The votes are all in and counted, and here are my top photographs of 2021!

We had a great response this year: 562 people looked through my initial selection of 45 images and voted for their favorites. A big thank you to everyone who took the time to look through these photographs and voice your opinions! I also really appreciate the kind words so many people posted in the comments or sent by email. I wish I could respond to everyone, but please know that I’ve read them all and am very grateful for all your support.

To express our gratitude we’re giving away a print to one of the voters. We assigned a number to each person who voted, and used a random number generator to pick the recipient. And the winner is… Carol Irwin! Carol will receive a signed and numbered 16×20 print of her choice from among the 45 original selections. Congratulations Carol!

The biggest surprise in the voting this year is that number 6, El Capitan Emerging from Clouds, wasn’t among the top-ten vote-getters. In fact it was tied for 23rd. Perhaps people thought everyone else would vote for it, or that it had already received enough recognition. I don’t know the reason, but I do know that any list of my top photographs from 2021 needs to include that image. It might be my favorite photo ever of my favorite Yosemite formation, and it received a major award. So this list of my top photographs of 2021 includes the ten images that got the most votes, plus El Capitan Emerging from Clouds, and another favorite that barely missed the top ten, Fogbow in a Redwood Forest.

Here’s the list of my top twelve images from 2021:

1. Image # 3, Three Brothers, Sentinel Rock, and the Merced River at sunrise, Yosemite NP, California, 214 votes
2. Image # 16, Milky Way and meteor reflected in an alpine lake, Yosemite NP, California, 179 votes
3. Image # 44, Three Brothers on a misty winter night, Yosemite NP, California, 177 votes
4. Image # 8, Light and shadows on dogwood blossoms, Yosemite NP, California, 167 votes
5. Image # 20, People in the blue mist, Grand Prismatic Spring, Yellowstone NP, Wyoming, 162 votes
6. Image # 1, Misty ridges, Sierra Nevada foothills, California, 160 votes
7. (tie) Image # 27, Frosted aspens, Colorado, 152 votes
7. (tie) Image # 45, Half Dome, Glacier Point, and the Merced River at night, Yosemite NP, California, 152 votes
9. Image # 33, Oak and maples, Utah, 148 votes
10. Image # 40, Pink Pink light on El Capitan at sunset, Yosemite NP, California, 145 votes
11. Image # 6, El Capitan emerging from clouds, Yosemite NP, California (my pick)
12. Image # 13, Fogbow in a redwood forest, northern California (my pick)

In case you’re curious, filling out the top 15 in votes were numbers 36, 2, 13, 14, and 29.

Two of the top vote-getters for 2021 were made on December 29th (numbers 44 and 45). That’s why I don’t post a list of my best photos of the year until December 31st – because you never know when you’ll find a great opportunity!

While it needed a little help, overall I think this is a great collection, with a wide variety of images. I was pleased that Misty Ridges and Frosted Aspens received a lot of votes, as those two quieter images were among my favorites as well. Good work everyone! 🙂

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 twelve images:

3. Three Brothers, Sentinel Rock, and the Merced River at sunrise, Yosemite NP, California

16. Milky Way and meteor reflected in an alpine lake, Yosemite NP, California

44. Three Brothers on a misty winter night, Yosemite NP, California

8. Light and shadows on dogwood blossoms, Yosemite NP, California

20. People in the blue mist, Grand Prismatic Spring, Yellowstone NP, Wyoming

1. Misty ridges, Sierra Nevada foothills, California

27. Frosted aspens, Colorado

45. Half Dome, Glacier Point, and the Merced River at night, Yosemite NP, California

33. Oak and maples, Utah

40. Pink light on El Capitan at sunset, Yosemite NP, California

6. El Capitan emerging from clouds, Yosemite NP, California

13. Fogbow in a redwood forest, northern California

Related Posts: My Best Images of 2021: the Nominees; My Top Photographs of 2020; My Top Photographs of 2019; My Top Photographs of 2018;

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.