My Favorite 10 Images from 2008

It's always useful to look back and reevaluate what happened in the past year as it helps to determine where one wants to be in the next year. Thanks to the idea from Jim Goldstein, whose blog I am following, I took the time to go back through my images I took and published in 2008 and select my favorite 10. It wasn't easy to do, but in the process I learned that I am more attached to some images than to the others. Here is my list.

Honorable Mention - Life of Color in Alviso

Alviso is not the prettiest place in the Bay Area, but an interesting one for a photographer. There is a lot of color, a lot of rust, and generally this ghost town looks like life stopped there 50 years ago. I like this image because of how it captures the nature of Alviso.

#10 - Tough Choice

This was a first time to a pumpkin patch for Maks and for myself. He took the choice seriously, evaluating all pumpkins in front him.

#9 - The Edge of the Day at the Golden Gate

I like how lines in this images express motion, structure and mood of this memorable sunset in the Golden Gate area. This image also generated the most print sales for me this past year.

#8 - Lamb Day: The Parade

Lot of my wife's most cherished memories are connected to the Lamb Day in Fountain Green, Utah, and the parade in particular. When I got there, this was exactly the image I visualized in my head, a small kid going after the candy.

#7 - Indian Summer in Napa Valley

This was one of my most favorite places we visited last year. The rows of grapes go on for miles, creating all kinds of beautiful visuals.

#6 - Colors of Art

I thought the colors captured as they reflected in this image were appropriate, as they were coming from nearby museums and galleries promoting art. Again, the relationships between the lines and curves were interesting to watch. Perhaps it is my engineering background that was dominating my brain.

#5 - Magic Light on the Sunny Jim

I wasn't supposed to take this image, but the training I was in got out earlier and I grabbed my camera to see if I encounter any luck with the light and the skies to compliment the composition I had in mind. Luckily, I was there just at the rare few minutes when setting sun eliminated the Bay Bridge.

#4 - Hey Pops!

My family. Enough said.

#3 - A Summer Day in San Francisco

SF summer oftentimes means fog, and that's what I had to face when I drove up there one afternoon. At least I came back to sunny San Jose with one B&W image that captured that mood.

#2 - Winter Wonderland

What a sunset that was and I was lucky to stand next to a beautiful peace of architecture, which was completely transformed by this unbelievable light.

#1 - Discovery

One day I'll be laying on my deathbed, looking back at my life. When I'll think of 2008, this will probably be an image that will first come back to my memory. I think I enjoyed watching Maks grow more than anything else that's happened to us. This was the first time I saw him stop, and just gaze at this beautiful Santa Cruz sunset. I don't think kids appreciate nature as much as we adults too, but this was a moment of amazement to him - perhaps first time he's discovered the event we call 'sunset.' When I saw this image on the back LCD of my camera, I knew right away this was going to be my favorite image from 2008.