Goldstein’s idea and it is a great way to share your work.
Thanks Hugh, and I’m glad you enjoy the end-of-the-year process!