For a change, I’ve posted my “Best of 2011” post over on the photoblog. Head on over if you would like to take a look at the 10 pictures I consider to be my favourites this year.

How do you fancy the chance to win one of 6 20″x30″ prints from photographers Colby Brown, Elia Locardi, Jay Patel, Varina Patel, Ken Kaminesky and Alexander Safonov?

These fine people have teamed up with “The Giving Lens” to try to raise some money for kids in Nicaragua. For every $10 you donate to Empowerment International, you get a chance to win one of the prints. Why not head on over and spread the Christmas cheer while standing a chance to win a gorgeous print worth around $500?

I was fortunately enough recently to win a 1 year subscription to SmugMug, the photo sharing and print-selling site. I had been thinking about joining for a while since the features offered appeared to get round some of the limitations of the printing services I currently use (ImageKind and Fotomoto) and I’m pleased to say that this does indeed appear to be the case. In particular:

• I can set prices for commercial licensing of images. Up until now, I’ve had pictures on ClusterShot and Getty Images but both of these suffer from problems. ClusterShot gets practically no traffic and I’ve sold only a single image in the whole time I’ve had an account there. Getty, on the other hand, sells images regularly but the photographer payout on each sale is only 20%. SmugMug allows me to set my own pricing for various different types of license and takes only a small commission on each sale. I expect, however, that I will still do most of my licensing “manually” based on email from people who find images on my photoblog or on Flickr but enabling licensing direct from the site is a nice additional offering.
• I can choose the printing lab I want to fulfill print orders and have choices that are suitable for fine art prints as well as cheaper, higher volume printing for any events I may cover. ImageKind and Fotomoto both price their prints based on a fine art model (which is fine for the majority of the images I want to sell) but don’t offer a cost-effective way for me to publish 500 images of kids’ sporting events and allow parents to buy a couple of dozen 6″x4″ prints.
• I can upload images into private and public galleries. Images in a private gallery don’t appear on my homepage but I can provide a URL allowing access. Once again, this will be a great feature for any future event photography I do.
• I can offer a far wider range of print sizes and finishes than with the other providers. This includes larger panoramic sizes which provides me a chance to offer some of my panoramic landscape images for sale.
• I can offer other interesting products such as mugs, mouse pads, T-shirts, jigsaw puzzles and fridge magnets at reasonable prices.

On top of all these benefits, the SmugMug site management features are great. I can upload directly from within Lightroom (as I do for Flickr already) and the site customisation is very straightforward indeed. Finally, my initial experience with their technical support department has been excellent – they got back to me within 30 minutes when I emailed a question last weekend.

Overall, I’m delighted with the SmugMug experience so far and I invite you to take a wander over and let me know what you think. Alternatively, click the image at the top of the post since it is hosted on SmugMug and links to the same image on their site.

Each year, San Francisco-based photographer and blogger Jim Goldstein compiles a list of photographers’ annual “Best Of” posts. Here’s this year’s list. From the sites I’ve looked at so far, it’s been a good year. You can see Jim’s original post here.

