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Thanks for visiting my blog. This is the collection of the best photos taken in 2011.

Let’s start with a little about myself. My name is Anton and I am a photographer from San Jose, California. Shot my first digital photo in 2001 and since then I have fallen in love with photography. As for my work, I like to try a little of everything, from landscape, commercial, wedding to studio. The goal is to have a good amount of exposure of different categories of photography. This is my second year doing the best of the year photos. For my best photos from 2010, click here

The best photos from 2011 start with a lucky shot. I captured a red-tailed hawk during a regular hiking trip with my family to a crowded local county park. While eating lunch in the car and waiting for the parking spot, I noticed that the hawk is just right above the tree next to us. With a mouth full of french fries, I quickly set up my gear and luckily enough, the bird was still there and it posed for me.

In February, we brought Giselle back to the studio again for her 4 months shoot. This time, she showed us not only her smile, but her personality.

……and a moment of us was captured by my wife, Cora. Her facial expression is just priceless. This is a great shot to share on her wedding day.

She has no problem with Cora. I am jealous!

In March, 2 year old Tessa returned to my studio again! She was a infant when I took her photo. She is so beautiful! Her doll-like face is one of the reasons that I added the photos to my portfolio. The other reason is the connection she shared with her dad. I loved how it was captured.

In April, we were back to the desert again for the long-waited break. It was our first trip after the birth of my baby girl. This time, there was no dune bashing and no canyon off-roading. We did what every couple does once a while – Las Vegas baby!

“Red Rock Canyon” is one of my favorite. Captured during sunset in Red Rock Canyon national conservation area. This park is just 20 minutes from the strip and it is a gem in the desert. Too bad it is heavily funded by the casinos. Why? While the folks at Death Valley National Park complained about the light pollution from Vegas, one of the placards in the visitor center displayed a passage on how the beautiful lights from the strip brighten up the sky during the night. Regardless who paid for the bill, this is a beautiful place to visit.

The view from our hotel room was just amazing.

In this trip, I also discovered the nature side of the Sin City. We decided to go back again. This time, we brought our kayak. The dust-covered kayak was sitting in the garage for the longest time since Cora was pregnant. It finally got back to where it belongs, the chill water of the Colorado River.

The trip to the Black Canyon was part of my blog entry, place of the week. You may will see more photos and my report here.

In our 4-day trip, we also visited the Valley of Fire State Park. What an amazing place filled with strange rock formation and petroglyph! An unforgettable experience.

“Steps to Our Heritage” was taken at Atalal Rock of the park. It is a giant half boulder with a flat surface. On the flat surface, it has hundreds of petroglyph. You may read more about it from my latest blog entry – “Nature in Sin City – part 2″

Just in time for Easter. We gave her a pair of bunny ears. Compared to the shot we took in February, she grew up so fast and she looked so different.

How about a pair of lion ears?

She also got to try on the beanie that grandma made.

In June, we were busy in studio. One of my favorite shoots is the one with Kris, Zoe and Kylie. In this session, we photographed not only the family and the beauty of an expecting women, but we also captured the connections between them and the affection that they displayed.

In August, we met with Kyle again. He turned one and it seemed like it was yesterday when I captured his newborn photo. Now he is running around like a busy bee. Kids just have so much energy!

A month after the birth of Jadyn, the family returned to my studio one more time to have the little one photographed.

We got her a dairy cow costume and we want the moment to be captured. I wanted to do this in the studio but Cora had a great idea. Why not do this in a field of grass to match her costume.

“Giselle” was a test shot before the shoot and it ended up to be one of my favorite for her expression and the nice and natural soft lighting.

My first HDR from my iPhone 3gs. I was lucky enough to run into the kodak moment at work but not lucky enough to have my gear. I didn’t have an app for HDR either on my phone. I ended up downloading one while watching the moment quickly disappeared! For a minute I thought this is the end, the wind blew again and push the cloud right above the flag. Thank god for the second chance. This was the outcome.

The last shoot of the year happened in my studio. Just 1 week before Christmas, we got Giselle to dress up in her Santa outfit. Along with the snowman that we used to decorate our Christmas tree, we got a great photo to ended the year.

Thanks for reading and see you guys in 2013.

Here is my list of gears

In the field

-Canon 40D / Rebel XT (kayak)

-iPhone 3GS

-Sigma 10-20mm HSM

-Tamron 17-50mm

-Tamron 70-300mm VC/USD

-Manfrotto 3001Pro with 322CR2 head

In the studio

-Canon 40D

-Tamron 17-50mm

-Tamron 70-300mm VC/USD

-Canon 50mm 1.8 mk1

-Canon 100mm Macro

-AlienBee B800

-2 Canon Speedlites with external power

-2 Sunpak Flash

-Radiopopper

-Light modifier – softbox (2), grid-spot (2), umbrella (3), snoot (1), gel (a lot!)

About Best Photos of the Year project  by Jim Goldstein

Every year, photographer, Jim Goldstein, creates a blog entry for photographers around the world to submit their best photos of the year. This year, I am participating with over 250 photographers to showcase our work from year 2011. If you have time, please visit his blog. You will be amazed by the stunning images from photogs around the world.

http://www.jmg-galleries.com/blog/2012/01/10/best-photos-of-2011-by-jmg-galleries-blog-readers/