The votes are all in and counted, and here are my top photographs of 2015!

We had an amazing response this year: a record-breaking 510 people looked through my initial selection of 46 images and voted for their favorites here on the blog, on Facebook, Google+, and through 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 also, many thanks to my wonderful assistant Claudia who tallied all those votes!

To express our gratitude to all the voters we’ve decided to give away two prints this year. We assigned each person who voted a number, and used a random number generator to pick the recipients. And the winners are… Mike Lynch and Gabor Ruff! Mike and Gabor will each receive a signed, numbered, matted 16×20 print of their choice from among the 46 original selections. Congratulations Mike and Gabor!

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

    1. Image # 21, Lightning over the San Joaquin Valley from the Sierra Nevada foothills, 292 votes

    2. Image # 13, Sand dune and the Milky Way at night, Death Valley, 280 votes

    3. Image # 38, El Capitan by moonlight, Yosemite, 230 votes

    4. Image # 7, Upper Yosemite Fall illuminated by the rising moon, Yosemite, 215 votes

    5. Image # 39, Reflections along the Merced River, winter, Yosemite, 212 votes

    6. Image # 1, Blue oaks and misty ridges, Sierra Nevada foothills, 150 votes

    7. Image # 43, Gates of the Valley by moonlight, Yosemite, 144 votes

    8. Image # 14, Dogwoods, mist, and ponderosa pines, Yosemite, 137 votes

    9. Image # 37, Clearing storm by moonlight from Tunnel View, Yosemite, 136 votes

    10. Image # 28, Aspens and reflections, Uncompahgre NF, CO, 131 votes

Rounding out the top 16 were numbers 19, 32, 6, 23, 12, and 9 (the last two were tied).

Six out of the top ten were nighttime images. I did a lot of night photography last year, and tried to push myself to make images that went beyond what I’d done before, so it’s gratifying to know those images resonated with many people. Thank you!

Perhaps the most surprising member of this list is number 1, Blue Oaks and Misty Ridges, which received the sixth-most votes. I like this photograph very much, but I didn’t expect it to be so popular because it’s a soft and subtle image – and black and white too. As I said, my readers have excellent taste. 🙂

If you’re wondering about my personal favorites, most of them are in this top ten. Two that I’m particularly fond of that didn’t make it are number 5, Ross’s Geese Taking Flight at Sunset, and number 29, Aspen Trunks Near Telluride, Colorado, but I don’t think I’d place them above any of the images that did make the top ten, and there’s only room for, well, ten images in that group. (How’s that for advanced math!) I was pleased to see that number 14, Dogwoods, Mist, and Ponderosa Pines, made the list, because it’s one of my all-time favorite dogwood images.

I’ll be submitting this post to Jim Goldstein’s blog project shortly. Thanks to Jim and G Dan Mitchell for providing the original inspiration for putting together this list back in January of 2011, and helping to start this tradition.

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

Lightning over the San Joaquin Valley from the Sierra Nevada foothills, California, USA

21. Lightning over the San Joaquin Valley from the Sierra Nevada foothills, California, USA


 

Sand dune and the Milky Way at night, Death Valley NP, CA, USA

7. Sand dune and the Milky Way at night, Death Valley NP, CA, USA

El Capitan by moonlight, Yosemite NP, CA, USA

38. El Capitan by moonlight, Yosemite NP, CA, USA

Upper Yosemite Fall illuminated by the rising moon, Yosemite NP, CA, USA

7. Upper Yosemite Fall illuminated by the rising moon, Yosemite NP, CA, USA

Reflections along the Merced River, winter, Yosemite NP, CA, USA

39. Reflections along the Merced River, winter, Yosemite NP, CA, USA

Blue oaks and misty ridges, Sierra Nevada foothills, Mariposa County, CA, USA

1. Blue oaks and misty ridges, Sierra Nevada foothills, Mariposa County, CA, USA

Gates of the Valley by moonlight, Yosemite NP, CA, USA

43. Gates of the Valley by moonlight, Yosemite NP, CA, USA

Dogwoods, mist, and ponderosa pines, Yosemite NP, CA, USA

14. Dogwoods, mist, and ponderosa pines, Yosemite NP, CA, USA

Clearing storm by moonlight from Tunnel View, Yosemite NP, CA, USA

37. Clearing storm by moonlight from Tunnel View, Yosemite NP, CA, USA

Aspens and reflections, Uncompahgre NF, CO, USA

28. Aspens and reflections, Uncompahgre NF, CO, USA

Related Posts: Picking My Best Images of 2015; My Top Photographs of 2014; 2013: 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 Yosemite, Yosemite Meditations, Yosemite Meditations for Women, Yosemite Meditations for Adventurers, 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: The Essential Step-by-Step Guide. Michael 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.NP, CA, USA[/caption]