2020 - what a year it has been for all of us!! The dreaded Covid-19 created chaos and unbelievable disruption. While it gave me a little bump in my visual journey, I was fortunate to divert my focus to different genres in photography that I could experiment well within the confines of my place. As the conditions eased up a bit I was able to capture a few moments that nature had to offer and with a few lovely people as well. I had a huge list of bucket shots and places to cover when I started this year. While I couldn't make all of it, but wasn't disappointed either given the restrictions. Here's a short summary of what made up my journey in photography this year.
Landscapes - I had an audacious plan to cover all the rock pools along the coast of metro Sydney during sunrise. I started with south eastern tip at Cronulla and slowly worked my way up north and then mixed it up a bit. Of course I couldn't complete all that I wanted but did land with a few images that I was quite happy with. I was thrilled to cover a few of my landscape bucket shots - Horse Head Rock, Windmills at Richmond
Lowlands and Catherine Hill Bay pier. Each image has a story of it's own and required quite a bit of preparation on location scouting and timing my shoot. At least on 2 occasions I was so close to the spot but still missed it due to lack of sufficient information and required multiple trips. A huge thanks to apps such as Photopills, ClearOutside and Australian Tides for assisting me with the planning. Feel free to check out my Landscape album for more.
Some of you might already know about my other hobby with food (cooking and eating), which I combined with photography to experiment
with plating and lighting options. I even ended up doing a few shoots for restaurants and bars. The only tip I have for food photography is to make sure you have a good meal prior to the shoot and not to be hungry while shooting. :) Feel free to check out my food album for more.
Thanks to Covid I was able to experiment a lot on "abstract" macro photography using simple elements available at home such as dish washing soap, oil, glycerine and dandelion clocks if you had an ignored backyard like I did. There were many a night "out" where I had a lot of fun with these experiments to take my mind off other stress causing elements (work ?). The soap bubbles from the dish washing soap turned magical when you treated them with the right light and the right angle. Investing in a macro rail came in very handy with these shoots.
A huge thanks to all the YouTubers such as Stewart Wood who guided me along the way. A word of caution spending time on macro and abstract photography can be very addictive and one can lose track of time (and sleep eventually). You can check out my Abstract / Macro collection here.
Nature was my other largest subject in 2020. By nature I include birds, animals, insects and flowers. The Nikon 200-500 mm f/5.6 lens come in very handy with birds and animals. Some of the bucket shots covered were whale in the ocean, the tricky and tiny wrens etc. Just make sure you have plenty of time on hand when it comes to birds and animals. Apps such as Merlin helped me in identifying the birds later on. More nature images available here.
Creating this website, starting this blog series and finally arriving upon a logo - thanks to Nandhitha was yet another milestone. Overall it was a visually satisfying year. If you would like to see my favourite 100 images from 2020 please feel free to check it out here. Hope you enjoyed coming along my journey. Greatly appreciate your feedback. Looking forward to a fantastic 2021 when I hope to cover a few more of my never ending bucket shots.
Here's wishing you a very happy 2021 filled with beautiful moments and memories!!
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