Theme Day: Favorite Photo of 2009

This is my favorite photo from 2009. I was out on a fishing trip off shore from Tamarindo in May with my two sons. We found ourselves in the midst of a huge pod of hundreds of dolphins jumping all around our boat.

In every direction, the water rippled with fins breaking the surface and dolphins looping up for short breaths of air. It is not common, however, to see a dolphin flying completely out of the water, except at Sea World. It is even rarer to be able to capture a photo of a dolphin in the wild completely airborne. Usually, by the time I see them, point the camera and snap the shutter, the dolphin is back down in the water, particularly if the camera is set for auto focus, because the auto focus interjects a short delay in the shutter reaction.

So how did I get this photo of the dolphin flying through the air? Dumb luck. I was focusing on the group of dolphins in the center of this picture and was taking their photo when the dolphin the the background went flying up out of the water.

The worldwide Daily Photo bloggers have done something different this year. Rather than picking our favorite photo for the January 1 first-of-the-month Theme Day, an extra theme day was added for today, January 15, for our favorite photo of the year. I hope you have enjoyed this choice, as I have enjoyed sharing it and my other photos with you.

To view the 2009 favorites of the other Daily Photo bloggers from around the world: Click here to view thumbnails for all participants">