Happy New Year! If you’ve recovered (at least partially) from your New Year’s Eve celebrations, and can tear yourself away from watching football, I could use your help picking my best images from the past year. I’ve posted 41 of my best photographs from 2011 below. After you look through please post a comment listing your ten favorites. Once the votes are in I’ll put the top ten or twelve on this blog, and submit the finalists to Jim Goldstein’s blog project, where once again he’ll be showcasing the best images of the year from over 100 photographers. The voting deadline is Thursday, January 5th at midnight Pacific time.

The judging for the my final ten will be more like Dancing With the Stars than America Idol. That means that unlike Idol, where only the viewer’s votes count, the judge—me—gets a say too, so if one of my favorites gets panned by everyone else I may still include it. But as one of my photographer friends, Clinton Smith, once said, we don’t get to pick our best images—the world does. So your votes will carry a lot of weight; in fact last year I thought the choices were so good I just went with the votes.

Thanks for your input—I appreciate your help with these difficult decisions!

—Michael Frye

Related Posts: 2010: My Best ImagesTop Ten Images of 2010

Michael Frye is a professional photographer specializing in landscapes and nature. He is the author and photographer of The Photographer’s Guide to Yosemite,Yosemite Meditations, and Digital Landscape Photography: In the Footsteps of Ansel Adams and the Great Masters, plus the eBook Light & Land: Landscapes in the Digital Darkroom. He 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.

 

1. Moonrise from Valley View

1. Moonrise from Valley View


2. Ice and reflections in the Merced River

2. Ice and reflections in the Merced River


3. Clouds and mist, Tunnel View

3. Clouds and mist, Tunnel View


4. Avocets, Merced National Wildlife Refuge

4. Avocets, Merced National Wildlife Refuge


Ross' geese landing at sunset, Merced NWR

5. Ross' geese landing at sunset, Merced NWR


Ross' geese landing, dawn, Merced NWR

6. Ross' geese landing, dawn, Merced NWR


7. Half Dome at sunset from Tunnel View

7. Half Dome at sunset from Tunnel View


8. Two trees and El Capitan

8. Two trees and El Capitan


9. Swirling frazil ice in the Merced River

9. Swirling frazil ice in the Merced River


10. Oaks with lingering autumn leaves

10. Oaks with lingering autumn leaves


11. Double fall

11. Double fall, Yosemite


12. Bridalveil Fall and rainbow

12. Bridalveil Fall and rainbow


13. Aspens and cottonwoods near Torrey, Utah

13. Aspens and cottonwoods near Torrey, Utah


14. Sunbeams from Tunnel View

14. Sunbeams from Tunnel View


15. Dogwoods in mist, Yosemite

15. Dogwoods in mist, Yosemite


16. Fog, sunlight, and Bridalveil Fall

16. Fog, sunlight, and Bridalveil Fall


17. Swirling mist at sunrise from Tunnel View

17. Swirling mist at sunrise from Tunnel View


18. Half Dome, oaks, and high water

18. Half Dome, oaks, and high water


19. Sunset at Tenaya Lake

19. Sunset at Tenaya Lake


20. Redwoods, ferns, and rhododendrons

20. Redwoods, ferns, and rhododendrons


21. Reflections, Tioga Lake

21. Reflections, Tioga Lake


22. Sun Breaking through mist, Tuolumne Meadows,

22. Sun Breaking through mist, Tuolumne Meadows


23. Sunset clouds and a small iceberg, Middle Gaylor Lake, Yosemite

23. Sunset clouds and a small iceberg, Middle Gaylor Lake, Yosemite


23. Juniper and star trails near Olmsted Point, Yosemite

24. Juniper and star trails near Olmsted Point, Yosemite


24. Light-painted tufa formations, Mono Lake

25. Light-painted tufa formations, Mono Lake


25. Clouds and light-painted tufa, Mono lake

26. Clouds and light-painted tufa, Mono lake


26. Sunset, Gates of the Valley

27. Sunset, Gates of the Valley


26. Fast-moving clouds, Yosemite Valley

28. Fast-moving clouds, Yosemite Valley


28. Bonsai tree, Tunnel View

29. Bonsai tree, Tunnel View


30. Upper Yosemite Fall, mist, and ponderosa pine, Yosemite

30. Upper Yosemite Fall, mist, and ponderosa pine, Yosemite


31. Autumn reflections, Rush Creek, June Lake Loop

31. Autumn reflections, Rush Creek, June Lake Loop


31. Eastside aspen reflections

32. Eastside aspen reflections


32. Aspens, willows, and an America coot

33. Aspens, willows, and an America coot


33. Sky and leaves reflected in Rush Creek

34. Sky and leaves reflected in Rush Creek


34. Autumn dogwood near Valley View

35. Autumn dogwood near Valley View


35. Grasses and reflections of willow leaves, Yosemite

36. Grasses and reflections of willow leaves, Yosemite


36. Misty hills, autumn, Nantahala NF, NC

37. Misty hills, autumn, Nantahala NF, NC


37. Eastatoe Falls, Nantahala NF, NC

38. Eastatoe Falls, Nantahala NF, NC


39. Sunbeams, Twin Falls, South Carolina

39. Sunbeams, Twin Falls, South Carolina


40. Ice, reflections, and river pebbles, Merced River

40. Ice, reflections, and river pebbles, Merced River


41. Oak tree and lunar eclipse sequence, Sierra foothills

41. Oak tree and lunar eclipse sequence, Sierra foothills