Hmmm, I don’t have any firework photos or pictures of parties to post for a Happy New Year post so I’m digging back through the files to see what I can find most suitable.
In January, after the cold and snow I yearned for any sign of spring, hunting for the slightest sign of snowdrops and other signs that the winter was breaking.
I found these Spring Bulbs in Burford and loved the “Olde World” feel of the shop front with the wares displayed on the pavement in crates and baskets.
February wasn’t too good a month for me or the camera but the pictures I’d managed to take earlier saw me through, this one in particular taken in Southampton on a visit to Eldest Daughter while she was still living there. It was taken on a very cold, but very sunny and very still day and the reflections in the Ocean Village Marina stayed as the desktop on my laptop for most of the month.
By March the weather had improved and I took every opportunity for some much-needed practice with the camera. On as many weekends as the sun came out Oxford would find me arriving on the bus and climbing into some strange places and positions for a good picture. For this one I was balancing on a wall and holding onto the blossom tree in the picture.
April gave me the chance for a new challenge. Hubby had a sports competition in Pleasley and I had the opportunity to go too with the camera. Checking out the maps of the surrounding area I found that Pleasley had an old colliery with the pit head in the process of restoration. I decided I would try to take a “pretty” picture of the colliery and was pleasantly surprised with the result.
In May we went to Doncaster where my photography adventure put me at odds with the shopping centre security. I was taking photos of the escalators, looking down from the top floor. I was politely asked to delete my photos and leave the centre. Pity because the people below me had looked like ants swarming over an ice-cream.
However, using the Holiday Inn where we were staying to my advantage I took the lift to the fifth floor and found a good angle for the view of Doncaster Minster from behind the curtains.
In June I played with the how and why of black and white pictures. I have to admit that I’m still not sure of the why but I got the hang of how.
I took the colour out of a few pine cone pictures but this black and white picture of dandelions is one of the conversions I liked best.
In July we went to Brugge, a photographer’s paradise, I took over 500 photos. We took a boat ride on the canal, I used the scattergun approach with the camera here so that I didn’t miss anything. We shopped in the Saturday market and walked around the narrow cobbled streets where the cafe culture spills out onto the pavements.
Apparently this is the most photographed scene in Brugge, an oppinion held up by the fact I had to fight for my spot to take it.
August had me in and out of Oxford again at any opportunity I had, I took a lot of non-tourist pictures, the ones you can see with a tour guide but don’t have the time to stop and look at. Bicycles featured in a lot of my pictures, and I loved the way someone had used this as an advert.
September brought a holiday in the Isle of Wight. Having to choose just one picture from the hundreds of pictures I took is quite a task but I eventually settled on this one. It’s from the beach at Shanklin, I loved the way the seaweed clung to the posts. If you look closely you can see the faces of the seaweed monsters looking back at you.
The Banbury Canal Day was held in October, it was a really good day and the weather was easily as good as a summer’s day. I took lots of barge pictures but there was a morris dancing competition on as well and this picture of one group of dancers was the most entertaining. I thought they were wonderfully unusual.
November brought a trip to Blackpool. While Hubby spend the day in the sports centre I walked the three-mile length of the sandy beach in bright sunshine.
I took photos of the tower and the piers, and of course the donkeys, but I couldn’t resist a little sand art and a photo of this one.
This brings 2011 to a close in December.
I followed an advent calender theme for December, trying to post a different Christmas picture every day.
I have nothing but admiration for those of you who post everyday, I struggled to string 24 posts together.
And now as we start again in January, I would just like to wish all of my friends, old and new, online and off, the best new year ever.
