It almost seems a requirement that photographers share a set of our “best” or “favorite” work at the end of the year. I’ve been doing this just about every year for the past two decades. (I prefer the term “favorite” over “best,” since the latter is such a subjective concept.)

I think there’s value in reviewing one’s work from the past year. We get caught up in what we are doing right now, and it is easy to lose track of the bigger picture. As I review photographs I also enjoy recalling the experiences behind them — the places I visited, the people I was with, the things I’ve seen.

At the same time, it isn’t an easy task! I start by reviewing all 365 photographs that I posted in 2025. (Some were “taken” earlier but not released until this year.) From that starting point I do a quick select of those that I think are most interesting to me. This year that left me with the 91 photographs seen above!

That is, of course, way too many to share as annual favorites, so the culling work continues. I group photographs by subjects and then try to pick the most interesting (to me!) in each category. In some categories I may winnow them down to just a couple, but in others I’m still looking at a half dozen or more photographs. It is hard to choose — I like them all!

This morning I cut the number approximately in half, and there are now “only” 44 photographs remaining, as shown below.

I expect that I’ll need to do at least two more cuts to determine which photographs are in the final set of 12-15. But the process only becomes more difficult as the group shrinks — it is harder and harder to give up the “near favorites.” By the end, it almost feels brutal as I ponder the last few eliminations.

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G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer and visual opportunist. His book, “California’s Fall Color: A Photographer’s Guide to Autumn in the Sierra” (Heyday Books) is available directly from him. Blog | Bluesky | Mastodon | Substack Notes | Flickr | Email

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