But my personal favorite photo of the year is one that I didn't even see until a couple days ago. It's a stunning picture of the space shuttle's final voyage last May. The picture also has an unusual story behind it because it was not taken by a photojournalist, or even with a real camera. It's a snapshot from the iPhone of a passenger on a commercial flight who happened to look out the window and see the Endeavor climbing towards space on the long, sinewy trail of its white exhaust. Not only is the photo historic for capturing the last trip of the shuttle but it is simply beautiful as well, revealing an angle on spaceflight that had never been seen before. At least not by me....
Stephanie Gordon, from Hoboken, NJ, shot the photo and didn't think too much of it until, after sending it to a friend. That day, it went viral and she became instantly famous. The picture also amped up the debate about photo rights and copyright on the the Internet. But despite all that it is still a remarkable image and it has my vote for photo of the year.
