As many of my long-term followers have probably noted, I haven’t posted nearly as much in this past year as I have previously. While my blogging has been tapering off for a while, 2024 was undoubtedly my least productive. In this post, I wanted to touch on that a little bit as well as cover some of the more positive things from the past year too. I also wanted to share some photos and other tales that I never got to share in 2024. This will probably be a long post, so buckle up, or maybe get some coffee!

Actually, I might split this into two parts to make it a bit more readable. So stay tuned for part 2!!!

A personal story

I think it's fair to say that 2024 was a struggle for many people and personally, this past year has been a pretty difficult year for me too. I wanted to write about this a little, not to get sympathy or anything (well maybe a little) but to put into context why I haven’t been blogging or making YouTube videos as much this year.

It actually started nearly two years ago now. I had been getting pain in my knee, and I was having difficulty walking for long periods. I went to the Doctor about it, and he said that it was probably my flat feet putting pressure on my knee from bad posture. I had been using custom orthotics for years, but they were falling apart, so it was assumed that this was the issue.

I ended up going to a Podiatrist who did some measurements and tests and said I needed new orthotics. Unfortunately, they didn’t work and seemed to make the problem worse. It was then that I noticed that my right leg wasn’t fully straightening. My podiatrist then said that it might not be my feet after all, and I need to get some more tests done. (After I’d paid a ridiculous amount for custom orthotics, of course.)

So I went for an X-Ray which showed nothing and then eventually I got my doctor to send me for an MRI of my knee. This revealed that I had a torn meniscus. Essentially, the cartilage in my knee had a tear and a flap of it was folding back on itself, so that is why I was in so much pain and couldn’t straighten my leg fully.

So after another month or so, I eventually got to see a consultant about the problem, and he said that I probably needed surgery. However, due to some underlying conditions that might be problematic, I really didn’t want to get surgery, so the other option was to try steroid injections. These worked for a while and I would get a month or so with reduced pain.

During this period, I had just about given up on things like street photography. Walking a good distance and even standing for long periods was incredibly painful. On top of that, the side effects of chronic pain was making photography difficult for me in general, in terms of mental health and motivation. I was hardly able to write anymore, and my YouTube channel barely existed. I had tried doing more YouTube videos from home, but I was never as happy with them.

The funny thing about chronic pain is that much of the time you don’t even realise it’s there. You kind of tune out the worst of it, but It’s like an errant process on your computer that’s running in the background and using all your system resources. It wasn’t until I was getting better that I realised how much of a toll it was taking on me. I was always tired and irritable. The other weird thing I found was that I was way more nervous in public and in crowded spaces than I used to be. This made street photography particularly difficult.

I was still doing some photo shoots, mostly within walking distance of the car or other form of transport. I still got to travel a good bit, and for a few weeks after each injection I had improved mobility, and was able to do some photo work.

Unfortunately, the steroid injections stopped working and on top of that, I started having bad pain in the opposite Ankle. It seems that I was unconsciously shifting my weight and because of that and the poor posture, I was putting more pressure on the other leg. Then after one trip where I was (stupidly) walking around London with a very heavy backpack for a few hours, the pain there became unbearable. After another trip to the MRI centre, it turns out I had ruptured a tendon in the other ankle.

Part of me was almost amused at the ridiculousness of the situation at this point. Another part of me was incredibly frustrated.

So at this point I had no choice but to go through with the surgery. In the end, it wasn’t that bad, but I was out of action for a while. I had bad bruising and swelling for quite a few weeks, and then I had to go through lots of rehab. The ruptured tendon wasn’t making the rehab for the knee easier, as I was also doing physical therapy for my ankle. But I am on the mend now (mostly) and I’ve been trying to get back into photography and writing more and more, but it’s been a struggle getting back into it.

I feel bad in a way writing about this because I know that in the grand scheme of things, many people have had it way, way worse than me. However, this is the main reason my website and YouTube channel have been lacking over the past year, and I just wanted to explain the reason. Furthermore, for anyone out there also having difficulties, just know you’re not alone.

Anyway, my knee is much better now, although I’m still dealing with my torn ankle tendon. It’s not as bad as it was when it first struck, and I can walk much further than I used to be able to, but it’s still an ongoing process.

Better things and far away places

Okay, that's enough of that! Time to move on to more positive stories. Well, mostly! Despite the problems, I did get to travel quite a bit this year and I did get to take some good photos while away. I didn’t get around to sharing all the trips, so I wanted to cover some of them here in a quick summary. I guess if this was a movie, this would be the montage section!

London

Back in February, we had our first trip of the year, and this was to London (where I ruptured my Tendon). I didn’t really take many photos on that trip, and most of it was with my iPhone. The weather wasn’t great, and I was in pretty bad pain at the time, so I wasn’t really in the mood. We had taken the ferry and on the way back it was a little rough, so I had shot some video of that trip, again on my iPhone. That was quite a wild and surreal ride in fairness.

Donegal

Back in March, we had our first proper photo taking trip, which was also a holiday. We wanted to go to the Northern most point in the country, so we travelled to Donegal, on the north-west coast of Ireland. I made a video about this and I have a whole blog post about it here on my photo stories blog.

