Best of 2012

For most people, the end of a year causes much anticipation of the new year that lies ahead, but we normally take a moment to reflect on the year that just finished.  As photographers, we tend to do the same.  As we hurry through our usual daily routines, sometimes it’s easy to forget just what all actually happened in a year.  Especially when you are my age and you forget a lot of stuff.  :) 

I will say that 2012 was - photographically speaking - an incredible year.  I had the opportunity to visit a lot of new places, and of course brought along my Nikon to document them.  Here’s a little travel summary for the year: 

• Flew over 100,000 miles
• Visited 10 foreign countries (some twice!): England, Scotland, Ireland, Denmark, Belgium, The Netherlands, Slovakia, Austria, Canada and Panama
• Visited at least as many US Cities
• Took 30,000+ photos
• Had a blast doing the above

As you can imagine, it’s hard to pick your favorite photos from a large group.  It’s like asking a parent to pick their favorite child - without the negative consequences, of course.  I love all my photos - that’s why I took them - but I have been able to narrow it down and came up with a group of 12 photos that for various reasons I consider my best work of 2012.  And no, I did not plan to pick 12 for 2012, it just sort of happened that way.

I also realized that I chose 6 from the US and 6 from Europe.  So, here are my 12 favorite shots from the year that we are leaving behind.  I raise a glass to you, 2012, you were kind to me in many ways, and I am thankful for that.

Here are my favorites from Europe:

And here are my favorites from the US: