It’s that time again. Time to look back on a years worth of work to find the best of the best. It’s easier said than done.
Last year, I mentioned that photographers can get attached to an image because of the back story. Some images might be technologically challenging to make. Others might have required hours of anticipation and preparation. When it comes to a contest, the back story doesn’t matter. The final image is all that counts.
This year, it was refreshing to go back through my images and find many that I liked. Too many. My editor asked for each of the photographers to pull our top 12-20 images. My first cut was almost 80. After some collaboration with my coworkers, I was able to cut the field down to 25 which is where it remains. So yes, I’m bad at following directions sometimes.
So without further ado, here’s my crop of 25 that stuck out at me for one reason or another.
![0206_loc_cat show 01](https://i0.wp.com/www.gershphoto.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/892139-IL_Roc_year-in-review-MG-01.jpg?resize=700%2C466&ssl=1)
MAX GERSH | ROCKFORD REGISTER STAR
All breed judge Ron Summers of Indianapolis, Ind., stretches out Phoenix, a Balinese belonging to Shirley Filipello of Crete, Sunday, Feb. 5, 2012, while judging the adult class during the Rock Valley Cat Club Cat Show at the Forest Hills Lodge in Loves Park. ©2012
![0521_loc_solar eclipse 01 2012 solar eclipse](https://i0.wp.com/www.gershphoto.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/892139-IL_Roc_year-in-review-MG-02.jpg?resize=700%2C467&ssl=1)
MAX GERSH | ROCKFORD REGISTER STAR
The partially eclipsed sun sets behind the steeple of St. Mary Oratory Sunday, May 20, 2012, in downtown Rockford. ©2012
![21196 IL_ROC_otw wrap 01 body bumperz at On the Waterfron 2012](https://i0.wp.com/www.gershphoto.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/892139-IL_Roc_year-in-review-MG-03.jpg?resize=700%2C512&ssl=1)
Khalil Givens, 9, of Rockford, tumbles in the Body Bumperz Sunday, Sept. 2, 2012, during the final day of On The Waterfront in downtown Rockford. MAX GERSH/ROCKFORD REGISTER STAR ©2012
![0323_fgo_cancer kid 04 lukemia kid](https://i0.wp.com/www.gershphoto.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/892139-IL_Roc_year-in-review-MG-04.jpg?resize=700%2C461&ssl=1)
MAX GERSH | ROCKFORD REGISTER STAR
Alec Boswell, 3, plays with his mother, Tina Kobs, on a trampoline Monday, March 19, 2012, in the backyard of his family’s home in Belvidere. Boswell was diagnosed with Leukemia in Sept. 2011. He often plays in his backyard rather than public parks because he is susceptible to getting sick. ©2012
![197508 IL_ROC_bmx natl day 2 1 ABA BMX Midwest Nationals](https://i0.wp.com/www.gershphoto.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/892139-IL_Roc_year-in-review-MG-05.jpg?resize=700%2C537&ssl=1)
Matt Callan (320) of Alto, Mich., goes down on the first stretch out of the gate Sunday, July 22, 2012, during the second day of racing at the ABA BMX Midwest Nationals at Searls Park in Rockford. MAX GERSH/ROCKFORD REGISTER STAR ©2012
![0203_spo_byron feature 01 Hunter Hill](https://i0.wp.com/www.gershphoto.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/892139-IL_Roc_year-in-review-MG-06.jpg?resize=700%2C467&ssl=1)
MAX GERSH | ROCKFORD REGISTER STAR
Byron senior Hunter Hill, 17, stands under the net Monday, Jan. 30, 2012, in the gymnasium at Byron High School. Hill recently broke the school record for most career assists. ©2012
![208097 IL_ROC_mountain bike race 01 Do the Rock 2012](https://i0.wp.com/www.gershphoto.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/892139-IL_Roc_year-in-review-MG-07.jpg?resize=700%2C516&ssl=1)
Ray Nelson pedals through bend Sunday, Oct. 21, 2012, during the Do the Rock 2012 mountain bike race at Rock Cut State Park. MAX GERSH/ROCKFORD REGISTER STAR ©2012
![0524_spo_4a regional baseball 09 Boylan's Adonis Brown](https://i0.wp.com/www.gershphoto.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/892139-IL_Roc_year-in-review-MG-08.jpg?resize=700%2C467&ssl=1)
MAX GERSH | ROCKFORD REGISTER STAR
