Holidays!

In this blog post, I'm going to take a brief look back at my first half of the year as a landscape photographer. I would normally do this type of blog post at the end of the year but as I'm on holiday at the moment I haven't been doing much photography so I don't have any photographic adventures to tell you about. By the time you read this though I'll be back in the UK and weather permitting I'm back out shooting the landscape. Normal service should be resumed next week!

The Good

It's been a good year for me so far as a landscape photographer. I've been working hard and I'm out shooting more than I've been in any other year. The effort has paid off and my work is getting viewed by a much wider audience now. This is thanks to successes such as:

South West Coast Path 2018 Calendar Competition - though I didn't win the overall competition it was still great to get placed and you will be able to see my image of Start Point as the January 2018 photograph. You can pick up a copy from the SWCP Shop.
YouTube Channel - though I started my landscape photography channel last year, it is the first half of this year that I've have seen a significant growth in subscribers and video views. My video of my adventure in Glencoe gave me a great boost, and my video on printing, and my 5 Minute Photo Adventure series have helped the channel to keep growing.
Outdoor Photography Magazine - I've had a few images published in Outdoor Photography magazine this year. This has included images in their monthly competition and in their Locations Guide section where I had to author the text as well as provide the images.
Improve Photography - I also started writing articles for improvephotography.com this year. I've written about a wide range of topics so be sure to head on over there and read my articles such as this one on printing at home.

The Not So Good

I'm going to keep this bit short. I don't like to dwell on the negatives too much. Unfortunately, it was another year of not making the shortlist in Landscape Photographer of the Year. Despite the lack of success I still value competitions like this as they help inspire and drive my photography. You can read why in this blog post I wrote last year: The Pain and Joy of Photography Competitions.

My Favourite 3 Images

Finally, I'd like to share my favourite 3 images of the year so far. This is a tough choice as I have a decent pool of images to pick from thanks to numerous trips out with the camera.

So there you have it. It's actually been a positive exercise writing this blog post. With the lack of success in LPOTY putting a bit of a damper on my photography, looking back at my photographs and other success I feel recharged and ready for the remainder of the year. Autumn is just around the corner and I've got a couple of photography adventures in the planning stage so there is plenty to look forward to!

Have you had a good year with your photography so far? Do you have any big plans for the remainder of the year? Let me know in the comments below.