Why I am proud of my first photography calendar

I started on my latest photography journey just over two years ago after an absence of several years. I had a lot to learn and approached my new journey with great excitement. Two years on and I can say without a doubt that this has been more than just a hobby. I have found a pursuit that has given me much joy as well as supported my physical and mental wellbeing (see my last blog, https://www.wildwillowways.com/post/photography-the-gift-that-keeps-on-giving).

I now spend much of my time learning, observing, creating and sharing and have certainly found the antidote to boredom. During the worldwide pandemic, when opportunities to travel for photography were drastically curtailed, I was able to diversify and find photo opportunities nearer to home. This allowed me to see the potential in my own close environment and to begin to find the extraordinary in the ordinary.

This year I have enough images to produce a calendar as a gift for family and friends. I am very proud of this for a number of reasons, not least of which is that it is testament to the fact that I didn’t give up despite the difficult year, and have in fact grown to love photography even more. Looking back over my image collection to make my choices for each calendar month helped me to evaluate my images and appreciate the type of photography that I am drawn to. I realise that I like photographing trees and boats and capturing images near water. I like taking close ups of parts of objects and photographing old things. I have also discovered that I like photographing more banal subjects and I encourage myself to see beauty in the mundane.

Below are my image choices for my 2021 calendar with a caption to say where each one was taken. It’s not a professionally produced calendar, but my family and friends won’t mind. They will appreciate that it is my own work, a culmination of what I have achieved over the past two years and a celebration of a change of direction in my life.

2021 Calendar