2008 - My Year In Pictures

Title: Roofline
Location: Norwich Market
Camera: Canon EOS 30D / 24-105mm EF f/4 L IS USM
Notes: Spent a very pleasant day visiting Norwich today - I haven’t been for years, and I’d forgotten how nice it was. I took lots of different images, but picked this one because of its iconic association with the town - it’s the roof of the refurbished market in front of the Town Hall. A great splash of colour.

Title: Summer Fête Reflections
Location: Ingatestone
Camera: Canon EOS 30D / 100-400mm EF f/4-5.6 L IS USM
Notes: It was Ingatestone’s Summer Fête today, and the Camera Club always has an exhibition of members’ work in one of the tents. It’s one of our biggest recruiting events, as the local population is out in force, often with a camera in hand. This year, as well as the usual side shows, bouncy castle, fire engine, balloon-bending and candyfloss stalls, we were able to see sheepdogs herding geese in the main arena. And The Royal British Legion Youth Band Brentwood performed various tunes whilst showing off their marching skills. The band members must have been very hot in their bright red uniforms in the full sun. I particularly liked this shot as the instrument has been polished to within an inch of it’s life, and shows some great reflections of the other band members in the bell.

Title: Mind The Gap
Location: Near Highwood
Camera: Canon EOS 30D / 24-105mm EF f/4 L IS USM
Notes: After a grey start to the day, the weather perked up mid-afternoon and I had to go to Ongar to deliver a letter. I stopped off in the town on the way back and took a few photos of the church, which happened to be open. But nothing stuck out as Picture of the Day. However, as I was driving home along the A414, I saw this view on the other side of the road. It was nearly 2 miles before I was able to safely stop and turn around, as the traffic pelts along at 60mph down that stretch. Having driven back and found a convenient farm gateway to leave the car in for a few minutes, I then had another half mile hike to the exact spot for the picture. But I think it was worth the effort in the end!

Title: Wipeout
Location: South Bank, London
Camera: Canon EOS 30D / 24-105mm EF f/4 L IS USM
Notes: I had a great afternoon meeting half a dozen other Photo-a-Day folks from our 366 Flickr group. We sat and enjoyed a beer or two by the Tate, then took a wander along the South Bank. The skater boys were out in force as usual, showing off to the tourists and photographers who gathered to watch. I took quite a few, but this sequence stuck out as being the best from a rapid-fire burst. Fortunately, the guy in question was wearing a bright orange shirt which helped him stand out from the background. I liked the way his trainers matched the graffitti, too. With a little bit of Photoshopping when I got home, this montage represents “motion” quite well - our theme for this week.

Title: Surface Tension
Location: Highlands House, Chelmsford
Camera: Canon EOS 30D / 24-105mm EF f/4 L IS USM
Notes: I was busy on the computer for most of the morning, but then things started going a bit wrong, and I decided to step away from the keyboard before I got too mad with it. The early afternoon was sunny, so I took myself off to Highlands House for a look around the ornamental gardens - I’ve seen the house and walked in the park, but hadn’t been around the formal gardens at all. There were plenty of floral images to be seen, but the one I liked best from the shoot was this one of the base of the fountain in the entrance to the One World Garden. It was built to commemorate the World Scout Jamboree which took place in Highlands Park last summer. Thankfully, with some fresh air in my lungs and photos in the bag, I returned home and sorted out my PC problems quite quickly. Infinitely better than banging my head against the screen for a couple of hours!

Title: Dusk Grasses
Location: Galleywood Common
Camera: Canon EOS 30D / 24-105mm EF f/4 L IS USM
Notes: I took a few pictures in the garden earlier today, but wasn’t really happy with them - they weren’t terribly inspiring. I’d almost forgotten about taking any more until about 8:30 when I noticed the evening clouds turning nice colours outside. So I headed out to a favourite spot on Galleywood Common and found some grasses waving in the breeze looking westwards. Crouching down low (another different viewpoint for this week’s theme), I managed to get some interesting shapes in silhouette against the setting sun.

Title: The Pollinator
Location: Wivenhoe
Camera: Canon EOS 30D / 50mm EF f/1.8 + 12mm extension tube
Notes: I stayed at my parents’ overnight, and had a quick wander around their garden this morning before heading home. I found this big, fat bee buzzing around their Arum lily under the kitchen window. It very quickly got covered in pollen - just a bee doing it’s job!