I was happy with how the video had turned out, and I got some good photos, but I always felt I could have done better. It’s a good excuse to go back, though. It’s an amazing part of the country and completely desolate, especially in the off season. It’s stunningly beautiful, too.

Brighton

In May, we travelled to Brighton. I had just bought a new camera and this was my first time to try it out properly. It was a Canon R6 Mark II which I got for incredibly good value and Brighton was my first time using it exclusively. I didn’t shoot too much there (again, the pain) and I never shared the photos properly, although I did post a quick video with them in it. Brighton was an interesting spot, I have to say.

I did find an incredible camera store there that was selling second hand cameras. I bought an old Canon AE1 film camera and I did take some film photos while there, although I didn’t do a great job with them.

New York

In June, we had a trip to New York. Again, this was another chance to try out the Canon R6II, although some of my favourite photos from this trip were taken on my iPhone. Once again, because of my limited mobility, I didn’t take a huge number of photos here. I did get some nice shots in Grand Central station though, which I shared previously. I also got some nice shots in Central Park which I haven’t shared before other than on social media, so those are below.

I do have a funny story about this trip. On our way home, we were flying out of JFK and just as we had gone through security, a huge sudden rainstorm rolled in and the next minute the whole terminal was plunged into darkness. It seems that lightening had knocked out power to the terminal and apart from some emergency lights in some shops, much of the terminal was without power. I actually thought it was hilarious, but some of the other passengers weren’t so amused! It went on for over two hours and our flight was significantly delayed.

Aurora

All my life I wanted to see the northern lights. I remember when I was very young, my mother told me how she had seen them in our hometown once, from the steps of the Church that overlooks the town. I had hoped when we were in Donegal we might see them, but no such luck. (I did get to see a meteor, though!)

Thinking I would never get to see them, I was quite surprised then that later in the year when we got an incredible show right over Dublin. Twice.

The first time was in May (before Brighton). I had read about an increased likelihood of Aurora this far south, and I was looking outside, but there was nothing to be seen around 10.30. However, an hour later, the light show appeared directly overhead and it was unbelievable.

Here are a few shots from that event, all captured with my phone, which was actually remarkably good at capturing it. In fact, you could use your iPhone to see the Aurora, even if it was very faint to the naked eye.

The second time was in October. This wasn’t as spectacular, but still pretty impressive. For this one, we went to a beach in Dublin that looks out over the Irish Sea to capture these. I also used my Canon to get these shots, and it worked quite well, although it was difficult to escape the light of the city, which kind of limited the results.

Gardens and Flowers

There are a few different formal gardens near to where I live, and we visit them quite a few times throughout the year from early spring right through to the beginning of Autumn. While not the greatest photos of the year, I enjoy taking pictures here, so here’s a random selection from throughout the year.

Glendalough

One of the last “trips” we took wasn’t really a trip as it was really in our backyard, and that was to the Glendalough National park, which is about a 45-minute drive from where I live. We used to go there quite a lot but hadn’t been recently, so it was an enjoyable jaunt. This was in September, and I had more or less recovered from the Surgery at this point, so I was able to walk for much longer. I made a video of the adventure, which, I thought, was pretty good, but the YouTube algorithm disagreed. I was quite bummed about how poorly this had done on YouTube, although it’s not that surprising, as the most important thing for the YouTube algorithm is posting regularly. It’s a good video though, so please give it a watch. I also posted some photos and a photo essay about the trip here on my Photo Stories Blog.

Autumn becomes Winter

Autumn has always been my favourite time of the year to take photos, but in recent years, I haven’t been able to shoot as much as I would have liked, as it's always a busy time for my design work. I did get out a bit more this year, but still not as much as I would have liked. As I’ve mentioned when I covered this previously, it’s not just the colours that I like about Autumn but also the light. The low sun gives glorious shadows and golden light, and even in the city it can give nice shots. Here’s a small selection from the last few months.

Reflecting on my photography and Conclusion

This year, more than any recently, I’ve felt quite frustrated with my own photography. Or more particularly, my own limitations. I’ve never really been hugely happy with my own work, and I’m continually striving to do better, but this year I felt this more than ever. I’m sure part of it is the frustration of dealing with an injury and chronic pain, but I also feel like I’ve been coasting a bit. I mean, my photos are ok, but I want them to be better than that. To address this, I’m hoping to start going outside my comfort zone and perhaps taking on some specific projects next year.

I had shot a lot more video this year too, although I haven’t shared much of it, as I didn’t really find a way to put it together into a coherent story. Much of it was test shooting the Canon R6II, so I’ll probably use a lot of that footage if I ever get it together and post a review of the camera.

AI think this has rambled on long enough now, so I’m going to end this here, but I will have another part in the new year, where I elaborate on the software and hardware that I’ve been using, and how I’ve changed how I process photos. Oh, and once again, a thanks to everyone who stuck with me through the past year. I really appreciate it.

A look back at 2024 - Challenges and a new beginning?