2011 - My year in photography

Well, here we are at the end of another photographic year - one where I've spent less time doing photography (and blogging) than I could have, but have kept things ticking along.  This year's highlights are:

• I've been lucky enough to photograph Red Squirrels in Jersey, Puffins in Scotland and Freshwater Manatees in Guatemala, alongside a few things near to home
• Setting-up my 500px account, with a surprise popular photo
• Microstock sales of £257.63
• Dabbling with timelapse photography (once)
• Continued to grow my Twitter followers (thanks to all 337 of you, even the spammers!)
• Treating myself to a shiny 27" iMac with Lightroom 3 - a major upgrade from my 10 year old PC with Elements 6!
• I bought a compact camera!

Wildlife Encounters

No dedicated wildlife photography trips for me this year, so it was more a case of taking advantage of any opportunities that arose.  This in a way meant any sighting was more special, as it demanded a good splash of luck alongside the patience!

More of my images can be found on my Facebook Photography Page.

550px

Move over Flickr, there's a new kid in town - 500px.  This website attracts some inspirational photographers and simple voting system means you can easily admire other people's photos.  Surprisingly for me, my most popular shot is something that I'd never previously done anything with, from a trip a couple of years ago from the Angolan border down through Namibia trying to find nomadic Desert-adapted Elephants.


Microstock

Here are the results from this year's sales:

iStockPhoto          £60.28
Shutterstock         £84.96
Dreamstime          £57.22
DepositPhotos      £10.33
Fotolia                  £44.74
TOTAL                £257.53

Compared to last year, earnings from iStock are significantly down, with Dreamstime faring better than last year.

I dabbled with editorial shots for the first time and will try to do more of this next year.

My most popular shot (again) is: 

Lightroom 3

To join my new iMac (amazing screen!), I have bought Lightroom 3:

It's early days grappling with getting my photos transferred from my PC to the Mac, but Lightroom seems very powerful for what I need - minor RAW adjustments, then publishing.  The Scott Kelby book (link above) is a useful companion.

Timelapse Photography

I haven't got a DSLR with video, but still wanted to try out timelapse photography.  I've just got my paws on a remote timer device...

... and have tried it once on a very blustery evening, a short walk from home:

Compact Camera - Canon IXUS 220HS

For a trip where I wanted to try some underwater video, I bought a compact camera, the Canon Ixus 200HS.  Although less flexible than my DSLR, it's with me more often, so means I can be ready to pounce on occasions like:

The camera itself is great, although there's some lens noise when zooming, something I might go to the shop to ask about.  I bought an Aquapac underwater bag which worked really well for snorkeling - and about a tenth of the price of a dedicated housing.

Bring on 2012!!