Each new year, I try to look back at the last year and reflect on my favorite shots. I usually try to wait until the year actually ends before making this judgment, because I don’t want to shortchange images from the last weeks, or even days, of the year. And sure enough, one of my shots from the last week of the year made the list this time. Starting with a first pass of 35 images, I present to you the top 15. Really hard to leave some off.

In previous years, my choices were dominated by landscape shots (2010 included a trip to New Mexico/Utah/Colorado that resulted in some stunning landscapes). 2011 represented some major changes in my photography. No big trips in 2011, so I concentrated on shooting people. Models, Bands, Friends, Families. The work shown here is mostly of models or music.

I shot a couple of fashion shows in 2011, and (more fun and creative for me) shot a bunch  of promo shots of the models and outfits before some shows. I also attended a much of NC Photography Group meetups where I met more models. And I even shot some girls I’d met via Model Mayhem. I started building an arsenal of lighting gear and concentrated heavily on getting better and better. It was awesome.

As in 2010, I also worked putting together the photoSPARK component to the SPARKcon art festival in Raleigh. For 2011, we came up with the idea of doing a joint show with Hopscotch Music Festival (which is the week before SPARKcon) that focused on local concert photography and the local music scene. I’m actually amazed looking back that I pulled off the show, that ran for 3 weeks concurrent with Hopscotch and SPARKcon. I also attended and shot all 3 days of Hopscotch, which was really incredible. So many great bands and it has led to the discovery of so much great music.

2012 should be interesting. I’ve got a show coming up in the late spring of my landscapes. And I’m started to shoot more and more models. This is gonna be fun.

Update: I originally posted that I was picking 20 favorites. Turns out I only picked 15. Here are 5 more photos.