At the end of each year I take time to go back over the photos I’ve taken to see which are my favourites. It’s a bit of fun, especially as it gives me an opportunity to remember the experiences that accompanied each photo. It is also quite helpful as a means of getting under the surface of my photography to see what (if anything!) I’ve learned and to detect any new directions I might like to pursue in the following year.

Selecting ‘favourite’ photos is similar to but not quite the same as selecting ‘best’ photos. To choose my best, I would need to be more rigorously objective and perhaps even involve others to make the final assessment. My favourites might not be my best, depending on what criteria are being used. But they are the ones which speak most loudly to my heart and which best encapsulate the experience of being there and releasing the shutter.

This first photo was taken hand-held with a borrowed lens in a snowstorm! A gap in the clouds out of frame to the left allowed the sun to light up the church while the snow was still driving down upon us from dark and heavy clouds above. A special moment.

This photo has come to have immense symbolic value for me, which I will no doubt write about at another time. Suffice it to say that the light is not coming from the church, but to the church from beyond it - indeed from beyond the planet. Without that light the church would also be dark - a challenge at the end of this year as I think of what it means to be light in the darkness. But even without the significant overtones of light and darkness, storm, church the photo would I think rank amongst my best.

The second photo is from my visit to Joshua Tree National Park in March. I have written elsewhere of how this was a fulfilment of a dream. It was almost thwarted by bad weather - yes, it rains in the desert! But we finally succeeded. It was worth bringing my 18mm lens all the way from Ireland just for this shot.

The third photo vies with the first as my favourite of the year. It is also the photo that now hangs in prime location over the sofa in our lounge. This first day of May promised mist, which is why my photographer friend Steven and I headed out to this location. The mist did not appear, but the sun did, creating beautiful streaks of light across the forest’s carpet of bluebells. This panoramic image is made up of five separate shots stitched together in post processing. I had it printed 48” wide and then mounted in a white box frame as a Christmas present for my wife. (She loves it!)

Remarkably this photo was taken on the same day as the previous one, but at sunset rather than at sunrise. Dunluce Castle is always magnificent and I have other images of it with much more vivid sunset colours. But I like the contrast between this and the others, especially in colour palette and also in the small details of the foreground flowers, for example, the stones on the beach and the white trails on the sea. Above all I like the mood produced by the menacing clouds, which is perhaps more representative of this green isle.

Dunluce Castle creeps in again, this time as seen across the sea from Whiterocks Beach. I took dozens of similar photos until I managed this one where the setting sun lights up the castle and the foreground waves create a pattern to lead into the photo.

An amazing summer sunrise, as the sun pierced through the rain creating a spectacular orange glow which contrasted beautifully with the white and green of the limestone cliffs and the sea. This photo is special to me as it reminds me of the exhibition in October which raised so much money for Hope365’s work with street children in Ethiopia.

Another summer sunrise! On this occasion, as is often the case, the glorious light lasted only for a few seconds but the early start and lengthy walk along the coastal path from Dunseverick Castle were amply rewarded with another favourite photo of the year. The star of the photo is also the smallest part of it - the little red-roofed bothy.

I’ve made a number of attempts over the years to photograph what must be one of the most spectacular views in Ireland, Malin Head with this year’s attempt being by far the most pleasing. But who knows, I might try it again next year! It is quite a hike to get there from the visitor’s car park as it is well off the beaten track, but the breathtaking views west and south make all the effort supremely worthwhile.

I made a new discovery this year: the Breen Oak Wood, which is near Armoy in Co Antrim. This photo of lily pads in the small pond at the edge of the wood represents a very different type of photography for me involving intentional camera movement (ICM). Often the results are simply terrible! But occasionally, as in this photo, the shapes, colours and movement come together to create something worthwhile. Perhaps this is a pointer to some more experimentation next year.

As woods tend to be, the Breen Oak Wood is a challenging place to photograph with its dense undergrowth and general chaos. This ancient moss covered oak caught my attention as a sliver of sunlight pierced the canopy of leaves and branches above.

Deep in the heart of Tollymore Forest Park this magnificent gnarled oak tree dominates the river like a mythical monster. The Kraken comes to mind! From this angle it appears to reach out to pull me into the photograph.

I end this review of 2019 as I began it, with light and darkness. It is from my last shoot of the year and the first after surgery. This copse is normally unremarkable, but the addition of mist with the rising sun makes all the difference. It reminds me of Dickens famous beginning to his novel ‘A Tale of Two Cities’ which I read many years ago in English class at school: “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times… it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness…” On this occasion the light prevailed and the sun shone through.

I hope you have enjoyed this selection. And a very happy New Year to you!