27December
Moments: 2023 review
Well that’s the end of another year, as I usually do I’m reviewing my work from 2023. There have been many moments over the last year and I has been great to celebrate those in the post. It has been a while since I sat and wrote like this so this was an interesting piece to look at doing. I thought it was key to ensuring I do an overview of where my work has been and the style, subject matter and locations of my final images across the year.
Over the year, I tried to get out and explore as much as possible, weather-dependent and with the goal to visit a few locations I hadn’t been to in a while Also, I did a lot more photography for my day job, shooting multiple different subjects across Suffolk.
Through the Year
Here is one image from each of the last 12 months, taken throughout the year. It’s a good view of where I have been. They are all from my outdoor photography work. It has been an enjoyable pursuit of the world we live in, and there have been many moments where I have stood in awe of the scenes I’ve encountered.
Five Favourites
Picking out my top five isn’t easy, to distil a year’s work to a small number is a challenge based on the amount I take across my personal and commercial work. Here are my favourites from the outdoors, exploring the world we live in, from coastal to rivers edges and woodlands and inland I have been there and tried to explore it.
Serenity, Snape Maltings
Misty and foggy start along the River Alde. With the sun breaking through over the horizon. With the mist forecast, I planned a trip to visit here and a few other locations all in one morning. It was a great start to see the sunrise across the river. This is a shot I had planned to try and get at some point on my travels. The conditions lined up with when I planned to go out and I’m pretty pleased with the outcome.
Gratify, Suffolk
In a woodland, I have been visiting for years there is always something new to find. After scouting the area, both on the OS map and in person a few weeks back. There’s a path I have walked parallel to multiple times, and I have always been curious about what it looks like. It doesn’t have a clear entrance as it’s enclosed and overgrown. Until you start to follow the old pathway. That’s now being used by animals mainly. Unbeknown to me, is that this area is carpeted in bluebells.
And over the weekend, I went back to capture this particular tree, surrounded by the bluebells in bloom. Standing tall on a slope the tree, was greeted by a glorious light and a hint of mist. Great conditions came together with preparation and thought to travel this path. It was a worthwhile visit after visualising this scene on my first trip.
I was careful walking along it, to avoid trampling on the bluebells. As they can take up to seven years to recover after they are damaged.
Cogitation, Bawdsey
This stretch of beach has changed so much in the last couple of months. With much of the London clay at the north end, enveloped by sand it’s a huge contrast to the way it was.
A slightly dramatic sunrise at low tide highlighted the patterns and reflections in the sand. The smooth sound of the sea as you wander along this beach and the feeling of isolation all pay so much to that wholesome feeling of capturing the changes of the environment around us. It’s a pursuit of observation, beauty and being in a moment that might have only be seen by one or two souls.
Lilac, Blaxhall
This heathland is covered by several old earthworks from the Iron Age and ditches dug during the war carved into its landscape. There is this unusual undulation across the landscape, with ups, downs and small spaces to walk into the centre of the heath. With trees dotted around and a small herd of fallow deer for company, it’s an interesting place to visit.
Hurley Burley, Dedham
Standing on the banks of the River Stour, are these old strangled willows. They have deteriorated over the past few years, as the weather and climate have slowly affected their limbs. Already gnarly and broken, an infrared image was the first thought when I got down on the river’s edge.
Having tried to take the image an hour before, the light reading was calling for a 50+ minute exposure which would have taken most of the time exploring the area. Waiting for the sun to come through before a quick dash across the fen bridge to set up. Using the Hoya infrared filter, it ended up being a 2-minute 40-second exposure.
The sun’s position, and the way the clouds were moving overhead, both help the composition. It does take a little post-processing, as the image is pink when it’s captured, a black and white conversion and some work on the tones black and white.
Commercial Work
2024 has seen me photograph the same diverse amount of work within my day job capturing food, rooms and exteriors for marketing use for print and online.
Thanks for reading; and a huge thank you to friends, family and followers for your support, to those who have brought prints and calendars over the last year all the best for the year to come. Over the past year, I have planted over 100 trees to offset my work, and my travels around the county. I plant them for each of my calendars and prints.
I hope you’ve enjoyed my little walk through the last year. It has been a busy year full of different opportunities. Here is to 2024, I look forward to sharing my photography over the coming year. Happy New Year!
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