Best/Favorite image of 2011

Amazing photos on here!

I just spent the last 8 months on Oahu. I spent more then half of that time trying to get sunset wave photos using dive strobes, then cheep speedlights, and then hotlights. Mostly ending in frustration, but a few good shots came out.

And underwater I think my favorite was one I did for my first commercial photo shoot. It is simple, but clean.

I definitely wish I was still Hawaii. But we will see what kind of adventures Seattle brings!

Thousands of fall run American River Chinook salmon smolts race through the water as they are released into the mouth of the American River in Sacramento on Thursday,May 5, 2011. The state Department of Fish and Game released 3 million juvenile salmon, raised at Nimbus Hatchery, to improve their survival chances and increase the odds they will return to the river to spawn.

I dove very little this year, but I shot this for a newspaper article for work.

It was a slim year for diving. Alot of " life issues ". This was my favorite for its simplicity, and I think elegance

Wow, fantastic images, keep them coming!

Really great pictures here!!! This one is from near Socorro island in May where we ran into school of false killer whales (Pseudorca crassidens). Great trip as a whole, but this encounter really was something special!

2011 was a good year! Already look forward to dives in all the new (and old) places in 2012!!!

Here are mine, both from the Philippines on a trip to Moalboal.

Here is one of my best shots (lucky timing, mostly).

and here is my favorite (from Pescador Island)

-Erwin

Here is one of my best shots (lucky timing, mostly).

I have been shooting quite a number of parasites on fish this year. This is probably my best.

My personal favourite photo from this year 2012 ( and I am happy to see that National Geographic shares my point of view ) is my shot named "Lightning Squids" . I could write books about this one...but know what ? "Let the photo talk for itself !!"

And who really need to read words, please read this from Tony Wu :-)

Write up/review by Tony Wu :

"Hi everyone,

I'd like to highlight this image, contributed by Rico Besserdich:

I'm a huge fan of unique perspectives on familiar subjects and scenes. I'm sure many of the people in this group have dived under a jetty at night. When I do so, it's usually with a macro lens in hand, looking down for interesting subjects. It's rare that I look up, and even more rare that I do so while carrying a lens with a wide perspective.

This image comes across to me as a clever play off the standard "shoot up with sun in background" type of shot, with the reflected strobe light in this instance creating the illusion of a source of light above the jetty. The situation, perspective and lighting make for an interesting set-up, and then the person standing on the jetty makes the shot.

Without the person, the squid would sort of be floating in space. The person provides a visual anchor, making it easy to understand the situation at a glance. I've had the honour of being a judge for three photo contests this year. While looking at thousands of great pictures, I kept finding myself thinking: "I wish there were more original images".

Not necessarily photos of rare subjects or big animals, but photos with a unique take on familiar subjects, like this one. "

1st December 2011 Tony Wu

A pleasant & happy new year to all of you !!!

Happy Bubbles,

Rico

http://www.maviphoto.com

This is my favorite shot from last year because I actually found this Pigmy myself -- no help from the guide. The result was that I was first in line -- as opposed to last. The pigmy knew it was discovered and moved around so I had to follow it but it wasn't turning away in response to a flash.

So, with a +10 subsee on an Af-105-VR lens the minimum focus distance is less than 3". I positioned my camera at about 2" and backed out slowly until the Pigmy came in focus. Knowing that Pigmys don't like a flash I took one shot. The first is full frame cropped only on one axis while the second is a crop shgowing the crown on the pigmy's head.

This was a terrible year for diving as my family and dive buddy had health issues that kept us out of the water. To compensate or because I am crazy, I began scanning nearly 10,000 slides from years gone by. What was amazing for me were images with subjects that I can't remember or don't know if I have seen (in the original slides). This one in particular amazed me as I have never seen a long-finned squid underwater in New Jersey but little did I know that I had captured one (albeit a juvenile) so many years ago. The picture is of the bell of a Lion's mane jellyfish. There is an arrow worm sitting on the bell and a juvenile long-finned squid laying its tentacles onto the jellyfishes' bell. Although I did not take this photo in 2011, it truly is new to me.

I am still learning and this year my only dives were in the mucky waters of Costa Rica so compared to others they rank pretty far down on the wow scale but what I do like is that I was at least seeing the composition.

There are some gorgeous shots here, what a pleasure to scroll through this thread

Here are two of my favorites. I'm still learning my new setup, but since I'm more comfortable with macro I will spare you my failed wide-angle attempts Most of the time I try to find colorful and simple images as they speak to me most. Both shots were taken around Vancouver Island, BC, still one of the most amazing places to dive.

Happy new year 2012 everybody...

This was taken in Dahab and gave me a real wow moment. I only had one strobe at the time and only had the DSLR for a few months. I took a couple of shots and was really disappointed with the colouring. I made a slight adjustment to the strobe positioning and edged slightly closer and suddenly all the beautiful reds came out. No need to Photoshop.

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.

Love the second one of the manta with shark silhouettes above -- where was this one taken?

Nothing compared to the other great pictures here but I liked these two I took in Cozumel.

Wow, a great collection as usual- always a good browse.

I've been mostly shooting video this year, but a couple from a trip with Alex Tattersall in the Red Sea back in Feb:

and

Both with EOS 7D- first one Tok 10-17 with 1.4tc, second one with 60mm macro. Remind me of having lots of fun in warm water.

Red Sea 2011

D300, Sea&Sea housing, x2 DS125

AMAZING pictures !!!!

Here is the one I liked most, this year. I had better ones, but this is the one I like (And the name is just right for the season... Christmas tree worm ) .