I was sitting drinking a coffee the other morning before work, scrolling aimlessly through my phone, and Facebook popped up with a memories post from 14 years ago. It was a picture of 16-year-old me, crouching down in the woods taking a macro photo of some flowers on my Motorola phone. I’d just realised that the camera on my phone had a macro mode and was amazed by the difference it made to pictures I could take.
My love affair with pictures has blossomed ever since then. Two years later I bought my first compact camera, six years later I borrowed my sister’s DSLR, and today I have more camera gear stuffed in a cupboard than I know what to do with. I now spend most of my free time either thinking about photos or outside somewhere taking them. Photography has almost blended itself perfectly into what makes me the happiest, being outside somewhere in nature. My camera can be a tool for capturing that moment and letting me relive it again and again.
So I thought I would look back on my 10 favourite photos from the last year and enojy them once more.
An early morning, golden sunrise, soaking into the rolling green fields of Wales. As someone who grew up in the flat midlands, green fields like these feel very much like the British countryside.
March felt particularly muddy and grey. I wanted to challenge myself to not rely on nature and good weather to get outside and take some photos. The bridge above me was supported using rocks from the quarry, which the bridge connected to the road.
Spring was finally starting to creep its way back into my local walks, offering some colour in the early morning.
I’d reached the peak of Beacon Hill before 6am as I attempted to capture some pictures during golden hour. I already had a handful of good photos when I managed to capture this shot while walking back to the car.
Taken less than a minute from my front door. Sheep take shelter from the intense morning sun underneath an old railway bridge which has been reclaimed by nature.
I rely on family holidays as a means to spend more time outdoors. Our annual camping trip to Pendine means enjoying the beautiful coastline of South Wales.
The two days I spent in Norfolk was the first time I had ever travelled somewhere specifically to take photos. I captured this shot of people enjoying the coastal river on a later summer’s evening.
Cromer has everything you would expect from a British Seaside town. I enjoyed my morning pottering around eating ice cream and doughnuts by the sea.
I spent a morning sitting about in bird hides with my new telelens. There was something so peaceful about just sitting there, waiting and watching.
The king of the jungle, or Cotswold Country Park at least. The lions seemed to spend most of their time sleeping out of sight, but this guy was kind enough to lift his head long enough for me to capture this shot.
I read a quote recently online which said ‘If you’re good at something, you’ll tell everyone. If you’re great, they’ll tell you.’ My mum’s been telling me my photos are great ever since I took those first photos on my Motorola phone, but I don’t think she counts. A few people have been nice enough to tell me they like my pictures this year, but at the same time this post is me trying to tell everyone how good I am, so who knows?! I’m sure I’ll look back in another year’s time and think all these pictures could be better, but for now, I am proud of them.
If you enjoyed my photos then you can follow my photography specific Instagram Page @karl_learns_to_shoot
And if you’ve been wondering exactly how great those very first macro photographs from 14 years ago were… then treat yourself to a few highlights below!
Get Up Go Outside 