The votes are all in and counted, and here are my top ten photographs of 2013!

We had truly an amazing response this year: 396 people looked through my initial selection of 49 images and posted their picks here on the blog, Facebook, Google+, Twitter, and by email. A big thank you to everyone who took the time to look through these photographs and voice your opinions! I also really appreciate all the kind words expressed along with the votes. I wish I could respond to every comment, but please know that I’ve read them all and am very grateful for all your support. And last but not least, many thanks to my wonderful assistant Claudia who tallied all those votes!

To express our gratitude to all of you we’ve decided to give away another print to one of the voters. We assigned each person who voted a number, and used a random number generator to pick the recipient. And the winner is… Judy Heiser! Judy will receive a signed, numbered, matted 16×20 print of her choice from among the 49 original selections. Congratulations Judy!

So here’s the list of the ten images which received the most picks, and the number of votes they each received:

&#160 1. Image # 25, Milky Way reflected in an alpine lake, Yosemite, 175 votes

&#160 2. Image # 41, Mist, sunlight, and a California black oak, Yosemite, 174 votes

&#160 3. Image # 43, Half Dome and the Merced River, late afternoon, autumn, Yosemite, 152 votes

&#160 4. Image # 45, Ice formations in the Merced River, Yosemite, 117 votes

&#160 5. Image # 44, Reeds, cottonwood leaves, and reflections, Sonora, CA, 107 votes

&#160 6. Image # 10, Yosemite Falls on a misty spring morning, Yosemite, 104 votes

&#160 7. Image # 46, Snowy black oaks, late autumn, Yosemite, 103 votes

&#160 8. Image # 8, Waves in the Merced River, Yosemite, 100 votes

&#160 9. Image #12, Redwoods and rhododendron, late afternoon, Redwood NP, 99 votes

&#160 10. Image # 17, Sun breaking through fog in a redwood forest, 98 votes

Rounding out the top fifteen were numbers 31, 3, 1, 7, and 34.

As you can see, there was almost a tie for first place. I was pleasantly surprised that number 41 got so many votes, because it’s not a big landscape, and it’s in black and white. But perhaps this speaks to the sophistication of the audience. 🙂 Overall, I think this is a great selection, with a mix of grand landscapes and more intimate scenes – and even a black-and-white image. Nice work everyone! I’ll be submitting this post shortly to Jim Goldstein’s blog project.

Again, thank you so much for your participation. This has been really fun for me, and I hope you’ve enjoyed it too. Here are the top ten images:

Milky Way reflected in an alpine lake, Yosemite NP, CA, USA

25. Milky Way reflected in an alpine lake, Yosemite

Mist, sunlight, and a California black oak, Yosemite NP, CA, USA

41. Mist, sunlight, and a California black oak, Yosemite

Half Dome and the Merced River, late afternoon, autumn, Yosemite NP, CA, USA

43. Half Dome and the Merced River, late afternoon, autumn, Yosemite NP, CA

Ice formations in the Merced River, Yosemite NP, CA, USA

45. Ice formations in the Merced River, Yosemite

Reeds, cottonwood leaves, and reflections, Bella Rosa Vineyards, Sonora, CA

44. Reeds, cottonwood leaves, and reflections, Sonora, CA

Yosemite Falls on a misty spring morning, Yosemite NP, CA, USA

10. Yosemite Falls on a misty spring morning, Yosemite

Snowy black oaks, late autumn, Yosemite NP, CA, USA

46. Snowy black oaks, late autumn, Yosemite

Waves in the Merced River, Yosemite NP, CA, USA

8. Waves in the Merced River, Yosemite NP, CA, USA

Redwoods and rhododendron, late afternoon, Del Norte Redwoods SP, CA, USA

12. Redwoods and rhododendron, late afternoon, Redwood NP

Sun breaking through fog in a redwood forest

17. Sun breaking through fog in a redwood forest

— Michael Frye

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Michael Frye is a professional photographer specializing in landscapes and nature. He is the author or principal photographer of The Photographer’s Guide to YosemiteYosemite Meditations, Yosemite Meditations for Women, 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 5: The Essential Step-by-Step Guide. Michael 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.