Top Ten Images of 2010

The response went far beyond my expectations. Over 100 people chimed in with their picks, and my wife Claudia had to create a spreadsheet to keep track of them all! My heartfelt thanks to all of you who voiced your opinions. I really appreciate your taking the time to help me make these difficult choices. (Click here to see all 46 original nominees.)

Although I reserved the right to override theses votes, in the end I decided that the collective wisdom was greater than mine, especially with so many people chiming in. Here's a list of the ten images which received the most picks, and the number of votes they each received:

1. Image #3, Winter sunrise from Tunnel View, 69 votes
2. Image #11, Redbud reflection II, 64 votes
3. Image #13, Horsetail Fall by moonlight, 64 votes
4. Image #9, Painted Hills in the Temblor Range (vertical), 45 votes
5. Image #18, Middle Gaylor Lake at sunset, 45 votes
6. Image #32, First light on Three Brothers (second version), 45 votes
7. Image #5, Gray pines after a snowstorm, 44 votes
8. Image #19, Sunrise, North Peak and Greenstone Lake, 42 votes
9. Image #40, Swirling mist, El Capitan Meadow, 39 votes
10. Image #42, Ice sculptures and Wildcat Fall, 39 votes

As you can see, there was actually a tie for second place, and the three-way tie for fourth. And some of the counts are skewed because I included two similar, slightly different images. The most prominent example of this is numbers 31 and 32, the two versions of First Light on Three Brothers. These actually got 22 and 23 votes respectively, but since they are so similar I felt that they split the vote, and one version deserved to be in the top ten, so I combined the votes and included the one that got, by a hair, more picks.

The whole process of trying to pick out my ten best photographs of the year was very interesting and rewarding; I'll write more about that soon. And I'm sorry if your favorites didn't make the final cut— some of my favorites didn't make it either! But overall I'm really pleased with this selection. It's a good mix of grand landscapes and more intimate, intricate compositions. Nice work everyone! I'll be submitting this post shortly to Jim Goldstein's blog project.

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

- Michael Frye

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