Sunday, December 30, 2012

Best Photos of the Year...A Duel To The Death

It has become tradition for nature photographers to post a compilation of their best photos of the year. This year I finally had my act together enough to contribute something to the web. There turned out to be a problem however....

I discovered my favorite images and my "best" images were not always the same. I was constantly drawn to the photos I had an emotional connection to: the ones that had a story, a funny circumstance, or a mishap associated with them. I've been around photography long enough to know how to turn of that emotion off when I'm editing but I wasn't sure I wanted to this time. After a long deliberation (of about 90 seconds), I decided the only fair way to pick the images was to assign them to different categories and let them compete against each other...to the death, as it were. The winners would be immortalized for eternity in a blog post while the losers would be cast into the darkness of the hard drive. So without further adieu, here are the victors in each of the ten selected categories.


 Best image taken on Thanksgiving because my wife works and I'm looking for something to do with my son.
Keystone Spit, Whidbey Island, Washington



 Best image taken one-handed while fending off a young child pulling on my jacket.
Fort Casey, Whidbey Island, Washington



 Best image taken on a day when I really thought I would get absolutely nothing accomplished because of the weather.
Double Bluff Beach, Whidbey Island, Washington



 Best image taken while realizing that I am completely alone in a State Park on a warm Friday evening and starting to become paranoid that there is some deranged killer loose in the woods.
Camano Island State Park, Washington



Best image taken while losing a polarizing filter in the river.
Sauk River, Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Park, Washington



 Best image taken while accepting a warm beverage from a passing waiter on the deck of a cruise ship.
Tracy Arm. Alaska



Best image taken while worrying that I had gotten the departure time wrong for my cruise ship.
Skagway, Alaska



Best image taken after arriving well after sunrise and assuming I'd screwed everything up.
Rainy Lake, Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest, Washington


and last but not least...

Best image taken while saving a small child, cat, and puppy dog from the raging surf of the Puget Sound.......well maybe I'm exaggerating a little, but it is my favorite shot of the year.
Mukilteo, Washington

Thanks for looking and (hopefully) having a little chuckle. I promise to do more macro photography next year.

15 comments:

Unknown said...

Great group of photos Jim. I personally related to the CP loss shot!

Michael Russell said...

Great photos Jim! I can't say I've had to deal with that wide a variety of adverse conditions though! ;)

Rob Tilley said...

Thanks for the chuckle Jim. Happy Shooting in 2013!

Rachel Cohen said...

Great images Jim! Love the related experiences! :))

Unknown said...

Beautiful images, tough conditions :) Thanks for the laugh. Happy New Year.

The Boggs Family said...

I love your photos and your commentary! Ha ha!!!

Jim Lundgren said...

Thanks everyone for the great comments. I hope everyone a healthy and happy New Year!!!

Rebecca Jackrel said...

I really love that Skagway abstract shot but they are all beautiful. The categories are a hoot!
visiting from Best Photos of 2012 by JMG-Galleries Blog Readers
http://www.jmg-galleries.com/blog/2013/01/09/photos-2012-jmggalleries-blog-readers/

Jim Lundgren said...

Thanks Rebecca for stopping by. I had a little fun writing it :)

Anonymous said...

I couldn't refrain from commenting. Very well written!

Here is my web-site - Visit here

Anonymous said...

Wow, that's what I was looking for, what a information! existing here at this website, thanks admin of this web page.

Take a look at my web site; More information

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the auspicious writeup. It if truth be told was once a enjoyment account it.
Glance complex to far added agreeable from you!

By the way, how could we communicate?

Stop by my blog - Visit here

Anonymous said...

Hello, i think that i saw you visited my web site thus i came to “return the favor”.
I am trying to find things to improve my website!I suppose its ok to use some of your ideas!
!

Feel free to visit my homepage Click This Site

Anonymous said...

Do you have a spam issue on this site; I also am a blogger,
and I was curious about your situation; we have created some nice methods and we are looking to exchange strategies with other folks, please shoot me an e-mail if
interested.

Review my page ... http://www.yanda.co.za

Anonymous said...

It's remarkable to visit this website and reading the views of all friends regarding this article, while I am also keen of getting experience. My site probably has what you need สล็อต