2022 Photo of the Year

1/7/2022. My husband, Tom, and I recently moved from Los Angeles to North Carolina to be closer to his aging mother, who lives in Mocksville. Besides helping my mother-in-law, one of the things we looked forward to most was experiencing the four distinct seasons in North Carolina. Not only did we marvel at the gorgeous foliage last fall, but today, we reveled in the snow, and I got to build my first snowman ever! (We didn't have a carrot nose or anything for the eyes, so I had to improvise with my husband's glasses and a leaf for the lips!)

1/14/2022. "Catching Bait" On an early morning fishing trip our guide was throwing a cast net to catch bait. Great start to a productive day on the water.

1/21/2022. This is my version of a Snow Queen. It is a bird with a crowning jewel on her head, enjoying the soft falling snow all around. Photo of the birdbath was taken in my yard in Winston Salem.

1/28/2022. Doc the Belgian Draft Horse taking a break after a romp in the snow at Cash Lovell Stables.

2/4/2022. By far, this is my most impressive selfie! A couple of birds competed for the spot on top of my head and this one was a winner. She felt very comfortable there for several minutes even cleaning her feathers at some point!!

2/11/2022. I was camping in the Linville Gorge area. I woke up early to catch the sunrise. The clouds, sun and mountain peaks all came together in a perfect moment to capture this photo!

2/19/2022. I love taking photo's that could pass for a scene in a painting and I am always on the look out for such an image to capture on camera. I took this photo of the weathered park bench, nestled among overhanging plants and flowers at the Greensboro Arboretum.

2/25/2022. I love this picture taken of these deer taken in the Greater Smokey Mountains! Our Heaven on Earth! O called these photo moments a gift from GOD!:)

3/4/2022. Freya Loftis, 8, holds a handmade sign in support of Ukraine at the Ukraine Solidarity service, Trinity Church, Greensboro

3/11/2022. A "squadron" of American white pelicans flew to the tail race at High Rock Lake Dam in Richmond, North Carolina for some maintenance preening. They gracefully circled in a smooth symmetrical pattern before scattering the cormorants for the real estate they wanted to land on.

3/18/2022. After the longest three week wait of her life, my daughter finally got to hold our baby chicks today. As we took each one out of the incubator, she snuggled it, saying, “It’s okay chicky, I’m here.”

3/25/2022. I’m from Mount Airy but live in Oaxaca, Mexico. Sometimes the sky randomly does this here. Turns completely yellow! This was taken over the soccer field at my house. It was at sunset and had just finished raining!

4/1/2022. Early morning paddle on Lake James, NC

4/8/2022. This persistent gray squirrel wasn't going to let snow or a hanging feeder deprive him of his food.

4/15/2022. Iris loves caterpillars and this one landed on her nose from above. She fought the urge to wipe him off and after the Kodak moment, she removed him and put him on our cherry tree. Iris is five.

4/22/2022. A red shoulder hawk was hunting 12 feet from our second story dining room window. I ran down stairs grabbed my camera, changed to 400 mm zoom lens and ran back upstairs. Surprisingly he was still there. We see him quite often but not usually that close. BTW I am an avid listener and sustainer (whether you like my picture or not)

4/29/2022. A young pine cone bunch looking like a big magical spider.

5/6/2022. "ask the dust" The scallop Shell gas station from 1930 in Winston-Salem. Every time I drive by it I half expect to see Bogey and Bacall filling up their Plymouth DeLuxe. The title comes from the John Fante novel of the same name. I was going for an Edward Hopper feel.

5/13/2022. All of my animals just love each other. This is Charlee, an English Shepherd, giving a kiss to Rip, an American Paint Colt on our farm in Greensboro.

5/20/2022. This photo was taken in a field in Lewisville. I saw the bee, but never imagined I would get an in focus picture of it flying.

5/27/2022. Waking up with a four-week-old baby.

6/3/2022. The Jack Cat looking like a still from the Golden Age of Hollywood.

6/10/2022. A vigilant, resolute Greensboro Grimsley High School Principal Ged O'Donnell observing Recessional of the 123rd Annual Commencement Ceremony, Greensboro Coliseum.

6/17/2022. This picture of an owl was taken from my driveway on Greendale Way, Winston-Salem. Three very young owls have been hanging around our properly for the last several weeks. I have taken many pictures of them.

6/24/2022. My dog and I were walking our fields one afternoon on our farm at the base of Pilot Mountain when she stopped and looked down the field like she was gazing at the mountain. (She was probably just looking at a cow or a chicken.)

7/1/2022. Attempt at capturing a strawberry moon rising over the Blue Ridge. Used my phone app to determine the location and time of the moon rise. Problem was the moon decided to come up at a different point and at it own time. Was finally able to relocate and get a shot.

