Best/Favorite image of 2011

Unfortunatly I didnt dive in the amount that I am used to in 2011, but I managed 20 or so dives in Eilat and this is my favourite one:

My favorite image of 2011:

Fabulous images everyone, I look forward to this thread every year. My favorite image came after a 15 year quest to see a whale shark. I know the classic shot is mouth open, but this guy was looking at me so intently, a brief connection. This one is my favorite.

Fletcher

I always love this thread. Fantastic photos everyone. Here's my choice:

I have some shots that I maybe prefer personally, but this one ended up on the cover of the Roatan divesite guide book so that makes me happy. Taken on the mast of the El Aguila wreck in Roatan.

Cheers,

dano

I am actually still working on this technique but I'll post anyway. The shot is a +10 Subsee of Tunicates. However, I am trying to turn it into a watercolor-like painting. Essentially the background will be water-color like but the foreground will maintain the clarity of the photograph. D-300, Af-105VR f/32 1/250

Here's my favourite of the year.

This was taken during a trip with my wife and a few from our local dive club to the Maldives. It's a destination I always dreamt about, so we jumped at the opportunity.

I had got a 100mm macro lens for my birthday from my wife, but didn't get a chance to get it in the water before the trip. Most dives were going wide angle- with the hope of Manta's and Whale Sharks (which didn't disappoint).

I like this shot because it seems so surreal, being able to clearly see it's "teeth". I have it printed 12x16 in the entrance to our unit and it looks so menacing, even though the Anemonefish is tiny!

Breaking with tradition, I'll start the fave/best shot thread since everyone else more qualified is busy. I was thinking of which shot to post: Marlins, sharks, whales, baitballs, penguins etc etc... but one shot stood out among the thousands I took this year. Now this subject has few peers when it comes to the underwater kingdom. He is the only animal whose eyes are filtered, almost magically! All other animals behave around him like adoring puppies, even humans! Why? Because he is Doctor Alex Mustard, and he is the most helpful, kindest and genuine guy you can find. Nobody can say anything bad about him and everyone loves him. He has no critics (well one other!) because he is a happy uw photog.... or is he?

Yes, more important than finding the rarest shot of marlins mating with dolphins and giant squid playing nurse maid to flamboyant cuttlefish, I finally shot the real Alex Mustard. Beneath the kind, gentle and to many... sexy (rrrrwoowrr!) exterior hides an angry man. He may take fantastic photos of people in diving positions, but secretly he is really ....

Thought I'd put one up of him too

Hot Rocks, Komodo

Here's one of my favorites from 2011.

This summer was one of the best for Loggerhead Turtle nests here in Palm Beach, Florida. On this dive we must have seen close to a dozen on a section of The Breakers reef called Turtle Island, you had to watch out drifting or you would crash into one!

Happy Holidays,

Gary

Fab images everyone ..beautiful!

This pic means so much on so many levels, and marks the point where the lights finally came on...my first time in Bali...my first visit to Indonesia...my first time south of the equator....my first Bintang..

my first underwater photo workshop... where I was truely free to make pictures...and dive with kindred souls......

It was inspirational, magical....and unforgettable.

Dedicated to those that were there, and to those who inspire me here.

Thank you, and happy snapping in 2012.

:-)

My best moment of the year was spotting this juvenile ornate ghost pipefish on a recent dive trip in Anilao. It was very close to the bottom and I almost had to dig a hole in the sand to get an upward shot against open water Other firsts for me this year were a mantis shrimp with a huge clutch of eggs and capturing the amazing courting display of the male sand diver.

Merry Christmas to all.

I tried, but I couldn't get it down to 1, so I posted 3

Upper left: Fairly Basslet, Grand Cayman. Leave it to me to get my best macro of the year at Alex's wide angle workshop. 105VR with my departed D300s.

Upper Right: Hawksbill Turtle - what you do with a large animal when you have a 60mm on. He was totally tame, fun interaction.

Lower; Big Ass Ugly Ling Cod. These are pretty common around here and I think I finally got a portrait I like. Shot with a XZ-1 P&S, single strobe, sometimes simple is better.

Cheers, Jack

I'd very much agree, great images everyone!

While maybe not my best, it is my favorite of 2011... so far! It was a sunny October day at a local dive site and I wanted to practice balancing ambient and strobe (fill) light. I looked up, saw the sun-ball and then found a clump of plumose anemones, then asked my wife to swim circles above me until we were able to combine all the elements! She was patient beyond what I deserve and while the plumose aren't the most striking foreground element, I like the photo. Thanks for looking.

Lee

A truly funny moment.

I spent one week this year shooting nothing but my Tokina 10-17 and another shooting just my 105mm macro. Learned a lot this year, here is a image from each.

three of my favorites from 2011. it was hard to pick just one. i just picked from underwater pics. no land based ones. this is my first attempt at posting a pic on here.

As always, a fantastic and inspiring group of pictures. Thanks for sharing.

I'm pretty sure it isn't my best image for 2011, but it is without doubt my favorite!

A morning spent at Crystal River was the perfect antidote to a hectic DEMA show. People had mentioned that the interaction you get with manatees is very special and they were absolutely right. When any large mammal choses to interact with me I feel immensely privileged, and boy did these guys interact with me!

I love manatees!

Wishing everyone safe diving and great shooting for 2012.

Adam

As everyone is breaking the one shot rule, I'm going to do it too.

This was my last dive with my P&S and the longest dive I've done so far (120 min), half the dive with day light and half the dive in the darkness of the night.

My wife is in the shot and that makes it more special for me (the only active woman tech diver in Chile).

This was my first dive, and only dive so far, with my new dSLR equipment. The dive was really fun and marks a new era for my photography.

Hi everyone, this is one of my favourites.

Taken on a stormy day in an estuary in Perth, West Australia on snorkel in 1 meter of water, visibility 1 meter.

I liked the symmetry and thought the seahorses expression in combination with the shallow milky water and dark overcast sky made for a weird atmosphere.

Rainy day by xanderwater, on Flickr

This is the one I printed for Christmas photos. Cropped for printing.

Rocha Partida, May 2011

This is my favorite from the year. It was taken on one of the last dives of Alex Mustard's Red Sea workshop. That week was the first time I was shooting wide angle so for me, this was the culmination of a weeks worth of lessons and I have a very distinct memory of where I was when I took the shot, how I set it up and what I was thinking as I was trying out various camera and strobe configurations.