Photo of the year : Best picture of the 2012

Photo of the year : Best picture of the 2012

Asiago Plateau, Italy

The small town where I live (Asiago plateau, Italy) is shrouded in fog in this image taken from the top of a mountain.

(This photo and caption were submitted to Your Shot.)

Floating Lanterns, Thailand

I had planned a recent trip to Thailand in November to coincide with the Loy Krathong celebration because I had seen pictures of the floating lanterns being launched into the sky. However, nothing I had seen prepared me for the incredible magic of experiencing thousands of these lanterns floating into the night sky at once while monks chanted at the Lanna Meditation Center in Chiang Mai. It was one of the most amazing experiences I have ever had.

Horses, Iceland

Icelandic horses are out all year, even through the winter. I captured these in-foal mares in southern Iceland in December 2011.

Iguazu Falls

Aerial view of Iguazu Falls, Brazil-Argentina border

Infinty Pool, Singapore

The vertiginous "infinity pool" at the Marina Bay Sands resort offers a sweeping view of Singapore, a country that's achieved success while building up instead of out.

Tuscany, Italy

When I was driving last year through Tuscany, Italy, I suddenly saw this beautiful image.

Riverbank, Belgrade

 Overhead snapshot of the Belgrade riverbank—summer love, I guess!

Silica Pond, Iceland

One of the highlights of the interior of Iceland: a hot-water pond, charged with silica, glowing in the middle of nowhere.

Submerged Plane, Bahamas

While island hopping around the Bahamas in a Cessna C172 aircraft, I made this aerial of a Curtiss C-46 that ditched on November 15, 1980. It crashed while it was on a drug smuggling mission for the Colombian Medellín drug cartel and lies in shallow water east of the Norman's Cay airport in the Exumas, Bahamas. My preflight Internet research paid off!

Rainbow, Lake Champlain

This image was made on the afternoon of October 20, 2011, just before sunset, near Lake Champlain in Vermont.