This year has flown by.

 

Blue Tit, originally uploaded by andyskelton.

With only 13 days left to the end of the year, I’m left wondering exactly where the year has gone! On reflection though, it has been another eventful year with many new and exciting things happen.

There have been many photographic highlights. March saw me replace my ageing but still excellent Canon 5d with the totally awesome Canon 1D mark 4. I can’t say I miss the full frame aspect of the former camera, but then as most of the photos I take are either wildlife or macro, a wide angle lens is not the first one I reach for when setting out.

A trip to Slovenia saw me indulge in one of my favourite styles, floral photography, visiting as we did during the regions’ Nation Flower Festival. Rather than an organised parade, as many countries run for such festivals, this was a celebration of the wild flowers that were all in blooms during this time. And there were many.

The real highlight for me was a visit to Dartmoor Zoo, where my favourite photo of the year was take – that of Sita the Cheetah. Not only were the photos memorable but so was the friendliness of the staff and I look forward to making more than the one visit there next year. On a side note, a film is being made of the owner of Dartmoor Zoo, Ben Mee. The author of We Bought A Zoo, Ben’s story is getting the Holywood treatment and should be out next year with Matt Damon staring as Ben. Exciting times.

I’ve set myself a goal of reaching 40,000 hits on Flickr by the end of the year. When I first decided to try and reach this figure, I had to get at least 175 hits per day which seemed a little daunting, especially with the low light during these dank and dark winter months. Despite the snow, or may be even because of it, I’ve managed a number of good photos of the local wildlife who with the current cold snap have been making their way to the garden feeders in droves and now the total seems achievable. Thisphoto was taken after having moved the feeders to the very edge of the patio outside our dining room, where I can now sit comfortably as I snap away. The birds seem unperturbed by my presence though I’m pretty sure they’re aware when I unleash the 10 frames per second that the 1D can do, on them. Sounds like a machine gun going off!

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