1. Best Photos of 2010 by Jim M. Goldstein – JMG-Galleries
2. Best Photos of 2010 by Matthias Wassermann – Mawpix.com
3. Exploring Light -Top Photos 2010 – Chris Moore
4. My Top Ten Photos for 2010 – Tom Varden
5. My Top Ten Photos of 2010 | Craig’s Musings – Craig Vitter
6. Top 10 Photos for 2010 | Dobson Central – Ken Dobson
7. Best Photos of 2010 – Carol Bauer
8. My Best photos from 2010 – Janis Janums
9. My Best Photos of 2010 – David Daylor | SixtyOneNorth.com
10. 2010 – Year In Review – Jon McCormack Photography – Jon McCormack
11. S Zacharias: Best of 2010 – Stephen Zacharias
12. 2010 Photos – David Hernandez
13. Iceman Photography – Top 10 in 2010
14. Best of 2010 – Dave Wilson
15. Skolai Images – Bears of 2010 – Carl Donohue
16. My Best Photos From 2010 – Art Kuntz
17. 2010 in Review – Jay Goodrich
18. My Favourite Images of 2010 – Sven Seebeck
19. Lunchisoptional: Favorites of Year: 2010 Edition — Ken Trout
20. My ten favorite photos of 2010 – Stefan Bäurle
21. Top 10 of 2010 – Behind The Clicks – Mohammad Noman
22. Top Ten Photos Of 2010 – Jed Link
23. 2010 in Review – kRiZ cPEc Photo Blog
24. Chuqui.com- Best Photos 2010 – Chuq Von Rospach
25. My Favorite Photos of 2010 – Ed Rosack
26. 2010 Favorites – Pat Ulrich | Pat Ulrich Photography
27. Favorites of 2010 – Kevin Moore
28. Top 10 of 2010 from BlazingB Photography – Bill Pennington
29. My Favorite Photos of 2010 – Mike Criss
30. My faves from 2010 – Matt Smith
31. My favourite shots of 2010 – Catalin Marin | Momentary Awe
32. 2010 a Year in Review, My Top 10 Memorable/Favorite shots – Mike Criswell
33. Craig Ferguson Images – A Year In Photos – Craig Ferguson
34. Top 50 Images from 2010 and Goal Setting – Mike Cavaroc
35. Jim’s Photography – Jim Wheeler
36. Sharpimage.net – The best of 2010 – David Sharp
37. StephenWeaver Photography/Earth Systems Imaging-Stephen G. Weaver
38. Best of 2010 – Changing Perspectives – Jenni Brehm
39. katzekotz.de – best of 2010 – Thomas Kneppeck
40. 2010 Favorite Images – Alpenglow Images – Greg Russell
41. Best Images of 2010 – Peter Cox Photography – Peter Cox
42. Best of 2010| Simon Says – Simon Ponder
43. My Favorites Shots of 2010 – Fine Art Prints – Jeff Colburn
44. Mountain and Climbing Photography – Alexandre Buisse
45. Siam In Contrast 2010 – Adrian Young
46. 2010 in review (colour)– Olivier Du Tré
47. John Dunne Photography | My Top 10 Favourite Images of 2010 – John Dunne
48. Best of 2010 Flickr Set – Tony Rath
49. Top 10 from 2010 – Behind-the-lens-lukey – Luke Weymark
50. Evan Gearing Photography’s Top 10 of 2010 – Evan Gearing
51. 2010 Photos in Review: Water – Rebecca R Jackrel
52. Justin Korn [dot] com – Best of 2010 – Justin Korn
53. My Best Photos of 2010: Learning and Growing> – D. Travis North
54. Uncommon Depth – Roberta Murray
55. Organic Light Photography Best of 2010 – Youssef Ismail / Organic Light Photography
56. The Best of 2010 – blackandwhite.ie – Neil McShane
57. My Best of 2010 – Larry Rosenstein
58. Will Wohler Photography: 2010 A Year in Review – Will Wohler
59. digitizedchaos – best of 2010 – rian castillo
60. My Top 10 from 2010 – Chaz Curry Photography
61. – Suzy Walker
62. Favorite Photographs From 2010 – Fine Art Landscape Photography of Seung Kye Lee
63. Best photos from 2010 – Amanda Herbert
64. Wrapping Up 2010: My Favorite Photographs – Ivan Makarov Photography
65. Graf Nature Photography | Reflections on 2010 photographs – MARK GRAF
66. VACANT SHOP IN DOWNTOWN SANTA BARBARA – G. Kaltenbrun
67. Pat O’Brien Photography – A Look Back at 2010 – Pat O’Brien
68. G Dan Mitchell – 2010 Favorites – G Dan Mitchell
69. Favorite Photo of 2010 – Naturalvision-photo.com –Derek Griggs
70. Crest, Cliff & Canyon – Jackson Frishman
71. 2010 In Review – Photoimagery.net – Peter McCabe
72. Favorite Photos from 2010 – In the Field Photo Blog – Richard Wong
73. Year in Review Best Photos of 2010 – Matt Graham Photo Blog – Matt Graham
74. Elizabeth Brown Photography PhotoBlog: Ten Favorite Photos of 2010 – Elizabeth Brown
75. My Top Photos of 2010 – Jonesblog – Bryan William Jones
76. latoga photograph: My Favorite Photos of 2010 – Greg A. Lato
77. Best of 2010 Images – Rob Tilley
78. Living Wilderness: 12 Best from 2010 – Kevin Ebi
79. Highlights of 2010 – TO KNOW MORE WEB JOURNAL – KENT MEARIG
80. Michael Russell Photography
