Nope, not one of my favorites made the finals. But check out the sheer variety of these finalists for Wikimedia’s Picture of the Year .
Then reflect that each image, with hundreds more besides, has been uploaded for free to the common domain.
- San Francisco Airport (SFO) at night. Taken by Flickr user Andrew Choy.
- Sans domicile fixe in Paris. Taken by Wikimedian Eric Pouhier
- Animation of Newton’s cradle, resting on a copy of Newton’s famous book Principia Mathematica (animated). Created by Wikimedian DemonDeLuxe.
- Lunar libration (animated) by Wikimedian Tomruen
- The Aurora Borealis, or Northern Lights, shines above Bear Lake, Eielson Air Force Base, Alaska. Taken by Senior Airman Joshua Strang.
- The wreck of the American Star (SS America) seen from land side, Fuerteventura. Taken by Wikimedian Wollex.
- A Blue Jay (Cyanocitta cristata) in Algonquin Provincial Park, Canada. Taken by Wikimedian Mdf.
- Barred Owl (Strix varia) Whitby, Ontario (Canada). Taken by Wikimedian Mdf.
- Moon occluded by clouds over San Diego, California. Taken by Wikimedian Rufustelestrat.
- Hoverflies mating in midair. Taken by Wikimedian Fir0002.
- A paper match igniting. Taken by Wikimedian Sebastian Ritter.
Each one of these is inspiring. And so is the fact that they all exist.