It’s late for adding to Jim Goldstein’s ten best shots of 2010, but that won’t stop me from making one anyway. I’m not sure that these rate, anyway. Besides, reviewing images is a good east to see how far you’ve come, and gives you an idea as to where you’re heading.

So that being said, ten of my best images that were posted to Flickr. Criteria for this list: they had to mean something to me.

A self-portrait.  A bit narcisstic for my tastes, but I liked the overal colors, lighting pattern… the details in the magazine.  It was pointed out that it’s at best an homage to David Hobby (the Strobist), although that was unintentional.  I was trying to capture my interest in photography, diving, and supporting NatGeo, which I think I succeeded at.  I also find it somewhat melancholy: one of the divers featured in that issue died a very short time later.

One of my early images of 2010.  The composition could be better, but it is a triumph of natural color: not photoshopped, this – just natural light on a properly set camera.

Another image that I love for multiple reasons.  This was made with a small pocket camera (Panasonic LX3) while walking around on the Big Island of Hawaii.  A simple snapshot, but again it captured the colors brilliantly.  And the moon, despite being such a wide-angled lens.  Iconic silhouettes, the repeating palms, and the empty space for the moon all make this one of my favorites for the year.

Lesson to oneself: never go diving with an unfamiliar camera.  Your photos will look like crap, and you’ll lose much of the fun of diving.  Another lesson to oneself: disregard all rules, and you might get something like this.

This shot was pure luck – taken, not made.  Shot pretty blindly, in fact, at racing dolphins.  Extreme haze in the water – details had to be brought back in with photoshop.  Some burning, a lot of curve work. And still one of the best images of the year.  Pity it’s only in jpg format, and that I was fighting the camera for much of the dive.

The richness of color, the tight focus, even the delicate loss of focus on the toes: all make for an extremely minimalist work, yet one with great contrast and a touch of melencholy.  Or perhaps a touch of hope, depending on how you choose to see life. I see this and think of my daughter’s first recital. The emotional touch and simplicity are enough to make this a solid favorite.

Disclaimer: I like this image, but I don’t love this image, y’know? It’s alright, and appropriate in black and white. It feels like a rip-off of other, better images that I’ve seen.  But it’s probably my most popular image of the year, and thus it deserves a spot here. That diver is Pauline from Mike Severns Diving, by the way.  If you’re on Maui, give them a shout!

The wide tonal range along with the dead-on hues (raining, but with light from the golden hour) made this an instant favorite for me.  Each time I see this, I feel good. Especially when I see the lighting on the car.

This is one of my HDR images from the year.  I suppose I particularly like it because it’s one of those subtle HDRs that really does the technique justice.  And it made a really cool rainbow ending in a house geting bathed in golden sunset light. That’s just cool.

An HDR, and one that could be arguably oversaturated.  I’m OK with that, in this case.  The HDR effect allowed me to capture the subtle pointing of the cloud and the delicate details of the hues in the grass. Clouds went high-key, but not blown out.

An underwater image in Maui, with flash.  Not only is the clarity astounding to me (impressive enough, with a P&S), but that nothing was blown out?  It’s tough, making great images under water.  I’m happy if I get one or two after several days of diving.  This was one of the best, as far as colors were concerned.

You may not like it, but I love it.

Towards the end of the year I started experimenting heavily with film.  Great learning experience, that. I’m still working on that, in fact.  This is one of my favorites from the early shots that I made.  The lack of sharpness, the haze, the subtler shifts in tone, the old-timey feel… all make this one of my immediate faves.

Coming next, part 2 – also known as “what was I thinking?”