It’s that time of year again! As we bid farewell to 2015 and welcome in 2016 with open arms, we’re taking a fond look back at the most popular images shared on 500px this past year.

There are only two rules:

1. The photos must have been uploaded to 500px (not necessarily taken) in 2015.

2. No photographer may appear more than once on any list, so everybody gets a chance to be featured.


What separates a great still life photograph from a snapshot of a few inanimate objects? Is it lighting? Composition? The size and quality of your camera gear? Yes, yes, and probably not. But none of those are what I would call the deciding factor.

The most important factor separating great still life photography from everything else is, simply put, a story. Does your choice of subject, composition, lighting, and every other minor tweak and consideration all come together to tell a story.

We’ll let you decide if the Top 10 Still Life Photos of 2015, our next Best of 2015 list, achieved this goal or fell short:

10. Bottle Sea by Juan de Villalba

BOTTLE SEA by juandevillalba  on 500px.com

9. Lilium Bulbiferum by EncroVision

Lilium bulbiferum by EncroVision  on 500px.com

8. Reds and Greens by Belen Argueso Castelos

Reds and greens.... by Belén Argüeso Castelos on 500px.com

7. Buch by ARTcore

~ Buch ~ by ARTcore on 500px.com

6. Four Elements by Daniel Sellmann

4 Elements by Daniel Sellmann on 500px.com

5. Transformation for Spring by Lafugue Logos

Transformation for Spring by Lafugue Logos   on 500px.com

4. Cookies and Milk by Margareth Photography

Cookies and milk by Margareth Photography on 500px.com

3. Air Dancers by Ashraful Arefin

Air dancers by Ashraful Arefin on 500px.com

2. It’s Always Coffee Time by Dina Benelko

It

1. Pliable by Shihya Kowatari

Pliable by Shihya Kowatari on 500px.com

Like (or don’t like) what you see? Let us know in the comments! And if your favorite 500px photojournalism didn’t make this year’s Top 10, share that with us too.