[GaliWalker]

Here's the thread for your best one-three photos of 2022. Previous years' threads here: 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010. To reiterate, the guidelines are that you decide the criteria for why it makes your top-3, technically or otherwise. However, please let us know that reason.

[GaliWalker]

I did not have a standout photo in 2022 from a technical perspective. I'm still going to pick a single picture, based on how long I waited to get to the target location.

The Twelve Apostles, Australia

I waited more than 20yrs before I got to see this iconic sight, which I'd first seen in a book on landscape photography (and many times since in all types of media). Of the twelve sea stacks, for which the spot is named, only eight remain. We got there the evening before on a rainy afternoon. The viewpoint was packed with people despite the rain, and the wind was blowing the water sideways, so photography was disappointing. I returned the next morning. It had rained all night and, in fact, was still raining off and on. The waterfall in the foreground was newly formed by the overnight rain. I was fully expecting to miss out on any color from the sunrise, but surprisingly got a splash of it due to filtered sunshine spilling onto the clouds from a gap between the horizon and the clouds. It all ended up being quite magical. Oh yes, I took this photo from under an umbrella.

[jaysway]

GaliWalker your photos are some of the best and most inspiring on this forum, which says a lot given the level of talent we have on here. If you have any other photos that you took from last year that you loved please share them in addition to your Twelve Apostles photo . Edit: You posted some other amazing shots in the individual calendar thread, I'm just seeing that now.

[GaliWalker]

Thanks jaysway. Since, you've already seen the pics in the calendar, I will put up one more photo from 2022, but taken after the cutoff for my calendar selection. Philosophically, I like to include a figure in landscape photos; the idea being to allow the viewer to 'connect' to the scene. Unfortunately, this isn't a simple thing to do for me because I'm primarily a solo hiker. The solution is use myself as the model. This photo was taken on my annual Thanksgiving trip to New England, atop New Hampshire's Mount Monadnock. Conditions in late November can be pretty chilly up there, with high winds and way below freezing temperatures, so setting up and taking a 'selfie' can be challenging. Thankfully, this year the temperatures were relatively mild, so I was able to pull the trigger (literally). I used a long-range remote shutter release here to fire off the shot.

[Navy salad]

Even though my photos are a far cry from many on this forum (especially the OP!), here are my _two_ favorites: The first was taken on the first day of a Section J hike I did with my son, taken on the way to Ridge lake. If only it wasn't cluttered up with some unnamed guy right in the middle!

The second was taken in the midst of that rocky area after Ridge lake, cluttered up with that same guy: