2024 was in a way a bit of a quiet year for me on the whole as I spent less time taking new photos and more time exploring old.
At the end of 2023 I had a problem with my PC which meant I lost year’s worth of edits of older photos. Curiosity led me to revisit these older photos, process and edit them anew, and also share and write about my memories of these photos. Every cloud has a silver lining eh! I’ve included a few below.
I did end up having a busy end-of-year, with visits to London and the Lake District, so plenty of photos taken there, more of which I hope to share in the near future.
For now, please enjoy this look back on my 2024…
JANUARY - Ice-cold weather led to interesting patterns and formations on the surface of water at the Liverpool Festival Gardens…
…including a frozen-over piercing of ice, underneath a layer of ice and bubbles.
Liverpool, 2013
This particular photo was taken at the Royal Albert Dock looking across the waterfront. It's an in-camera double exposure, so I took the first exposure and then turned the camera upside down and shot the scene again over the same frame of film to get the second exposure.
"No photos!", Paris, 2012.
"No photos!" is what the man with his hand up jokingly shouted to me as he and his friends passed by along the Seine River.
Despite appearances, these three 'bikers' aren't riding motorbikes along the Seine River - they are actually riding bicycles that have the look of chopper motorbikes.
It was a funny little moment that the man in-front laughed out-loud to as well, and as you can see I still took the photo anyway!
MARCH - The setting sun catching the top of this escalator in Liverpool ONE, casting light and shadow across the scene.
Flipped view of a reflection of a building at Lime Street Station.
Scratching that Itch, Yorkshire Sculpture Park, 2014
While wandering around the YSP I was pleasantly surprised to stumble across this highland cow - not what I was expecting at a sculpture park!
Initially it was tucked in amongst hedges and then moved into this clearing, where it stopped to have a good old scratch with the corner of its left horn.
This photo had always been black & white to me, but going back to it I decided to give a colour edit of it a go and stayed true to the time of day and year it was taken at by going for a cooler and muted tone.
Sticky Starfish, Blue Planet Aquarium (Cheshire), 2014
Photographing sea creatures in aquariums is a bit of a tricky task due to their movement, the low level of light and the thick glass that causes distortion and difficulties in focussing.
So when a starfish like this is still and is stuck right up against the glass, it makes getting a decent photo a lot easier!
The Upward Spiral, Oslo, 2015
A spiral decorative top of the bow of a Viking ship, taken inside the Viking Ship Museum.
This was taken with a Holga film camera, and as it’s limited for exposure settings this came out very underexposed and barely visible, so I really pushed the processing to bring it to life. However, because of this it's given the image a gothic, grainy and gloomy look which I like.
JULY - A bee in my backyard managed to free itself from a spider’s web, after stretching, twisting and spinning its way out.
A macro subject, the twisting form of which had captured my eye. What it is, I will leave you to have a think about…
Dip in the Dunes, Formby, 2016
Windswept trees sit in a dip in the sand dunes of Formby.
This was taken early on in the year on an overcast winter's day, which I think complimented the scenery to give a muted feel.
ORFORD ROAD, London, 2015
Where old-meets-new on the side of the Ancient House on Orford Road in Walthamstow.
This was taken on a sunny winter's day, where dappled light was hitting the different materials of this wall at an angle and bringing out their textures.
I've always liked the way this is broken up into uneven sections, and although you'd expect the more recently built brick section of the wall to be more level, for some reason it isn't.
OCTOBER - London - The reverse side of a sculpture on the outskirts of Hyde Park.
The large whale skeleton inside the Natural History Museum.
A lone man on a bench takes a brief pause from reading.
Wet weather tyre used in Formula 1 racing, on display at the Formula 1 exhibition.
A wavy fence angles its way up a street in front of a garden of an apartment building.
Bright furniture against colourful shop walls in Angel.
Loose Cables Overhead, Liverpool, 2015
During the in-between phase of knocking down and rebuilding a series of houses, I took a series of photos of the area on my walk to work and this street light with exposed cables stood out.
In a brief moment of wind the cables swayed and a seagull flew overhead, giving a little bit of movement in the photo.
Also, I intentionally left the rooftops of the remaining shops on the main street (which were knocked down later) in the bottom of the frame to ground the image and give a slight sense of place.
NOVEMBER - Rainbows appearing on a walk in the Lake District. Never seen this happen in all the years I’ve visited here.
Exploring Hodge Close Quarry - it was quite a drop from the cliff edge!
DECEMBER - Photographing a group of friends ice skating at the ICEBOX rink in Liverpool.
A misty end to the year in Mold, Wales.
So that was my 2024 - I hope you enjoyed looking back on it with me. I wish you all the best for 2025!
Andrew