Lens-Artists Photo Challenge #231 – Favorite Images of 2022

Niagara Falls Panoramic View

Happy New Year to all participants in the Lens-Artists Challenge. I have the honor of leading off the 2023 Lens-Artists Photo Challenge, “Favorite Images of 2022.” The premise is simple. Simply share your favorite images captured in 2022.

I look forward to seeing everyone’s responses to the challenge each week in this new year. My wife and I returned to the “traveling spirit” in 2022 and visited parts of the world we’d never seen before. To start off my personal favorites of 2022, the panoramic view of Niagara Falls was captured with my cell phone and is comprised of two images stitched together featuring the American Falls in the foreground and the Canadian Horseshoe Falls in the background.

NYPD helicopter over Manhattan Island.

As we left New York City on the Carnival Magic, we were escorted on our way by New York’s Finest. I am not sure why we got the police escort out of the city.

Artists Point at Grand Marais Harbor, Minnesota.

In September, as we made our way to New York City, we traveled several scenic highways in both the U.S. and Canada. We started by traveling to Duluth, Minnesota where we picked up the North Shore Scenic Highway on the Minnesota side of Lake Superior.

Gentlemen of Betanzos.

After a recent update to the photo editor on my Samsung S20U, I started experimenting with some of the artistic filters in the app and spent some time applying the creative filters to cell phone photos captured in 2022.

Railway engine swapping ends for the return trip back to the station.

In May, we visited our son in North Carolina. One of the highlights of the trip was a ride on the short-line New Hope Valley Railway. The short distance through the North Carolina countryside is a pleasant evening diversion.

Sunset in Las Vegas.

In March, we visited Las Vegas and I captured this cellpic from our hotel room at Main Street Station in downtown Las Vegas. It is a mix of old and new with the older Plaza Hotel behind the brand-new Circa Resort. That building with the blue and purple exterior lighting in the foreground is Circa’s parking ramp.

Sunset in Albuquerque New Mexico.

One of my favorite images for this year was captured while we were visiting Albuquerque for a family reunion. It’s an example of checking the view opposite the direction of the sun. The light on the clouds was amazing.

I am looking forward to seeing your favorite images from 2022. Be sure to link your post to my original post and use the Lens-Artists tag to help us find your response. Next week, Sofia hosts the challenge. For more information on joining the challenge each week, check here.

John Steiner

151 comments

  1. Quick question John – how do you see this differing from Tina’s theme of photos not previously shared in 2022? Are you expecting almost the opposite, a selection of our favourite of those we HAVE already shared?

    • That’s a good question, Sarah. I think you’ve said it best. For me, anyway, these are favorites that I felt worth sharing during the year in our challenge responses or other posts.
      I saw Tina’s theme to be an opportunity to share favorites that weren’t shared because they didn’t fit a theme or category during the year, but I liked them anyway.

      • I’ll have a think then. I’ve already done two ‘look back at 2022’ posts but I may be able to come up with a different angle for this!

  2. John, these are fantastic photos. I love the helicopter and your first photo the best. I always love photo of the ocean too. I’ll be back later this week. 😀 😀

  3. Happy New Year John. A great look at your favorites. And it is always nice to see where you are traveling. I remember you sharing a few of the photos above and loved the one from the North Shore. But I have to say I love your experimentation with the cell phone app/filters. The photo you shared looks like a magazine cover. I will enjoy revisiting a few of my favorite places.

  4. Beautiful choices John – I love the stitched Niagra falls image – excellent. Also loved your behind the back sunset. Glorious. Happy New Year to you and yours!

  5. Remarkable images, John! Thank you for sharing your travels through your lens. The Niagara Falls Panoramic View is breathtaking. I love the Gentlemen of Betanzos! The sunset capture, Wow!!

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