It’s been a thrilling first year for 3DVisionLive.com and we’d like to thank all of ours users for helping to make this site one of the most compelling places to visit to view 3D content. During the past year more than 20,000 3D images have been uploaded by 3D enthusiasts for all of us to view, share, and enjoy!

As you can imagine, then, selecting a gallery of just 12 images from all of this material for our Best 3D Photos of 2011 gallery was no small feat. We decided to compose the gallery from only those images selected for Awards by our staff throughout the year—as these images represent the highest quality images, selected not only for technical excellence but compositional creativity as well. All but one image selected for the gallery received Gold Awards. 3Divine’s “Ray of Light in San Miniato” from Arte & Co.’s Scienza Foundation and Academy Gallery, a Silver Award designee, was chosen for its overall brilliant composition. You may view the entire gallery in 3D here: http://photos.3dvisionlive.com/gallery-2011/.

Now, without further ado, our selection for Best 3D Image of the Year is Muzatko03’s candid image of children making a massive bubble, which is part of the amazing set of images you can see in the National Stereoscopic Association Gallery (http://photos.3dvisionlive.com/NSA3D/). To us, this image captures what the added dimension of stereo 3D can bring to an image—3D injects a feeling of “life” into the image, pulling us into the scene with the children to feel part of the joy and wonder they are all experiencing.

Congratulations to Muzatko03! We look forward to another exciting year and thousands of new images to enjoy. Stay tuned to 3DVisionLive.com for details about upcoming photo contests we’ll be running, starting this February, that will give you all a chance to showcase your work (and win some cool stuff, too)!