That was 2017

Another 25,000 pictures taken. One camera retired. One new camera bought. 365 more pictures of the day. 12 more pictures of the month. 36 blog posts (including this one).

Eight trips to Shetland.  60 nights in various hotels, guest houses, conferences centres and on boats.  33 additional Ordnance Survey maps bought as part of my Scottish Landranger project.

A rather more geographically limited year than some of the recent ones.  The farthest west I got was about 12W (somewhere in the pack ice off the Greenland coast), the farthest east was the Russian mining colony at Pyramiden on Svalbard at 16E.  These two extremes weren’t actually very far apart and both were close to my northern-most point of the year at almost 79N (somewhere around the west coast of Svalbard).  

Alongside these snowy extremes, I think my southern-most point this year (51N) was probably one of the terminal buildings at Gatwick airport.

12 Pictures of the Month.

January - Cold clear morning, University of Warwick Arden conference centre

February - stampede Shetland-style, Quendale

March - Let’s Not Be Stupid, Warwick-style

April - North Sea Coast, Jutland, Denmark 

May - Bear Necessities, off the Greenland coast

June - Polar Outpost, Pyramiden, Svalbard

July - Puffin Time, Sumburgh Head, Shetland

August - Orca, Sumburgh Head, Shetland

September - Autumn Calm, West Voe of Sumburgh, Shetland

October - Wild Seas, Scat Ness, Shetland 

November - Golden Hour, Quendale Bay, Shetland

December - The Old Ways, Shotover, Oxford

Snow Day, December 2017

I guess the relative infrequency of decent snow in Oxfordshire makes the days when it does turn up a bit special.    A proper layer of snow has near-magical transformational properties.  The sound is different, the light is different, the scenery is different, even the people are different.

There's lots of physics about in the transformation of the sound and the light - the light bounces around more and the sound bounces around less.  The scenery is cleaned up - both the pretty bits and the unsightly bits are hidden by a layer of fresh crisp snow - and it is all (at least briefly) special.  And the people - just walking up the street there are more smiles and hellos than usual - maybe it's just that everyone needs to slow up a bit but maybe the snow lets a little bit of optimism shine through.

Whatever the reasons for the transformation - the snow provides a splendid reason to be out and about with a camera.

Freezing Saddles, London Road, Headington, Oxford

Bury Knowle Park, Headington, Oxford

Under Construction, Bury Knowle Park, Headington, Oxford

Shotover Lanes, Oxford

There are more pictures from the Headington Snow Day in a Flickr Album.

National Tree Week 2017

My daily photographs over the last seven days have all been (as far as I could manage it) tree themed - they've ranged from Weisdale on Shetland to central London via Coventry and Oxford - about 700 miles as the puffin flies.

Day 1 - Weisdale - see there are trees on Shetland

Day 2 - But not many at the south end of Shetland - but the waves patterns do look a bit like a Christmas tree

Day 3 - Autumn colours at the University of Warwick campus

Day 4 - University of Warwick Christmas Tree

Day 5 - Early sunlight on the Warwick campus

Day 6 - Bury Knowle Park, Headington Oxford

Day 7 - Decorated trees on Oxford Street in central London