Boylan’s Adonis Brown (23) loses his hat while scooping up a ground ball Wednesday, May 23, 2012, during the Class 4A regional baseball game against Guilford at Harlem High School in Machesney Park. ©2012
![05013_loc_birth certificate 01 Kathi Johnson](https://i0.wp.com/www.gershphoto.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/892139-IL_Roc_year-in-review-MG-09.jpg?resize=700%2C467&ssl=1)
MAX GERSH | ROCKFORD REGISTER STAR
Kathi Johnson sits at a table with notes, paperwork and photographs about her family Monday, May 7, 2012, at her home in Rockford. Included is a photograph of her birth mother, Ruby Lundquist. A recent change in an Illinois law allowing children to claim their original birth certificates gave Johnson the ability to find out about Lundquist. ©2012
![245421 IL_ROC_xc sextional preview 01 Rockford Christian cross country](https://i0.wp.com/www.gershphoto.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/892139-IL_Roc_year-in-review-MG-10.jpg?resize=700%2C467&ssl=1)
Cross country runners Alex Childs (from left), Brianna Jepson and Nick Monkemeyer, seen Monday, Oct. 22, 2012, at Rockford Christian High School, will be competing in sectionals at Oregon on Saturday. MAX GERSH/ROCKFORD REGISTER STAR ©2012
![86456 IL_ROC_durand vb regional 03 Keith volleyball](https://i0.wp.com/www.gershphoto.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/892139-IL_Roc_year-in-review-MG-11.jpg?resize=700%2C506&ssl=1)
Keith’s Morgan Luther (left) cheers with the team Tuesday, Oct. 23, 2012, before the start of the Class 1A volleyball regional against Hiawatha at Durand High School. MAX GERSH/ROCKFORD REGISTER STAR ©2012
![0214_loc_tombstone 03 Wayne Lensing](https://i0.wp.com/www.gershphoto.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/892139-IL_Roc_year-in-review-MG-12.jpg?resize=700%2C467&ssl=1)
MAX GERSH | ROCKFORD REGISTER STAR
Wayne Lensing stands next to Lee Harvey Oswald’s tombstone in the Oswald Room Monday, Feb. 13, 2012, at Historic Auto Attractions in Roscoe. Lensing has owned the stone for about one-and-a-half years. In the background is the ambulance that picked up Oswald after he was shot by Jack Ruby in Dallas, Texas. ©2012
![0311_spo_lutheran at state 10 Lutheran at state](https://i0.wp.com/www.gershphoto.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/892139-IL_Roc_year-in-review-MG-13.jpg?resize=700%2C563&ssl=1)
MAX GERSH | ROCKFORD REGISTER STAR
Lutheran’s Tarence Roby (1) moves the ball between Seaton Academy’s Jordan Foster (10) and Brandon Woods (24) Saturday, March 10, 2012, during the Class 2A third place game at the Peoria Civic Center. ©2012
![0604_loc_airfest 02 Rockford AirFest](https://i0.wp.com/www.gershphoto.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/892139-IL_Roc_year-in-review-MG-14.jpg?resize=700%2C467&ssl=1)
MAX GERSH | ROCKFORD REGISTER STAR
Spectators, including those sitting on the wing of a B-52 Stratofortress, watch as an F-16 Thunderbird takes off Sunday, June 3, 2012, during the second day of AirFest at the Chicago Rockford International Airport in Rockford. ©2012
![543846 IL_ROC_plane crash 01 Plane crash](https://i0.wp.com/www.gershphoto.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/892139-IL_Roc_year-in-review-MG-15.jpg?resize=700%2C377&ssl=1)
Emergency personnel gather beside a single engine Cessna which made an emergency landing and flipped over in a soybean field near Chicago Rockford International Airport Friday, Aug. 17, 2012, in Rockford. The pilot and a passenger were uninjured in the accident. MAX GERSH/ROCKFORD REGISTER STAR ©2012
![838197 IL_ROC_santos sentenced 1 ice cream murder](https://i0.wp.com/www.gershphoto.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/892139-IL_Roc_year-in-review-MG-16.jpg?resize=700%2C467&ssl=1)
Maria Busio, wife of the late Isidro Duran, gets emotional while talking with the media Wednesday, July 11, 2012, after the sentencing of her husband’s murderer, Rafael Santos, at the Winnebago County Criminal Justice Center in Rockford. MAX GERSH/ROCKFORD REGISTER STAR ©2012
![871081 IL_ROC_durand fourth 2 go cart crash](https://i0.wp.com/www.gershphoto.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/892139-IL_Roc_year-in-review-MG-17.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1)