7/8/2022. The Breakfast Hunt. A Hawk sits in this tree every morning in Yadkinville looking for breakfast.

7/15/2022. We recently took our son on his first beach trip to Carolina Beach, NC. I snapped this photo on our visit to Fort Fisher.

7/22/2022. I took this shot at the North Carolina Zoo in Asheboro, the gorilla looked transfixed in some pretty deep thought, the moment seemed to present a good time to capture the image.

7/29/2022. Living on my husband’s family farm in New Hope, NC, I still use his late grandmother’s laundry line to dry linens. Seeing the linens blowing gently in the breeze brings me great joy. The simplicity of it is lovely.

8/5/2022. Milkweed flowers attract all types of insects! This wasp was a little skittish, and I had to wait for a while for it to come close enough so I could get a photo.

8/12/2022. Drone shot of Winston-Salem.

8/19/2022  We sat around the table laughing and my six year old niece took the phone to take pictures of the cats and dog. She got this one of our cat Pocoyo laughing along with the rest of us.

8/26/2022  I was in the backyard and just happened to see this frog hanging out in the tree. It seemed that my dog, Fluffy, was watching it too.

9/2/2022  The most beautiful and vibrant double rainbow I’ve ever seen. Taken from the party deck of the Greensboro Grasshoppers stadium.

9/9/22 David Wren of Winston-Salem: “Early morning ride up to Pilot Mountain State Park that had just become visible out of the fog below!”

9/16/2022 Ed Otto of Lewisville - “Boone hiking trail, after a rain shower.” 

9/23 - Paul Weiss of Greensboro “This female American Bullfrog is a denizen of the small pond behind our home. We've spotted her several times over the past week, perched on the same fallen pickerelweed stem. (We know she's a female because her throat is white, whereas males have a cream to yellow colored throat. Also, not visible in this photo is her tympanic membrane (or eardrum). In females, it is about the size of they eye, while in males the tympanic membrane is much larger than the eye.”

9/30/22 - Sona Vavrouskova of Sparta “My friend from Florida texted me a sunset photo of her beautiful view from the patio of her home, overlooking the lake they live by. I was on our porch and wanted to send her my view of the sunset from our home, close to Blue Ridge Parkway, but this little guy did get in the way. Well, that is the mountain time … we share our space with spiders."

10/7/2022 - Bailey Reutinger of Clemmons, NC “Shadows cast at sunset at my grandfather's family farm"

10/14/2022 - Matthew Jorgensen of Winston-Salem: “A squirrel I saw while bird watching at Reynolda.”

10/21/2022 - River James of West Jefferson “Blue Ridge Parkway Rough Ridge hike. Photo taken from top with viaduct view."

10/28/2022 - Carol Newsome of Rural Hall, NC “Just a Fair Day at the Carolina Classic."

11/4/2022 - Joe Rone of Greensboro: “A peaceful afternoon walk on the Palmetto Trail in the Greensboro watershed. A chance to take in the fall colors and escape the daily hustle and bustle of life.”

11/11/2022 - Kevin DeShields of Boone: “I took this photo yesterday on Grandfather Mountain at their nature reserve. The weather was awful but it did provide a unique light…I love that this almost feels like a painting. Shot in Fujifilm X-T3 with the Mitakon Speedmaster 35mm f0.95 lens. Edited in Lightroom mobile."

11/18/2022 - Mark Beckett of Raleigh “Surfcasting at sunrise - Oak Island NC. Nikon D5100”

11/25/2022 - Anthony Colburn of Tobaccoville “Old Tobacco Barn in Tobaccoville!”

12/2/2022 - Patricia Joynes of Boone “'Fawn at the Reflecting Puddle' After a rain shower, a street puddle embodies what appears to be another world. What is "real" and what is an illusion? Taken on my street in Boone, North Carolina"

12/9/2022 - Ivan Saul Cutler of Greensboro “How now nosey sow?! A curious sow pokes her snout through an opening in the gate enclosing the porcine unit at the Farm, North Carolina Agricultural & Technical State University, Greensboro."

12/16/2022 - Angus Rasmussen of Winston-Salem “A vintage 68 VW beetle parked at The Graylyn Estate”

12/23/2022 - William Fields of Greensboro “I took this photo near Pilot Mountain on a snowy day; the horse looked pretty cold, hopefully he headed to the barn before the snow became too deep.”

12/30/2022 - Patricia Joynes of Boone “This photo was taken on a very foggy December day at Chetola Resort in Blowing Rock. Swans favor their lake and on this day, the mist made for a magical photograph.”