I spent this morning looking through the photos I shot in 2016, and it was cool to relive some great photo trips – both personal and assigned. As usual, most of my work was shot in New England this year, but I had the honor to shoot for some new conservation clients as well as some new subject matter, such as Maine’s working waterfronts. Overall, I’m happy with what I produced and I’ve made an attempt to select out my favorite 10 images of the year, a task I always find challenging. I’m sure if you ask me to choose from these same photos again a year from now I’d come up with a different list, maybe much different. The photos in this list are in no particular order, though the above shot of Mount Madison in the fall in New Hampshire’s White Mountains was my most ‘liked’ image on social media this year. The list is a mix of landscape and recreation images, with one hard-working lobsterman thrown in. Some of these I chose because they best represented the moment. Others I chose because the moment itself was a favorite. If you like these and want to see my first edit, which resulted in a Top 50, you can check out this gallery.
Without further delay, here are my favorites of 2016:
Kayaking a small pond in Barrington, New Hampshire. Sunset. (Jerry and Marcy Monkman)
Dawn on the Mattawamkeag River as it flows through the Reed Plantation in Wytipitlock, Maine. (Jerry Monkman)
Dawn in Broad Cove on Appledore Island, Maine. Isles of Shoals. (Jerry Monkman)
Sunset from the Schoodic Peninsula in Maine’s Acadia National Park. Raven’s Nest. (Jerry Monkman)
Fog and Echo Lake at sunrise in Maine’s Acadia National Park. (Jerry Monkman)
Ryan Schultz, crew on the lobster boat “Overkill” at the Friendship Lobster Co-op in Friendship, Maine. (Jerry Monkman)
A man pulls a canoe through shallow water on the East Branch of the Penobscot River in Maine’s Northern Forest. Fall. (Jerry Monkman)
A young couple paddles a canoe on Long Pond in Maine’s north woods. At the Appalachian Mountain Club’s Gorman Chairback Lodge. Near Greenville, Maine. (Jerry Monkman)
A teenage girl hikes the Knife Edge Trail on Mount Katahdin in Maine’s Baxter State Park. (Jerry Monkman)
Happy New Year everyone!
-Jerry
Jerry,
Like you and many other professional photographers I, an amateur, have for the last several years been sharing with family and friends what I chose as my “best photos” for the past year. It always amazes me that I can recall not only the moment but also the mood of the time when I took those shots. But that is what photography is all about. When I ask those with whom I share my images to give me feedback on the pictures they think are the best of the best I sometimes am surprised – and educated – by their perceptions. And that is good!
As for your photographs they are all excellent and display a variety of moments and moods. The one of Mount Madison is also my personal favorite as I am a sucker for transitions in a landscape. That picture of autumn giving way to winter is something that is able to be seen in the mountains as you have in New England and we have in Colorado, but my family and friends back in Ohio can rarely experience.
Sorry I diverged but to me landscape photography is also a philosophy.
Have a great 2017, both professionally and personally!
Jim
Hi Jim,
I definitely relive the moment when I look at photos, even those I shot twenty or more years ago. And I’ve noticed that sometimes all I remember from my journeys are those moments captured in photos. I find it interesting to read old travel journals of mine because they reveal to me all of the moments I’ve forgotten because they weren’t in a photo I took. Happy New Year!
These are all fantastic images. The sunburst shots are all great in the landscapes, but especially good on the canoe shot. Wishing you the very best for 2017. Be well, my friend. 🙂
Thanks Gary! I’ve always loved shooting sunbursts, but I was surprised how much I used that technique this year – I’m glad you like them! It’s great to hear from you and I hope you are well too!