Editor's Choice - Picture of the Day - December 31, 2011

Afghan child bride Sahar Gul, 15, speaks to the press as she recovers at the hospital in Kabul on December 31, 2011. Afghan police have rescued a teenage girl who was beaten and locked up in a toilet for over five months after she defied her in-laws who tried to force her into prostitution, officials said on December 27. Sahar Gul, 15, was found in the basement of her husband's house in northeastern Baghlan province late on December 26, 2011 after her parents reported her disappearance to the police. (AFP/Getty Images/Shah Marai)

The best from the Star photo department in 2011

This blog is a place for the editors on the photo desk to highlight the best of what we see on the wires. The photographers at the Toronto Star have their own place on the web to showcase their work, but it would be very much remiss of us not to celebrate the amazing, inspiring stuff they produce every day. Please take a moment to see what they've been up to this year — every story, moment and event in our backyards in Toronto and in far-flung destinations around the globe.

Here's just a taste — click the names of each photographer to see more, more, more:

 

David Cooper

 

Rick Eglinton

 

Rene Johnston

 

Richard Lautens

 

Rick Madonik

 

Colin McConnell

 

Lucas Oleniuk

 

Carlos Osorio

 

Jim Rankin

 

Randy Risling

 

Steve Russell

 

Michelle Shephard

 

Vince Talotta

 

Tannis Toohey

 

Andrew Wallace

 

Tara Walton

 

Bernard Weil

 

Jim Wilkes

Editor's Choice - Pictures of the Day - December 30, 2011

A few snapshots from the Republican presidential candidate campaigns in Battleground Iowa today:

Republican presidential candidate and former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich wipes away a tear while speaking about his deceased mother during a question and answer forum put together by Moms Matter 2012 at Java Joe's, a coffee shop, on December 30, 2011 in Des Moines, Iowa. The GOP presidential contenders are crisscrossing Iowa in the final stretch of campaigning in the state before the January 3rd caucus, the first test the candidates must face before becoming the Republican presidential nominee. (Andrew Burton/Getty Images)

 

Supporters of Republican presidential candidate and former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney, Marcela Yochum (C) and her son Scott (top), huddle against the cold rain during a campaign rally in West Des Moines, Iowa December 30, 2011. (Reuters/Rick Wilking)

 

Republican presidential hopeful U.S. Rep Ron Paul (R-TX) looks on during a town hall meeting at the Le Mars Convention Center on December 30, 2011 in Le Mars, Iowa. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

 

Republican presidential candidate and former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney speaks at a campaign rally in Ames, Iowa December 29, 2011. (Reuters/Brian Snyder)

The Daily Beast - December 30, 2011

REUTERS/Sheng Li

 

A Siberian tiger clings to wood logs at the Siberian Tiger Forest Park in Harbin, Heilongjiang province December 27, 2011. More than 800 Siberian tigers are currently living in the park, which is also a breeding centre for this endangered species, local media reported.

 

REUTERS/Sheng Li

Siberian tigers approach a keeper's car as they wait to be fed.

 

REUTERS/Sheng Li

Siberian tigers chase a chicken.

 

REUTERS/Sheng Li

Siberian tigers fight for a chicken.

 

REUTERS/Sheng Li

Visitors watch from a bus as Siberian tigers try to catch a chicken.

 

Editor's Choice - Picture of the Day - December 29, 2011

 

Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

Former Massachusetts Governor and Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney stands in a chair as campaign staff member Garrett Jackson holds it steady during a campaign event at Music Man Square December 29, 2011 in Mason City, Iowa. Recent state-wide polls put Romney and fellow candidate Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX) close going into next week's first-in-the-country Iowa Caucuses, a litmus test for the GOP hopefuls.  

The Daily Beast - December 29, 2011

AFP PHOTO / Yasuyoshi Chiba

A hippopotamus gets a massage at Sao Paulo zoo on December 21, 2011 in Brazil. The staff has secretly delivered special food to animals of more than 40 species as a Christmas gift. 

The Daily Beast - December 28, 2011

AP Photo/Xinhua, Ding Lixin

A pair of twin giraffes "Ping Ping" and "An An" is pictured in Shijiazhuang, capital of north China's Hebei Province, Saturday, Dec. 17, 2011. Shijiazhuang Zoo invited more than 10 pairs of twin children to celebrate the one-year-old birthday for China's first twin giraffes here on Saturday, Xinhua said.

Editor's Choice - Picture of the Day - December 27, 2011

In this Dec. 26, 2011 image made from KRT television, Kim Jong Un, center, North Korea's next leader and the son of late leader Kim Jong Il, cries as he pays respect to the body of his father in a glass coffin, not in photo, at Kumsusan Memorial Palace in Pyongyang, North Korea. (AP Photo/KRT via APTN)

The Daily Beast - December 27, 2011

AP Photo/POLFOTO, Skandinavisk Dyrepark

In this photo taken Dec. 8. 2011, the polar bear cub Siku is seen at Skandinavisk Dyrepark in Djursland, Denmark. A Danish zoo says a month-old polar bear cub has been taken into care since its mother failed to produce enough milk to feed him. Scandinavian Wildlife Park manager Frank Vigh-Larsen says Siku, now weighing 112 ounces (3,200 grams)_ against 49 ounces (1,800 grams) at birth _ was doing "really fine." 

The Daily Beast - December 26, 2011

 REUTERS/Ivan Milutinovic 

A day-old white lion cub lies next to his mother Sumba in their enclosure at Belgrade's Zoo December 21, 2011. The four white lions cubs, an extremely rare subspecies of the African lion, have become the zoo's greatest attraction. Another four white lion cubs were born in April earlier this year.