2022 Roundup

A look back over my photography in 2022. These are not necessarily my best images but they do help to tell the story of the year…

January/February

The year started with a trip to Fairfield Church on Romney Marsh. There is nowhere better to go when it is frosty and despite my many visits here over the years there are still shots I have yet to capture. This panoramic was one that I can now cross of my list.

*Pre-dawn panoramic at a frosty Fairfield Church*

The bridge that links Kent with the Isle of Sheppey, known as the Sheppey Crossing, is a site of another location that I like to visit especially in the winter. The combination of frost and fog can make the commanding concrete structures of Kingsferry Bridge and the Sheppey Crossing look evocative and mysterious. I’ve written a blogpost that delves more into this area here

*Kingsferry Bridge reflected beneath the Sheppey Crossing*

Alas, the south-eastern English winter is not one comprised of interesting weather events one after another! There are many dull and dreary days to contend with where the will to venture out is low. On these days it pays to match the subject to the conditions. The decaying sea defences on the Sussex coast nr Winchelsea, for example are perfect.

*Winchelsea Sticks on a placid day on the Sussex coast*

Spring

Spring is a busy and productive time for me as there is all of a sudden so much to shoot. It all starts with the better weather which creates more opportunities for capturing a pleasant sunrise like on this morning at Botany Bay.

Better weather also heralds the start of spring colour and so by late March the local forest floor had started to come alive with woodland anemones. These delicate flowers can grow in huge numbers in their preferred habitat and photographs that single out one amongst the batch can look very striking.

In April the fields in the countryside also started to come alive with colour. Due to crop rotation it is always a guess which fields will have rapeseed planted but this year us photographers were treated when the area surrounding Ripple Mill had the yellow carpet installed! I managed to visit here a number of times as it was also very close to a wild garlic woodland so I could often visit both when the weather allowed.

*Ripple Mill surrounded by rapeseed in April*

*Wild Garlic sunset in a local woodland, Kent*

Astro Photography

2022 was the year where I spent more time out at night learning astrophotography. This also coincided with Spring as in the UK the Milky Way is best viewed between May and August. There are not too many very dark spots in Kent due to light pollution but Dungeness, Reculver and the Dover Cliffs were where I spent my evenings.

*Milky Way captured above the White Cliffs of Dover*

Northern Ireland Trip

At the end of May for my birthday me and my girlfriend spent some time in Belfast and then exploring the Antrim coast. We saw some spectacular coastline but not always the best weather in which to shoot it! We had to turn back from our walk along the cliffs to the Giant’s Causeway from Dunseverick one afternoon due to the fierce wind!

Shot in wild wind on the Antrim Coast. I needed a 5-second exposure for the water effect which had the unexpected effect of blurring the vegetation nicely too. I just had to shield the tripod as best I could to get a sharp result…

Summer Time

It’s hard to remember as I write this now on New Year’s Eve with the wind howling outside and off the back of an extended cold snap but this was the year when we hit 40°. The rolling heatwaves meant lots of days with clear blue skies and as such it was not the best time to be out photographing. When I was out earlier on in the season I made trips to capture the vibrant wildflowers on the coast at Broadstairs and Dungeness.

*Morning dog walker in the prime spot just after sunrise on Stone Bay, Broadstairs*

*More Red Valerion on the plains of Dungeness*

*Sunset at the Bishopstone Cliffs on the North Kent coast*

Autumn

The very dry summer was followed by an equally wet and humid autumn season which was great news for fungi. Throughout October I was mainly to be found exploring my local woodlands learning new techniques with lighting and focus stacking.

Krakow Trip

For my girlfriends birthday in October we spent a week in Krakow in Poland. The mix of architecture was the highlight for me, from the gothic and renaissance style of the Old Town’s Market Square to the socialist-realist Nowa Huta. An in depth blog post of the trip can be found here

Full Circle

And back full circle to Winter again..! We’ve had a cold snap recently with even a bit of snow which I managed to catch in the woods below. As ever we have also had a fair share of dull days too which I tried to match with the drab out-of-season coastline of Minnis Bay.