Shot of the Year

'Tis the season of annual compilations, for all things.  Photography being my thing.  And Flickr has a group asking for contributions of "Your Best Shot: 2011."So I'm thinking - What does that mean?  Best?I love this one.  But is it the best?  I got into black and white this year... Something about being able to frame without the distraction of color, being able to just focus on the shapes...Maybe there are technical criteria for what is best ...  things are in focus in this shot, and its a pretty scene, and  I was having an adventure, looking for something sublime. But I was freezing my ass off, and worried about some mysterious park ranger arresting me...Or does best mean personally best... emotionally best?  These are my grandparents and my mom, standing in front of the Arc de Triomphe together for the first time in, I don't know, 50 years, and showing the world that Love is a completely real, tangible thing.  Kind of amazing.Am I even qualified to say what was the best?  Or should this be determined by what others thought?  If that's it, then here is my 'most viewed' photo of the year, although the moment itself really meant nothing significant to me personally..  just a pretty moment in an ugly rainstorm.

And is this really about Me, at all?  What about photos I took that mean so much to others?   Here is Annie, she is new and means the world to her parents, and I like this photo a lot, but maybe not in the same way that they do................................................................................................................................Of course there are images that don't really fit in, when I think of best...  cell phone shots of a dartboard...  an arm's length self-portrait... a beer on a sunny beach.  What was the point of saving these? Couldn't possibly be my best...  but if you start asking me questions, and I start answering them, you might eventually hear a cool story...