From 60 to 10 | "Best Of 2010" Wrap Up

My top 10 favorites from the combined  "Best of 2010" series (color, black and white, and infrared). Wow. This was hard. I made some pretty harsh cuts, even after I had narrowed them down quite a bit. But even though it was hard it forced me to look at why I liked a photo... and not just the technical stuff, but more so why I liked it and why I shot it. And all that said, this is an any given day type of thing with me. If I were to sit down and do this again next week I might end up with a whole different outcome. Which, in the days leading up to this post, including today, there has been some juggling in my selections! The only way to stop that is to commit. So, here's where it stands at the end of 2010. My top 10.

Best of 2010 | Top 15 Infrared

Following in the footsteps of my two previous posts in the "Best of 2010" series, I'm now moving on to the final set... Infrared. I obviously didn't shoot much infrared this year, so it made the choice for this selection a little easier.

I'll be approaching infrared photos photos differently next year. One of the things on the photography to-do list over the winter is to have a DSLR converted over to a dedicated infrared camera. I'm sure that the transition to a dedicated camera will make shooting infrareds much easier on a regular basis.

So, here we go... the top 15 infrared photos of the year... according to me...

Gilbert Lake State Park, NY

New Jersey Botanical Garden, Ringwood, NJ

Bear Mountain Bridge, Fort Clinton, NY

Marshall Point Lighthouse, ME

Albany Rural Cemetery, Albany, NY

Skylands Manor, New Jersey Botanical Garden, Ringwood, NJ

Moose River Plains, Adirondack Mountains, NY

Albany Rural Cemetery, Albany, NY

Landis Arboretum, NY

Albany Rural Cemetery, Albany, NY

Farmland, Otsego County, NY

Evergreen Cemetery, Portland, ME

Portland Head Light, Portland, ME

Western Cemetery, Portland, ME

Best of 2010 | Top 20 Black & White

Following up my first post in the "Best of 2010" series, I'm now moving on to black and white photos. There was quite a considerable drop in the number of photos in black and white that I liked. The same will ring true with the third and part of this series, infrared.

It's always interesting to look back and see what caught your attention. Obviously I like empty benches. And I like them a lot in the snow. Guess that's what happens when you have limited time to shoot in the winter, and it's snowing most days!

Without further delay, my top 20 black and white photos of the year... according to me...

The night before hurricane Earl rolled through

Portland Head Light, Portland, ME

My Girl

New York Botanical Garden, Bronx, NY

My flirtatious friend

Eastern State Penitentiary, Philadelphia, PA

The fiery one

Christ Church Burial Ground, Philadelphia, PA

Rockport Harbor, Rockport, ME

Eastern State Penitentiary, Philadelphia, PA

Spring Point Light, S. Portland, ME

St. Agnes Chapel, Cooperstown, NY

Eastern State Penitentiary, Philadelphia, PA

Marshall Point Light, ME

Best of 2010 | Top 25 Color

So, Carl over at Artistic Balance got me thinking about what I thought were my best photos from 2010. Some were easy choices, others I had to think about. I thought of doing this as a top 10, but I couldn't narrow it down that much, so I upped the numbers. And, while I can't say that these are technically my best (if there is a thing) I do think they lean towards what I favored this year. Part of the selection process aimed to spread my choices out over a variety of locations, since I could have easily picked several favorites from just one spot. Even after shooting for that goal, I still ended up with multiple favs from certain locations. I guess inspiration comes easier in certain areas.

I've broken my selections up into three different posts: color, black and white, and infrared. A lot of my infrareds get converted to black and white, so that causes me to ponder where I want to put them... I'll get that figured out before I post them!

I'm starting with color photos. Majority of the photos I shoot are in color, so there's larger number that fit into the "best of" category. And feel free to battle my choices with me if you know my photos. I'd be interested to see if I missed something that I should have included... or dropped... whichever the case may be. 

So, here we go... top 25 color photos according to me...

Christ Church Burial Ground, Philadelphia, PA

My Muse

Old Port, Portland, ME

Ricketts Glen State Park, PA

Joseph L. Popp, Jr. Butterfly Conservatory, Oneonta, NY

Found while wandering the field at my mom's home in the early morning dew

Niagara Falls, NY

Pemaquid Lighthouse, ME

Buttermilk Falls State Park, Ithaca, NY

High Peaks Region, Adirondack Mountains, NY

St. Agnes Chapel, Cooperstown, NY

Rowing competition at Cornell University, Ithaca, NY

My sweet, old, girl. My best furry friend. Most loving dog I've ever had the chance to meet...

The morning after hurricane Earl made a weak attempt at battering the coast...

Portland Head Light, Portland, ME

Mom.

I don't get the chance to get many shots of my mom. And while by portrait standards this isn't the

best... it's really just a picture of my mom. That's why it makes this list...

Brodney Pool relaxing during Practice
NY Jets Training Camp, Cortland, NY

Watkins Glen State Park, NY

Christ Church Burial Ground, Philadelphia, PA

Pemaquid Lighthouse, ME

Joseph L. Popp, Jr. Butterfly Conservatory, Oneonta, NY