Happy New Year! I hope you’ve recovered from your New Year’s Eve celebrations. 😉

Like champagne, Times Square, and Auld Lang Syne, it’s become a New Year’s tradition on this blog to pick out my best images from the past year, and once again I’m inviting you to help make these difficult choices. I’ve posted 49 of my best photographs from 2013 below, in chronological order. After you look through these please post a comment listing your ten favorites. (Click on the images to see them larger.) Once the votes are in I’ll put the top ten on this blog, and submit the finalists to Jim Goldstein’s blog project, where he’ll be showcasing the best images of the year from over 100 photographers. The voting deadline is Friday, January 3rd, at midnight Pacific time.

As always, I reserve the right to override the votes if one of my favorites gets panned. But I have yet to exercise this power — the last three years I went with the votes because, well, we’re all better at judging other people’s photographs than our own.

Thanks for your input — I appreciate your help!

—Michael Frye

 

Half Dome, sunbeams, and the Merced River, Yosemite NP, CA, USA

1. Half Dome, sunbeams, and the Merced River, Yosemite

Sandhill cranes, Ross's geese, white-fronted geese, and American shovelers, San Joaquin Valley, CA, USA

2. Sandhill cranes, Ross’s geese, white-fronted geese, and American shovelers, San Joaquin Valley

Ice formation along the Merced River, Yosemite NP, CA, USA

3. Ice formation along the Merced River, Yosemite

Redbud along the Merced River, Merced River Canyon, near Briceberg, CA, USA

4. Redbud along the Merced River, Merced River Canyon

Poppies, lupine, and oaks, late afternoon, Sierra Nevada foothills near El Portal, CA, USA

5. Poppies, lupine, and oaks, late afternoon, Sierra Nevada foothills

California poppy, Sierra Nevada foothills near El Portal, CA, USA

6. California poppy, Sierra Nevada foothills

Storm clouds over Yosemite Valley from Tunnel View, Yosemite NP, CA, USA

7. Storm clouds over Yosemite Valley from Tunnel View, Yosemite

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

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

Dogwoods and reflections along the Merced River, Yosemite NP, CA, USA

9. Dogwoods and reflections along the Merced River, Yosemite

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

10. Yosemite Falls on a misty spring morning, Yosemite

Waves and sea stacks, late afternoon, Redwood NP, CA, USA

11. Waves and sea stacks, late afternoon, Redwood NP

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

12. Redwoods and rhododendron, late afternoon, Redwood NP

Sun rising through fog, Prairie Creek Redwoods SP, CA, USA

13. Sun rising through fog, Prairie Creek Redwoods SP

Rocks and sea stacks, late afternoon, Redwood NP, CA, USA

14. Rocks and sea stacks, late afternoon, Redwood NP

Sunbeams and corona in a redwood forest, CA, USA

15. Sunbeams and corona in a redwood forest

Sunbeams through the redwood canopy, Del Norte Coast Redwoods SP, CA, USA

16. Sunbeams through the redwood canopy, Del Norte Coast Redwoods SP

Sun breaking through fog in a redwood forest

17. Sun breaking through fog in a redwood forest

Moon setting over a High Sierra lake, Yosemite NP, CA, USA

18. Moon setting over a High Sierra lake, Yosemite

Rocks and reflections, Tenaya Lake, Yosemite NP, CA, USA

19. Rocks and reflections, Tenaya Lake, Yosemite

Pools in glacially polished granite, Yosemite NP. Sunlight hitting the ridge above reflected gold colors into the pools below. When setting the white balance, I left a hint of blue in the rocks to create a warm-cool color contrast.

