I asked a handful of our Around the Lens podcast panelists for their “best” photo of the year. All of them came back with some form of “hmm, that’s tough.” That wasn’t ego answering – it’s just like asking a parent “which kid is you “best.” Ok, maybe parents would be able to answer that – but “best” is open for interpretation.
Even I had a hard time with it. My shot below is from the RNC – it was a bit of luck, being in the right spot at the right time – but it also was from years of covering political events and spying a bit of pink in the crowd, something that I knew likely meant that there was a Code Pink protest about to take place.
So it begs the question, does “best” take into consideration the non-technical logistics of a photo, the meaning of the shot, just technical aspects of photography? From the shots below it seems to be a range of answers, that’s what I got from the conversations I had with the contributors.
We’d love to hear your take and see your favorite shot of the year in the comments – and if you were a panelist on the show sometime in the last year and I didn’t ask you for your shot, send it to me at zdroberts (at) gmail.com and I’ll update the post as I get more.
Julie Dermansky
Terry Boatner, 9 years old at a protest in Baton Rouge after a vigil for Alton Sterling at the Triple S Food Mart, Wednesday, July 6, 2016.
Nic Coury
Sen. Bernie Sanders pumps his fist in front of thousands of supporters after delivering his stump speech outside of Colton Hall in Monterey on May 31 while running for U.S. president in the Democratic primary.
Tyler LaRiviere
Chicago Cub’s Pitcher Jon Lester (left) embraces Cub’s First Basemen Anthony Rizzo (right) while holding the Commissioners Trophy as confetti falls during the Chicago Cub’s Victory Rally in Grant Park, Nov. 4, 2016, in Chicago. (Tyler LaRiviere/Chicagoist)
Doug Strickland
Law enforcement officers from across southeast Tennessee wait to lay roses during the annual Law Enforcement Memorial Ceremony on Market Street in front of the City-County Courts Building on Tuesday, May 10, 2016, in Chattanooga, Tenn. The annual ceremony honors the region’s law enforcement officers who have lost their lives in the course of duty. Doug Strickland/Chattanooga Times Free Press
CS Muncy
WESTHAMPTON BEACH, NY – Members of the 106th Rescue Wing Security Forces Squadron maneuver through concealing smoke during Tactical Combat Casualty Care training at FS Gabreski ANG on October 19, 2016. During this training, airmen learned to react to enemy contact and IED attacks, with an emphasis on immediate combat care.
Ryan McBride
People cheer as Democratic Presidential candidate Bernie Sanders speaks during his victory speech at Concord High School in Concord, New Hampshire on February 9, 2016. Early exit polling and official polling numbers show Trump winning the GOP Primary, and Sanders winning the Democratic Primary. Photo by Ryan McBride/UPI
Jim Vondruska
Chicago fire department battles a fire that engulfed the buyers flea market in humboldt park. Chicago, IL / March 2016
David Murphy
The Range Company instructor provides assistance to a U.S. Air Force combat camera airman while a range safety officer looks during the night fire portion of weapons and tactics training at Range 16 on Fort Jackson, S.C., March 7, 2016, as part of exercise Scorpion Lens 2016.
Zach D Roberts
A member of Code Pink, an activist group, shouts out during one of the speeches at the Republican National Convention. Surrounding people, security and a member of ‘Bikers for Trump’ grab at her, trying to remove her from the arena.
Ron Hamilton
Future of journalism. Reporters armed with cell phones instead of traditional photojournalists. Marine Corps Brigadier General interviewed during RIMPAC 2016 exercises. Notice the lieutenant using her cell as an audio device.
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Award-winning photographer Yunghi Kim has been warning photographers of posting on Instagram for about a decade now. We should have listened to her. Over the years the photo-sharing site’s terms and conditions have evolved as corporate expectations change. Several years ago, the Facebook-owned Instagram changed their terms and conditions to include specifics on their advertising […]
I vote for CS Muncy’s shot as my favorite of the bunch.