Best Photos of 2009

First off, a great big thank you to Jim Goldstein for this great blog project, now in it's 3rd year. Sometimes you can't always see the forest for the trees, and taking some time to reflect on year's worth of work can be extremely rewarding. He will be posting links for everyone participating in this project on Tuesday, January 12, 2010, and I will be posting to that entry, both here and on Facebook and Twitter.

While 2009 was, in all rights, a very tough year for some people, it was a very successful one for me in terms of photography. When I reviewed what I had done in 2009, I was personally very satisfied with the results. One of my 2009 photography goals was to shoot more often and more of what inspired me. To help get me started on this particular goal, I started participating in an annual photochallenge shooting one photo a day with a different theme for each day. I was able to get some spectacular photos through the process. Unfortunately, the rigors of daily life took over, I fell behind and never managed to get through May or even get back on the wagon. You can see the beginnings of this challenge here.

In March, I entered three photos into the Napa Valley Mustard Festival Photo Contest. I participate in this contest every year, as mustard season is my favorite time of year to visit wine country. This year, my second participating in this event, one of my photos was awarded an honorable mention. I hope to build off of that success in the coming year.

July brought about Scott Kelby's 2nd Annual Worldwide Photowalk, with one of 5 walks in San Francisco led by none other than Jim Goldstein. So I jumped at the chance and was rewarded with several photos that are all worthy of being in the top 10.

Trips to Seattle, New York City, Boston and Orange County rounded out the year and provided wonderful photo opportunities for me.

I've created a set of my top photos over on Flickr. They say every picture is worth a thousand words, and many of these photos have a back story that has a personal connection with me. Conveying that personal connection in a photo without a description is, to me, the hardest part of photography. To show emotions or a feeling in a photo takes more than just clicking the shutter and it is an area I hope to focus on more in 2010.

So here are my personal top 5 from 2009. There are currently 30 photos in the set, so please take a look through them and let me know what you think.

#5

From a 10th Wedding Anniversary celebration for which I was hired.

#4

Rockefeller Center in Midtown Manhattan.

#3

This one I'm particular proud of, because I was able to incorporate all the information I learned from Joe McNally's location lighting seminar despite the fact that I didn't have any other flash than the pop-up flash on my 40D.

#2

What had once been my white whale is now an event that I'm photographing more and more of. After this shot, the park rangers starting escorting everyone down from Hawk Hill.

#1

I'm still not convinced that this is my "best" image from the previous year, but it is the one of which I'm most proud. Honorable Mention at the 2009 Napa Valley Mustard Festival Photo Contest.