The votes are all in and counted, and here are my top photographs of 2024!

We had a great response this year: 627 people looked through my initial selection of 45 images and voted for their favorites. A big thank you to everyone who took the time to look through these photographs and voice your opinions! I also really appreciate the kind words so many people posted in the comments or sent by email. I wish I could respond to everyone, but please know that I’ve read them all and am very grateful for all your support.

To express our gratitude we’re giving away a print to one of the voters. We assigned a number to each person who voted, and used a random number generator to pick the recipient. And the winner is… Joe Kenny! Joe will receive a signed and numbered 16×20 print of his choice from among the 45 original selections. Congratulations Joe!

I decided to make this final list a top twelve, rather than a top ten, because I thought the top twelve made a more well-rounded selection. So here’s the list of my top twelve images from 2024:

1. Image #38, Moon, Half Dome, and cottonwood trees, Yosemite NP, California, 355 votes
2. Image #14, Dappled light above the Colorado River, Grand Canyon NP, Arizona, 295 votes
3. Image #8, Dunes in a sandstorm at sunrise, Death Valley NP, California, 274 votes
4. Image #12, Hoodoos, stars, and clouds, New Mexico, 233 votes
5. Image #30, Crashing wave on a foggy morning, Oregon Coast, 224 votes
6. Image #1, Light and mist on Washington Column, Yosemite NP, California, 220 votes
7. Image #24, Aurora above St. Mary Lake, Glacier NP, Montana, 215 votes
8. Image #20, Sunset clouds, Tuolumne Meadows, Yosemite NP, California, 214 votes
8. Image #17, The Teton Range from Jackson Lake at sunrise, Grand Teton NP, Wyoming, 188 votes
10. Image #32, Sun setting behind a small tree, Oregon Coast, 187 votes
11. Image #44, Sun, oaks, and sunbeams, Yosemite NP, California, 174 votes
12. Image #4, Half Dome above a fog layer at sunrise, Yosemite NP, California, 172 votes

In case you’re curious, numbers 26, 7, and 3 rounded out the top 15.

Last year’s final selection didn’t include any grand landscape scenes, while this year’s top twelve is virtually all grand landscapes. I’d guess that’s probably because in 2023 I didn’t have many opportunities to photograph grand landscapes, but I had more of those opportunities in 2024, and the initial selections reflected that.

Even though most of the final twelve are grand landscapes, they’re not all wide-angle views. In fact numbers 38, 14, 30, and 1 – which came in first, second, fifth, and sixth in the voting – were all made with telephoto lenses. Some people seem to equate landscapes with wide-angle lenses, but I think there are many different ways to see and portray landscapes. My favorite lens is the one that best helps me tell the story I want to tell at that moment.

I’m glad so many of you liked #38, Moon, Half Dome, and Cottonwood Trees. It was fun to see people’s reaction to it, and for me it was fun to photograph as an homage to Ansel Adams and his famous image Moon and Half Dome. But my variation of Ansel’s photograph is not exactly original, so to me, the other images in this final selection represent my work and my vision better.

Nevertheless, it’s always fun to see what people select, and I hope you’ve enjoyed this process also. Here are the top twelve images:

38. Moon, Half Dome, and cottonwood trees, Yosemite NP, California

14. Dappled light above the Colorado River, Grand Canyon NP, Arizona

8. Dunes in a sandstorm at sunrise, Death Valley NP, California

12. Hoodoos, stars, and clouds, New Mexico

30. Crashing wave on a foggy morning, Oregon Coast

1. Light and mist on Washington Column, Yosemite NP, California

24. Aurora above St. Mary Lake, Glacier NP, Montana

20. Sunset clouds, Tuolumne Meadows, Yosemite NP, California

17. The Teton Range from Jackson Lake at sunrise, Grand Teton NP, Wyoming

32. Sun setting behind a small tree, Oregon Coast

44. Sun, oaks, and sunbeams, Yosemite NP, California

4. Half Dome above a fog layer at sunrise, Yosemite NP, California

Related Posts: My Best Images of 2024: the Nominees; My Top Photographs of 2023; My Top Photographs of 2022; My Top Photographs of 2021

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.