20. Pools in glacially polished granite, Yosemite

Clouds and reflections, Tenaya Lake, Yosemite NP, CA, USA

21. Clouds and reflections, Tenaya Lake, Yosemite

Rocks and reflections along the shore of Tenaya Lake, Yosemite NP, CA, USA

22. Rocks and reflections along the shore of Tenaya Lake, Yosemite

Reflections in an alpine lake, Yosemite NP, CA, USA

23. Reflections in an alpine lake, Yosemite

Star trails reflected in an alpine lake, Yosemite NP, CA, USA. Nikon D800e with 17-35mm f/2.8 lens; sequence of 24 exposures totaling about 96 minutes; each exposure 4 minutes at f/5.6, 400 ISO

24. Star trails reflected in an alpine lake, Yosemite

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

25. Milky Way reflected in an alpine lake, Yosemite

The Rim Fire at dusk, 8/21/13, from a viewpoint near Mariposa

26. The Rim Fire at dusk, 8/21/13, from a viewpoint near Mariposa

Looking west at the Rim Fire from near the Tioga Pass Rd. at dusk, with Venus setting, 8:57 p.m., 8/22/13, Yosemite NP, CA, USA

27. Looking west at the Rim Fire from near the Tioga Pass Rd. at dusk, with Venus setting, 8:57 p.m., 8/22/13, Yosemite

Sun on the edge of the smoke plume from the Rim Fire, 8/27/13, Yosemite NP, CA, USA

28. Sun on the edge of the smoke plume from the Rim Fire, 8/27/13, Yosemite

Autumn aspens, Conway Summit, Inyo NF, CA, USA

29. Autumn aspens, Conway Summit, Inyo NF, CA

Aspens and willows during an autumn snowstorm, Toiyabe NF, CA, USA

30. Aspens and willows during an autumn snowstorm, Toiyabe NF, CA

Aspens with a dusting of snow, Conway Summit, Inyo NF, CA, USA

31. Aspens with a dusting of snow, Conway Summit, Inyo NF, CA

Aspens and pines in an autumn snowstorm, Toiyabe NF, CA, USA

32. Aspens and pines in an autumn snowstorm, Toiyabe NF, CA

Bands of sunlight on Laurel Mountain from Convict Lake, Inyo NF, CA, USA

33. Bands of sunlight on Laurel Mountain from Convict Lake, Inyo NF, CA

Aspens reflected in a beaver pond, Inyo NF, CA, USA

34. Aspens reflected in a beaver pond, Inyo NF, CA

Aspen hillside, Tioyable NF, CA, USA

35. Aspen hillside, Tioyable NF, CA

Rock formations and autumn color along the base of Laurel Mountain from Convict Lake, Inyo NF, CA, USA

36. Rock formations and autumn color along the base of Laurel Mountain from Convict Lake, Inyo NF, CA

Aspen trunks, Lee Vining Canyon, CA, USA

37. Aspen trunks, Lee Vining Canyon, CA

Autumn reflections in Rush Creek, Inyo NF, CA, USA

38. Autumn reflections, eastern Sierra, Inyo NF, CA

Autumn along a creek in the eastern Sierra Nevada, Inyo NF, CA, USA

39. Autumn along a creek in the eastern Sierra Nevada, Inyo NF, CA

Aspens and morning sunlight, Inyo NF, CA, USA

40. Aspens and morning sunlight, Inyo NF, CA

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

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

Mist rising from cottonwood trees, Yosemite NP, CA, USA

42. Mist rising from cottonwood trees, Yosemite NP, CA

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

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

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

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

45. Ice formations in the Merced River, Yosemite

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

46. Snowy black oaks, late autumn, Yosemite

Moon reflected in the Merced River with ice and frost, Yosemite NP, CA, USA

47. Moon reflected in the Merced River with ice and frost, Yosemite

Ross's geese resting in a marsh, San Joaquin Valley, CA, USA

48. Ross’s geese resting in a marsh, San Joaquin Valley, CA

Ross's geese taking flight, San Joaquin Valley, CA, USA

49. Ross’s geese taking flight, San Joaquin Valley, CA

Related Posts: 2011: My Best Images; 2012: My Top Ten Images

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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.