It’s now 2019 and I have seen many photographers produce their take on how 2018 was for them. This seems to be a tradition with most to review their year in a blog post, and I usually spend more time reading them than actually writing one myself.
That being said, 2018 has been quite a busy one for my family and I, so for the first time I thought it would be worth writing something.
Let’s start with what could be the biggest change for us in 2018, and that was moving house. We didn’t just move down the street, we moved over 200 miles away to the beautiful Lake District to live in Keswick. This was a massive change as you can imagine in all aspects, including the kids going to a new school, getting used to a brand new area, making new friends and staying in contact with existing friends we left behind.
Now you may ask ‘why move?’, but if you have ever visited the Lake District you will know why. It is an amazing place and for those of you that like the outdoors it has everything you could ask for. We decided to choose where we wanted to live based on the lifestyle we want, rather than restricting ourselves on work location etc and ceased the opportunity.
Our children have settled in really well and find exploring the outdoors a lot more fun here than when we lived in Milton Keynes. Understandably really, going from the “Land of the Roundabouts” to the “Land of the Gods”.
Being an outdoor photographer it is fantastic living here, so many photo opportunities, so much so that it is difficult for me to go anywhere without wanting to stop every 5 minutes to capture it on my camera. We thought we would combine our family’s desire to explore the Lake District and my passion for photography by creating our blog/vlog series “Our Lake District Adventure”. Please check out my other posts to see the story so far.
Which leads me onto what I’ve been up to with my photography last year. The first couple of months are usually focused on family events (birthdays etc) and a few occasions where I will get out and about. 2018 brought us something else though at the beginning of March, the Beast from the East.
The snow certainly made some fairly bland scenes a lot more interesting.
Later that month it was time for the annual trip to The Photography Show. Always have a great time at the show getting to check out all the latest gear, listen to the professionals talk about their craft. I even got to meet Nigel Danson at the Fotospeed stand. Those of you who don’t know who he is, Nigel is a professional landscape photographer who also runs a YouTube channel providing vlogs on his travels and photography tips. Check out his channel here.
Another photographer who gave an excellent talk was Richard Peters (professional wildlife photographer), however I didn’t get to meet him on this occasion. A little disappointing, however I soon got to meet Richard on his workshop a few months later along with another very talented wildlife photographer, David Lloyd.
The workshop was fantastic, photographing British Wildlife including foxes, mice, owls and otters. I learnt a lot that day from both photographers. Definitely recommend attending one of their workshops. They both made sure they got to spend some time with everyone on the workshop. Richard even took the time to review a photo my son had taken. My son who is a big fan of Richard Peters was very jealous that I was going to meet him. It was the least I could do to ask if he would take a look at the photo. I was pleased to go back to my son with a good report.
My son’s image of a Barn Owl. I love the detail in the feathers.
Here are some images I took on the workshop. Taking on board the advice of the pros I was trying to be a little more creative with my images, as well as getting some nice portraits.
The second half of the year we had moved house and our Lake District adventure had begun. We were lucky it was the summer when we moved, it meant we didn’t mind there wasn’t any heating in every room of the house.
I have taken a lot of photos in 2018, particularly in the second half of the year and it’s hard to choose my favourites. Ok, I have managed to pick some…
I’m sure 2019 is going to be a year full of family fun, adventure and of course plenty of photography.
I wish you all the very best for the year ahead.
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