The votes are all in and counted, and here are my top photographs of 2025!

We had a great response this year: 542 people looked through my initial selection of 52 images and voted for their favorites. A big thank you to everyone who took the time to view 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… Judy Kramer! Judy will receive a signed and numbered 16×20 print of her choice from among the 45 original selections. Congratulations Judy!

I decided to make this final list a top twelve, rather than a top ten, because numbers eleven and twelve were a couple of my favorites. So here’s the list of my top twelve photos from 2025:

1. Image #12, Dancing red-crowned cranes, Hokkaido, Japan, 217 votes
2. Image #10, Snow, trees, and sunbeams, Hokkaido, Japan 211 votes
3. Image #8, River and snow-covered trees, Hokkaido, Japan, 202 votes
4. Image #17, Brown pelicans at sunset, Northern California coast, 194 votes
5. Image #44, Dappled light at a canyon overlook, Utah, 174 votes
6. Image #11, Sun, tree, snow, and cloud iridescence, Hokkaido, Japan, 159 votes
7. Image #4, Gentoo penguins and small icebergs, Antarctica, 155 votes
8. Image #5, Ice mushroom, Antarctica, 154 votes
8. Image #18, Sunlight, fog, and redwoods, Northern California, 150 votes
10. Image #21, Lake, clouds, and granite domes at sunrise, Yosemite NP, California, 148 votes
11. Image #28, Aspens reflected in a marsh, Utah, 147 votes
12. Image #2. Clouds and mountains in an icy bay, Antarctica, 137 votes

In case you’re curious, numbers 25 (Aurora, Scoresby Sund, Greenland), 45 (Autumn color in a desert wash, Utah), and 27 (Backlit aspens, Utah) rounded out the top 15.

As you can see, the voting was close, with a spread of just 23 votes between the first- and fourth-place photos. There were a lot of choices, and no obvious standout candidate that would be likely to get the most votes, so things were more evenly spread out than in some other years.

And the three images with the most votes were all from Hokkaido! (In fact four of the top six were from Hokkaido.) That was a wonderful trip, with great conditions, and I thought I was seeing well there, and apparently that came through in the photographs. I hope to go back there some day.

Did any of my favorites not make the list? Well they’re all my favorites, so yes, of course. 🙂 But one of my particular favorites, number 45, Autumn Color in a Desert Wash, was 14th (with 132 votes), so it just missed out on making the top 12. Another particular favorite, number 41, Mud Patterns With Reflected Light, was 21st (with 95 votes).

Anyway, it’s always fun to see what people select, and I hope you’ve enjoyed this process also. Here are the top twelve images:
 

12. Dancing red-crowned cranes, Hokkaido, Japan

10. Snow, trees, and sunbeams, Hokkaido, Japan

8. River and snow-covered trees, Hokkaido, Japan

17. Brown pelicans at sunset, Northern California coast, USA

44. Dappled light at a canyon overlook, Utah, USA

11. Sun, tree, snow, and cloud iridescence, Hokkaido, Japan

4. Gentoo penguins and small icebergs, Antarctica

5. Ice mushroom, Antarctica

18. Sunlight, fog, and redwoods, Northern California, USA

21. Lake, clouds, and granite domes at sunrise, Yosemite NP, CA, USA

28. Aspens reflected in a marsh, Utah, USA

2. Clouds and mountains in an icy bay, Antarctica

Related Posts: My Best Photographs of 2025: The Nominees; My Top Photographs of 2024; My Top Photographs of 2023; My Top Photographs of 2022; My Top Photographs of 2021

Michael Frye is a professional photographer specializing in landscapes and nature. He lives near Yosemite National Park in California, but travels extensively to photograph natural landscapes in the American West and throughout the world.

Michael uses light, weather, and design to make photographs that capture the mood of the landscape, and convey the beauty, power, and mystery of nature. His work has received numerous awards, including the North American Nature Photography Association’s 2023 award for Fine Art in Nature Photography. Michael’s photographs have appeared in publications around the world, and he’s the author and/or principal photographer of several books, including Digital Landscape Photography: In the Footsteps of Ansel Adams and the Great Masters, and The Photographer’s Guide to Yosemite.

Michael loves to share his knowledge of photography through articles, books, workshops, online courses, and his blog. He’s taught over 200 workshops focused on landscape photography, night photography, digital image processing, and printing.