One of photography’s great attributes is its ability to capture a moment in order for it to be lived and savoured time and time again. This moment in early January had this in addition: the fulfilment of an ambition, to photograph the Dark Hedges in snow. And it is all the more poignant as the moment came in a year of significant transition: a house move and a change in the first digit of my age.

Snow is quite rare in these parts. For it to fall overnight and then for the skies clear to allow the sun to pierce through above the road was even more rare. And to have been able to arrange last minute to be there topped it all. Right place, right time plays such an important role in landscape photography.

A lone tree. The landscape photographer’s dream. I’ve spent many hours scanning the Co Antrim countryside during the past 11 years to find a special tree. It was only in late Spring, when I took this road by mistake, that I finally came across it. From this angle, perched on top of a hill, it has gesture. A striking shape and pose which made me think of an old movie, Romancing the Stone in which Michael Douglas and Lana Turner discover a precious stone buried at the foot of a similar tree. It was called El tenedor del Diablo - the Devil’s Fork! No precious stone for me. But a discovery nonetheless to which I returned when the snows came.

Another poignant moment which I’ve written about in a previous blog: leaving our home of over ten years at the foot of Gallows Hill. The snow, the beautiful morning light and the bird provided a perfect end to our time there and to the long-term personal project photographing the hill.

Well, perhaps not quite paradise! But Mallorca is very photogenic, with a rugged, wild beauty, very different from my previous mental image of ugly hotels and drunken tourists! (No doubt they can also be found.) This first visit to the island came about as I was invited to teach in a church there by a dear friend who then treated me to a couple of days exploring both the landscape and the wildlife. Thank you, Rafael!

I hadn’t expected to go underground but then I was unaware that these magnificent caves had inspired Jules Verne to write his famous adventure.

I also hadn’t expected snow-capped mountains, but snow there was, lots of it falling overnight on high ground, much to the delight of the locals who drove out into the countryside in their hundreds, cars parked (often simply abandoned) everywhere, to revel in the rare conditions.

How can I sum up the next major photo experience? When your wife says to you, “Would you like to go to Iceland?” and she doesn’t mean the shop, it is very hard to resist! A present for my 70th, in the good and expert company of longtime friend and photo companion Steven Hanna. Magnificent landscapes, unlike anything we have in Ireland, made it particularly special. No, we didn’t see the Northern Lights - clouds spoiled the view that ironically was being enjoyed back home on the North Coast! And there was no ice on the famous ice beach. But that just gives good reason to go back.

Vestrahorn Reflection. This landscape was overwhelming. I had seen photos of it before but was still unprepared for the visual assault. Not sure quite where to start I just walked out on the wet sand to take it all in.

Estrahorn. Magnificent. So thankful I brought the drone although no camera can do justice to vistas like this. For a sense of scale you just might be able to see me a few metres from the cliff edge, left foreground. Behind the black sand beach the water is covered with ice.

The highlight of March was a special birthday trip (I know - I’m milking this birthday thing) to Tennessee to stay with our eldest daughter and her family, a trip which included a few fun days in Dollywood and a drive through part of the Smokey Mountain National Park. Hiking is the best way to see this park but there was no time for that. However, we did manage a few stops along the way.

Smokey Mountain National Park. Winter was tipping into Spring, with frost on the trees early morning and some vibrant autumn colour clinging on.

Signs of Spring. I loved the dark tracery of the tree against late winter sky, with tinges of yellow heralding the coming Spring.

The long drawn-out house move meant that opportunities for photography at home this year have been quite limited. However I did manage a few evening coastal walks and these are the best of the photos.

Storm Warning. Unusual stormy light at Salmon Beach, Portballintrae. I’ve been to this beach many times but never in such light.

Causeway Summer. A beautiful afternoon at the Giant’s Causeway. With so many tourists visiting this World Heritage site I often prefer to photograph from a distance rather than fight with the crowds!

High Seas. Back to a favourite location at the ‘secret beach’ at Ballintoy. This was an exhilarating late afternoon, with clear visibility and the Atlantic throwing up some wonderful waves against the black cliff.

Solid Ground. A slightly tongue-in-cheek title as this was the spot where my camera gear was destroyed by a storm. I love this spot when the sea is stirring and the view is clear across to Rathlin and beyond. There was even the bonus of a slight rainbow.

At the going down of the sun. The beach at Whiterocks.

A summer trip to Cornwall involving speaking at Creation Fest coincided with yet another storm that flattened tents and generally atrocious weather which ended all hopes of landscape photography. However we moved on to Dorset, where the winds died down and the rain eventually stopped in time to permit a couple of excursions into the New Forest to photograph the glorious display of heather.

The highlight of Autumn photographically was a morning at Tollymore Forest Park, when the colours were at their peak. I’ve photographed here many times but somehow it never grows old.

Foley’s Gold. Autumn colour at Foley’s bridge

Star of the Forest. This wonderful old tree is still standing, though missing a limb or two since my last visit and looking more precarious than ever.

My final photograph of the year taken on a contented walk with my wife along Portstewart Strand, all the hard work of moving behind us, looking forward to a new year of adventures, shared love and opportunities to make friends in our new location as we seek to keep in step with our Creator.

If you’ve made it this far, I hope you’ve enjoyed the photographic journey through the year.

2023 The Year in the Landscape

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