Jobe Cerny of Highland Park grabs the back of his head after flipping out of his cart Sunday, July 1, 2012, during the Durand Fourth of July festival on the Town Square. MAX GERSH/ROCKFORD REGISTER STAR ©2012
![0427_loc_bike path feature 01](https://i0.wp.com/www.gershphoto.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/892139-IL_Roc_year-in-review-MG-18.jpg?resize=356%2C400&ssl=1)
MAX GERSH | ROCKFORD REGISTER STAR
Deanna Dudek of Machesney Park checks her watch while riding her bike Thursday, April 26, 2012, on the Rock River Recreation Path near Sportscore One in Rockford. Dudek, an at-home personal trainer, recommends cycling to many of her clients because it is a low impact, high intensity exercise. ©2012
![250853 IL_ROC_boys vball 1 boys volleyball](https://i0.wp.com/www.gershphoto.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/892139-IL_Roc_year-in-review-MG-19.jpg?resize=700%2C402&ssl=1)
Volleyball players Trevor Weiskircher (from left), 18, of Loves Park, Matt DePauw, 17, of South Beloit, and Anson Lindsey, 18, of Belvidere, seen Wednesday, June 27, 2012, at Fusion Sports Center in Loves Park will be competing in the USAV Boys Junior National Championships on July 1 in Dallas, Texas. MAX GERSH/ROCKFORD REGISTER STAR ©2012
![420888 IL_ROC_north auburn fb 01 Auburn football coach Dan Appino](https://i0.wp.com/www.gershphoto.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/892139-IL_Roc_year-in-review-MG-20.jpg?resize=700%2C467&ssl=1)
Auburn head coach Dan Appino talks to his starters before kickoff Friday, Aug. 24, 2012, during a game against Belvidere North at Auburn High School in Rockford. MAX GERSH/ROCKFORD REGISTER STAR ©2012
![452158 IL_Roc_woofstock 01 Dog and cat](https://i0.wp.com/www.gershphoto.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/892139-IL_Roc_year-in-review-MG-21.jpg?resize=700%2C394&ssl=1)
Shadow, a golden retriever belonging to Suzi Juanez of Machesney Park, looks at a kitten at the Illinois Animal Rescue booth Sunday, Sept. 23, 2012, during Woofstock at the Rockford Speedway in Loves Park. “I think he just wanted to know what the cats were doing,” Juanez said. MAX GERSH/ROCKFORD REGISTER STAR ©2012
![617934 IL_ROC_rockford calling 01 NCO call center](https://i0.wp.com/www.gershphoto.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/892139-IL_Roc_year-in-review-MG-22.jpg?resize=700%2C467&ssl=1)
Employees take calls Tuesday, Aug. 28, 2012, at NCO in Rockford. MAX GERSH/ROCKFORD REGISTER STAR ©2012
![635352 IL_ROC_ jazz and blues 01 Harlan Jefferson](https://i0.wp.com/www.gershphoto.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/892139-IL_Roc_year-in-review-MG-23.jpg?resize=700%2C451&ssl=1)
Harlan Jefferson performs on the soprano saxophone Saturday, Sept. 29, 2012, during the Ethnic Heritage Museum’s Blues and Jazz Jam Sessions at the Eldorado Club at the Sullivan Center in Rockford. MAX GERSH/ROCKFORD REGISTER STAR ©2012
![7098 IL_ROC_boone queen 2 boone county queen](https://i0.wp.com/www.gershphoto.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/892139-IL_Roc_year-in-review-MG-24.jpg?resize=700%2C441&ssl=1)
Miss Boone County 2012 contestants line the stage during the swim suit competition Tuesday, Aug. 7, 2012, during the 53rd Annual Miss Boone County Fair Queen Pageant at the Boone County Fairgrounds Grandstand in Belvidere. MAX GERSH/ROCKFORD REGISTER STAR ©2012
![824209 IL_Roc_interfaith thanksgiving 01 Aaron Bolden singing gospel](https://i0.wp.com/www.gershphoto.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/892139-IL_Roc_year-in-review-MG-25.jpg?resize=267%2C400&ssl=1)
Aaron Bolden sings gospel songs Sunday, Nov. 18, 2012, during the 23rd Annual Mayor’s Interfatih Thanksgiving Service at the Fisher Memorial Chapel at Rockford College. MAX GERSH/ROCKFORD REGISTER STAR ©2012
Be sure to check out the gallery on my newspaper’s site to see the favorites of my coworkers.
For unsurprising reasons, I liked the cat show photo the best, but I do remember the adoption law story — don’t blame you for being attached to the photos from it. Definitely a moving piece.
[…] Favorites of 2012 […]