81. Best Photographs of 2010 – Chuck Goolsbee
82. Favourite Photos from 2010 – Tim Smalley
83. My Best 10 Photos 2010 – A Reconnection to Nature – Mark Fenwick
84. Best of 2010 – Quotidian Photography – Jessica Sweeney
85. My Top Images of 2010 – ANDREW KEE
86. A Photo A Day… Done! – WelliverPhotography – Beth Welliver
87. Batsto Village – Louis Dallara Photo Blog – Louis Dallara
88. Best 10 of 2010 – John Wall’s Natural California
89. 10 from 2010 on the Ann-alog – Ann Torrence
90. Favorite Photos from 2010 – My Photo Blog – Ron Niebrugge
91. My favorite photos 2010 on Flickr – Markus Heinisch
92. My best photos of 2010 – Mike Hellers
93. Dave Reichert’s Best Of 2010 – Dave Reichert
94. Photographs: 2010 Revisited – Joseph Szymanski
95. Best Pics 2010 on Flickr – Michael Rubin
96. My 10 Best Shots of 2010 – ROBIN BLACK PHOTOGRAPHY – ROBIN BLACK
97. Top 10 from 2010 – Anne McKinnell
98. Vanilla Days – Best of 2010 – Pete Carr
99. Top Photos of 2010 – Gary Crabbe / Enlightened Images
100. Top Images from 2010 – Russ Bishop | Nature Photo Blog
101. Favourite photos from 2010 – Bryn Tassell
102. 10 Best Photos of 2010 by Scott Thompson – Scott Thompson
103. My Top 10 photos of 2010 – Alexander S. Kunz
104. My 10 Best for 2010 – Dan Baumbach
105. Unified Photography – Best Photos of 2010 – Ken Snyder
106. 5 From 2010 – Contemporary Wildlife Photography – David Lloyd
107. Top 10 Photos of 2010 – Steven Bourelle Digital Arts
108. 2010 Top Ten Photos – Andrew S Gibson
109. 2010 Reflections – Dru Stefan Stone – Dru-Color My World
110. Best of 2010 – Dave Hammaker
111. Top 20 of 2010 – Jenna Stirling
112. LandLopers.com Top Travel Photos of 2010 – Matt Long
113. Best of 2010 – Stephen Davey
114. Landscape Photography Blogger My Favorite Photos of 2010 – David Leland Hyde
115. Views Infinitum – Best of 2010 – Scott Thomas
116. One Per Trip – Favorite Travel Photos From 2010 – The Carey Adventures – PETER WEST CAREY
117. I Love It, SF – Kara Murphy
118. My top 10 pictures from 2010 – Duffy Knox
119. Burrard-Lucas Photography – Will & Matt Burrard-Lucas
120. Hank Christensen Photography Top 10 2010 – Hank Christensen
121. My Best Photos from 2010 – 365-1/4 Sra
122. Top Ten Images of 2010 – Michael Frye
123. Jono Hey’s Best of 2010 on Flickr – JONO HEY
124. My Favorite Photographs from 2010 – Stories From Home –David Patterson
125. My 2010 Best Images of California and Arizona – Steve Sieren
126. My Top 10 Landscapes of 2010 – Andre Leopold
127. Best of 2010 set on Flickr – Erik Turner
128. This was 2010 on Flickr – Jeffrey Van Daele
129. Top 10 of 2010 – Brian Mangano
130. Best Photos of 2010 – KBTImages – Kevin Thornhill
131. Best Photos of 2010 – The Sun Shines & The Igloo Melts
132. Top 10 of 2010 – Chad Griggs
133. Best Photos of 2010 – WASEEF AKHTAR
134. My Favorite Images from 2010 – Outdoor Exposure Photography by Sean Bagshaw – Sean Bagshaw
135. My Best Shots of 2010 – Annika Ruohonen Photography – Annika Ruohonen
136. Top sights from 2010 – Mariana Travieso Bassi
137. Year 2010 in Korwel Photography – Iza Korwel
138. WISCONSIN SUMMER – Jarrod Erbe
139. Best Photos of 2010 – Jim Stamates
140. Top 10 of 2010 – Younes Bounhar
141. Light on the Landscape Photoblog/My Favorite Images of 2010 – WILLIAM NEILL
142. My Best Photos of 2010 – Itsa a greyt day for a photo – Terri Jacobson
143. Listening to Nature Photography Blog by Rhoda Maurer – RHODA MAURER
144. My favorites of 2010 – David Richter
145. Best of 2010 – View from the Little Red Tent – Edie Howe
146. tmophoto best of 2010 – Thomas O’Brien
147. Best Photos Of 2010 – Dawnstar Australis – Daniel McNamara
148. Top 10 of 2010 – Cranial Aperture – Jeffrey Yen
149. 10 Best Favorites of 2010 – Sudheendra Kadri
150. Flickr – Best of 2010 – Chris Arts
151. Flickr: Best of 2010 – Heidi Donat
152. Best Photo of 2010 – Anton Huo
153. Best of 2010 – Travel & Landscape – Eugene Cheng
154. Preetalina Photography: 2010 Favorites – Preeti Desai
155. Hidden Light Photography 2010 Favorites – Alan Williams
156. 5Mae 2010 Favourites Flickr Set – Sarah-Mae
157. Best Photos of 2010 – John Fujimagari
158. Best of 2010 – Paavani Bishnoi
159. Best Photos of 2010 – Phil Colla
160. 100 Favorites from 2010 – Patrick J. Endres
161. Top Ten Of 2010 – Steve Cole Photography
162. Some of My Favorite Images From 2010 – Clark Crenshaw Photography