There are many moments over the last year where I have been able to capture the world around us. From the changing of seasons to the weather taking hold. From coastal to woodland and back inland again in both Suffolk and Norfolk. It’s been a year full of moments exploring our beautiful county in so many situations.

There has also been a lot of photography in my day job too, with food & drink, room and lifestyle images needed to market the hotels. Some of my favourite images will feature later on. I don’t often talk about this side of my work so If you want to know more, do let me know as I write a piece specifically about it.

Reviewing 2022

Winter

Spring

Summer

In August I was part of the inaugural exhibition at Illuminate, it was great to be exhibiting my work again. this is the second summer in a row that I have exhibited my work. You can read all about it in a post I wrote at the time, I have linked it at the end of the post.

I visited the coast, to capture the sunrises at Shingle Street and Felixstowe Ferry, both stand out as locations not only because of the conditions. But they are great places to see the Valerian in full bloom. The colours are a stark contrast to the colours of the coast.  With summer the earlier starts are harder to handle, but that didn’t stop me from going out and exploring the local area.

Autumn

At the start of September, I visited Orfordness. On a photographic tour of the small shingle spit that sits across the river from Orford. It was an interesting place to visit again I wrote about it at the time, and I have linked it at the end of this post.

Winter

Favourite Five

The whole notion of having a top set of images isn’t easy due to the number of images I take over a year. But here are the five landscape images that are favourites for various reasons. Each of them has its own story. Do let me know what your thoughts are and which is your favourite.

Winter’s Tale, Suffolk

I travel past this scene regularly, as I go to work on the coast at Aldeburgh. Each time I have driven past, this scene catches my eye. It wasn’t until a few weeks ago when a hoar frost came that I took the opportunity to go and explore and try and capture them.

The morning was magical, the light, the conditions and the frost all added to the images I captured. Having worked my way around I set about following the path to this group of silver birches standing tall. I spent a few moments framing up to ensure that the trees were compositionally correct and then took my shot.

The image above is a cooler edit that I captured as just as I reached the sun was starting to break through and catch the top third of the trees.  I thought this would suit a cooler colour palette.

Gatekeepers, Suffolk

This image was one I nearly didn’t take. It was after I had been on a trip to a local wood. I’d captured bluebells and wild garlic, the conditions were cold and hazy. As I was on my way back to the car and saw this composition and thought I will go ahead and take it. I was in two minds, as I was hoping to back to the car and go home.

I loved the way the two oaks stand over the gate in the distance. Almost foreboding, but also with some care and attention. Hence the choice of name. The haze in the distance, the colours of the foliage and way the trunks and other elements of the image all help it balance. It’s a lesson to take those images even if your mind says no, to go for it as you’ll often come away with an image that is the best of the bunch.

Approbative, Horsey Wind Pump

This shot was one I stumbled across while exploring Horsey Wind Pump on my trip to Norfolk. The conditions were slightly misty, and the sun was just about to rise above the mist. I worked the scene and framed it up to have the reeds draw the eye to the mill. I really liked the interaction between nature and man-made structure. The light seem to be this slightly warm feeling due to the way the sun was breaking through the clouds.

I spent a bit of time exploring both landscape and portrait versions of the image. I’ve found that is a good way to capture a scene that works in the field and then leave the choice to the edit.  For this, I also took two shots to focus stack the foreground and the mill itself. With the view to blending the images together.

Harmony, Shingle Street

I worked on another composition similar to this one in June for this image. The real difference for this was just as the sun was rising. I used the shape of the shingle to draw the eye in and looked to try and capture the conditions as they were arising. Like the one in June, I was looking to capture a long exposure, making sure I captured the waves as they crashed into the shingle. The colours of the sky, and the shingle seemed to work really well together.

The cloud moving across the frame added a lot to the final image as well as the sun breaking through the low-lying clouds. I opted to use a 16:9 crop on the final image, to remove some of the shingle in the foreground and to cut some of the sky down.

Beatific, Suffolk

I was very lucky to capture this, I have been exploring this heath on and off for the past couple of years. I had originally been to visit a local beach to catch the sunrise. On my way back the heath was covered in mist as far as the eye could see.

So I decided to stop,  with the sun breaking through. So I stopped off and made my way around the pathways. Capturing a number of shots, through trees, across the heath and then I came to this silver birch tree. The sun was just cutting through and breaking the canopy. As the mist rose, the tree was covered in a brilliant light.

A beautiful moment to see the light and mist interact with each other. I loved the way the sun was beaming through, by chance the leaves were also starting to change from their luscious greens to autumnal colours.

Highlights 2022

Here are some highlights from the last year, one image from each month of the year.

Infrared Photography

Food Photography

Part of my day job, is to capture the food across the hotels I work for. I would say this year has seen my work take a step up from where it was a year ago, taking images across all of the hotels in one way or another. Here are a few of my favourites.

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. 

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 2023, I look forward to sharing my photography over the coming year. Happy New Year! 

A few other moments at have happened in the last year. I have written posts about them.

Illuminate Exhibiton

Orfordness

Here is last years review: Highlights: 2021 – The year in review😀

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