Top Photos of 2009

With my top 40 songs for 2009 at last posted, there is but one more list before I can wipe my hands clean of this rather loathsome year... the top photos of 2009. The Smoking Nun has kept its little Canon camera alongside pretty much 24/7 over the past 12 months and we've captured most everything seen or done. I'm ranking the top 5... and classify the remaining...

No. 1: "Morning Dew." Taken while walking down my parent's street in Lynchburg, Va., early one morning over Thanksgiving week. Drops of dew were hanging heavy on a barren tree. I realized I had only a few minutes before the sun would literally dry up the moment. I took several shots on macro, but a cropped normal setting delivered this beautiful glimpse into nature's wonder. It's been my laptop screensaver ever since.No. 2: "Eternal View." Taken in San Juan, when Donna D. and I climbed a wall and crept into this ancient cemetery, where the tombstones face the Atlantic Ocean. What a way to go.No. 3: "Bee Yourself." My final day in Southampton this summer, I walked around the nabe to capture homes and views that I knew I would miss forever—and that included walking into folks' yards (and getting nabbed twice, asked to exit once). In one yard, there were dozens of sunflowers—my favorite—growing tall and proud, and bees feeding like whores. I took more than a dozen pics, cropped, added a little more yellow, and here we are with nature's (more or less) organic beauty again.No. 4: "Goat Day To You." Donna Mae Moose and I went to the Central Park Zoo in the spring, and what a zzz it was... except for this goat, who possessed such human qualities, I swear he told me to get a haircut. Makes one dig the idea of reincarnation... this dude, at some point, must have been a kind, confident gentleman.No. 5: "Lighting The Past." With Francie and Nick in town in late spring, we took their kids to the park on the Upper West Side and at one point, I lay down on a park bench and saw this above me: two light posts, one older and more regal, but both standing tall and proud. Snap, add a little sepia and a nice contrast of old and not-as-old in NYC.More favorites... First, New York views...Live action: Above, Sertab Erener at Istanbulive; below, Kylie Minogue, Hammerstein Ballroom, NYC.Jasmine, Liz D.'s baby... Among dozens of pics of her pooches, these two are precious.Random shots that I just dig...In a gay bar one night, without wanting to make it overly pointed at any one patron. So I simply set the lens to a slow setting and... TWIST. Here's the result.My attempt at porn... Pimp in the background loads his bong, while whore shows off the goods to a potential client, then heavy editing. Congrats to subjects S and L!It's hard not to find stunning natural beauty any day of the week in the Hamptons, including some cool portraits taken at the Hamptons Classic horse show. A handful here.This, at a park along Santa Monica Pier, just by the water, in L.A. Reminded me of Hitchcock's "The Birds."And now, here at home in Brooklyn Heights.Nothing overtly artistic about this, but I love the full flame as Sidi poured lighter fluid on the grill and about set the Hamptons on fire. Ayhan in the background. It does possess a certain drama.Back where we started... Lynchburg, with two strikingly diverse views. Above, the year-round ski park at Liberty Mountain; below, L. Oppleman, which has been in biz downtown for about 500 years. I was struck by the fact that not only does the exterior look dated, but there's a car that coulda been a Ford Maverick from the '70s parked in front, along with a coupla timeless hoods. Moment in time.
Hamptons, Part Deux.And finally... ah, big sigh... This picture represents many Fridays during 2009 (and two years preceding). It's our weekly Lunacy@Lunasa gathering, with good friends and allies, ever a guidepost, no matter how bleak things may seem to be. Raise a glass, laugh a lot and go home with a fucking smile. The crowd ebbs and flows, but no matter who shows up, that is the greatest collective snapshot of the year. Amen.