Top Ten Photographs of 2015

StreetObservations.com - John Fraissinet - For the eleventh year (since 2005 if you do the match), I present my Top 10 pictures taken during the past year.  

This year, there are five black and white and five color photos (although one of the color pictures is all gray and looks black and white so I'm not sure how to classify that).    

Seven pictures were taken, as usual, on the streets of Manhattan and three were taken at sea during a cruise to Alaska.  Five are people shots.  That's all of the classification I'll do.  No shots are ever posed by me for this collection, of course.  

So, anyway, here are the Top 10 presented chronologically as taken over the course of the year.  (Click each picture to see it larger). 

1.  Suspended Animation (January 20) - Construction continues on the World Trade Center site.  Cranes move workers into hard to reach places.  In this case, the arm of the crane extends over Church Street and near the work on the spikes of the new Transportation Center.      

Suspended Animation

2.  Careful Steps (February 2) - This is just a few blocks from Wall Street and the Stock Exchange.  I often am amazed by the variety of people who must live in this area.  You can see people walking their dogs and people who no longer need to work.  This is where they choose to live, even when the weather is bad.  

Careful Steps

3.  Cobblehome (March 9) - Snow was still on the ground come March.  And, the puddles reflect back the glow off the buildings of Spring just around the corner.  

Cobblehome

4.  Eskimo Kiss (March 20) - Snow was still falling in late March but only occasionally.  I was in the crowd enjoying the large snowflakes when this couple made their rendez-vous just outside of the PATH train station.

Eskimo Kiss

5.  Free as the Wind (June 8) - Clearly the weather turned for the better when June came around.  The freshness of the air inspired this girl as she crossed Park Place not far from City Hall.  

Free As The Wind

6.  Twin Glaciers (August 17) - This is the first of three pictures taken up north on a trip to Alaska.  This day the ship went through the Tracy Arm Fjord in the early morning.  Watching from a balcony just off my stateroom, I took picture after picture of mountains shrouded in mist.  I didn't think a ship could get this close to glaciers and I had visions of the Titanic.  

The Glacier Twins

7.  Whopper of a Whale (August 17) - Little did we know how rare it was to see Whales breaching like this.  We also saw the Humpbacks bubble feeding.  Our guide, who had lived in Alaska for 15 years, said he only saw that happen twice in all that time.  

Whopper of a Whale

8.  Sailing to Dusk (August 20) - As the sun went down on the last day of our Alaska cruise, we had stopped for the day in Victoria, Canada.  It was a beautiful day, and as we watched the sky turn colors, the sailboats took one last turn before coming back to shore.  

Sailing to Dusk

9.  Film Noir (September 25) - This couple basked in the sunlight, as the strong rays outlined their relationship with strong shadows.  

Film Noir

10.  Roll of the Dice (October 7) - The plaza was generally free of people as this restaurant worker crossed with his red apron matching the red cube.  

Roll of the Dice

Those are the Top 10 photos for this year.  You can see my selections from some of the prior years here:  2014, 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010, and 2009.   Also, if you look back on the blog over the year, you will see some new pictures and little details about how they came to be.

As far as my regular activity, if you'd like to follow my work, I continue to post to multiple online sites, Google+, Flickr, Facebook, Tumblr and Instagram.  And, for more background about each picture, in this blog (StreetObservations.com).   

A good presentation of my portfolio is available at Smugmug.  There you can even Buy a Photo if you are so inclined.  If you don't see the one you like, let me know and I'll make it available.   

Happy New Years, and  I am visualizing a fantastic year ahead for everyone.