My Favourite Photos of the Year

This has been quite a good year for my photography.

I got to spend an extended amount of time in the beautiful Portuguese city of Vila Real de Santo Antonio, where I was able to immerse myself in the daily life of the city and capture some images at different times of the day and in different seasons.

I made my annual trip to the west coast of Ireland where I managed to visit some new locations and try a different style of photography.

Most of my photography is a blend of locations close to where I live, and photo shoots I make when I visit my daughter who lives a two hour drive away. The landscape is more rural than urban and provides some interesting variety for my photography.

These are the images I have picked as my favourite photos of the year. They may not be to everyone’s taste but an important message I have heard many times this year is ‘shoot for yourself’.

That’s what I have done and it has been my most enjoyable photography year yet.

This was one of my first photographs of the year. I like the sense of movement as the girl walks into the scene. All of the interest is on the left but the fact that the girl is walking into the open space gives a feeling of mystery and I think it works here.

I have photographed this house many times from many different perspectives. I like the way the light plays on the front of the house in this image.

I made many variations of this image in Vila Real during my first visit in April. Every morning this corner was lit by the sun and I tried to capture an interesting subject in that beam of light. I think the viewer's eye is drawn to the street cleaner at work, which is what I intended.

I like working with contrast and continue to look for opportunities to improve my end product. Meanwhile, I include this image because I happened to see the house bathed in light during a film shoot.

This year I enjoyed experimenting with candid photography, aiming to capture a scene that tells a story. I think this one illustrates the typical comings and goings of a shopping mall.

This was the year I tried to develop my street photography. These three images are memorable as I think they offer some visual interest. In the image on the left the boy and his grandad mirror each other as they both eat their ice cream, making eye contact as they do so.

In the middle image I like the way the pigeons seem to be going for a walk in the park with the woman.

In the image on the right I captured this tourist taking a picture of the statue of Phil Lynott, and managed to also capture his phone image.

This was one of my first images from my new 30mm Olympus macro lens. Using this lens provided a bit of a learning curve but I will continue to work to improve my macro photography.

There is something about this scene that I just like.

I like to capture the same location in different seasons, as above and below.

I think a combination of three elements in this image work to make it a success; the 'tree characters', the misty background and the human element added by the two people walking into the scene with their dog.

I love a silhouette photograph. This image might have too many elements but I still think it makes a visual impact.

Autumn provided a lot of colour this year.

I like this composition even though the light wasn't great. It is a typical rural scene, something I love to capture.

A frosty spider web hanging from a gate. It is imperfect yet it has a certain beauty.

One of my favourite subjects.

FINAL THOUGHTS

Choosing some of my favourite images of the year has been a positive exercise, mainly because I realise that I do like many of my images and I could have chosen more favourites. This marks a progression in my photography from the days on which I thought none of my images were worthwhile.

I recommend that you try this exercise for yourself.