2008 – My Year In Pictures

Title: Marina Reflections
Location: Springfield Lock
Camera: Canon EOS 30D / 24-105mm EF f/4 L IS USM
Notes: I took the opportunity to nip out for a breath of fresh air while the sun was shining today. And find another geocache or two. Once again, geocaching has taken me to a spot which I didn’t even know existed, and it’s lovely. It’s along the Chelmer & Blackwater Navigation, just downstream of the Essex Record Office, and is about the last bit of civilisation before you hit the more rural paths along the canal.

Title: I Parked The Porsche…
Location: Writtle
Camera: Canon Ixus 850IS compact
Notes: … under a tree, and it got covered in leaves. Actually, not my Porsche, just one I came across whilst pottering for pictures in Writtle.

Title: Melting Frost
Location: At home
Camera: Canon EOS 30D / 50mm EF f/1.8 + 12mm extension tube
Notes: After yesterday’s near miss, I made sure I took something first thing today! Lucky I did, because although the weather was great for most of the time during daylight hours, I was very busy at home, and had to wait in for a Special Delivery parcel which never came! So much for being “guaranteed by 1pm”. But don’t get me started on ranting about the Royal Mail… This was a shot of some early morning frost melting from the top of my car as the sun crept across the roof.

Title: Crisp Afternoon On The River
Location: Chelmer & Blackwater Navigation, near Ulting
Camera: Canon EOS 30D / 24-105mm EF f/4 L IS USM
Notes: Despite having a bad back, I managed a walk along the Chelmer & Blackwater Navigation this afternoon. I started off from Hoe Mill Lock and went to the church at Ulting and back. It was a marvellous autumn day, with clear blue skies, bright sun and people messing about in boats. A lovely atmosphere all round.

Title: Sandford Mill Reflections
Location: Chelmer & Blackwater Navigation
Camera: Canon EOS 30D / 24-105mm EF f/4 L IS USM
Notes: One of the joys of being a freelancer is being able to arrange your working hours to suit yourself. Having been stuck behind my desk all day yesterday, I had a productive morning today, and so decided to bunk off for an hour or so this afternoon – I needed to go out to buy more printer ink anyway – so I took a walk along the Chelmer & Blackwater Navigation at Sandford Lock. It was a wonderfully sunny afternoon with a light wind and blue sky. These narrowboats were begging to have their picture taken!

Title: At The Crossroads
Location: Herongate
Camera: Canon EOS 30D / 24-105mm EF f/4 L IS USM
Notes: I was supposed to visit a friend’s photographic exhibition in Whitstable today, but the Bank Holiday/road works traffic was so bad on the M25, that I bailed out at Thurrock and came back via the A13 and A128 to Brentwood. Seeing as the weather was so nice, I stopped for a walk around Herongate and Thorndon Park and enjoyed an ice cream in the visitors’ centre.

Title: Bow Wave
Location: Little Baddow
Camera: Canon EOS 30D / 24-105mm EF f/4 L IS USM
Notes: I spent an enjoyable couple of hours this morning taking a walk along the Chelmer & Blackwater Navigation from Paper Mill Lock to Little Baddow Lock. I took a photo for Day #6 near this location, but it’s surprising how different it looks a few months later.