As it comes to the end of the year, it is a good time to reflect on everything which has happened. Something which I have committed to doing since about November 2017 is to take photos of the natural sights which inspire me, throughout Perthshire, Scotland and anywhere else I've been travelling. I share these every week on my Three Bears Prints Page on Facebook. This has been an enjoyable practice; it compels you to really look at the environment where you are, and to see things in a different way. Today, I decided to share my 4 favourite photos of 2018, one for each season.
Winter 2018
Anyone in Perthshire will know that the winter of 2018 was hard - very snowy and cold. However, it was also beautiful, and I have always enjoyed the way in which a winter reduces a landscape to a monochrome with muted accents of colour. Above, you can see the frost thickly covering a shrub, the crystals of the frost easily distinguishable.
Spring 2018
This is my favourite! This was taken in April, when the days were lengthening, and the temperature warming up, but you can see the trees were still very bare. It features my three companions - my daughter, our dog, and a friend's dog that often accompanies us. It's up Kinnoull Hill, a local walk with stunning views.
Summer 2018
Most of the time, I just take photos with my mobile - but on this occasion, I was so inspired by what I was seeing, I went home and got my decent camera. I wanted to get a close up of one of many swifts nesting in the drainage pipes along the Lade - I had to use my full zoom, so it is a tiny bit blurry. In this manmade water channel, in the centre of Perth, surrounded by flats, car parks and shops, there were flocks of swifts swooping down to catch the insects hovering over the water. Beautiful.
Autumn 2018
This Fly Agaric mushroom was one of many we saw up at Aviemore during our Autumn break. I love this photo because I've always enjoyed the colour and structure of these mushrooms - and the red contrasts perfectly with the green. I also like the fact that the mushroom is not perfect - it stops it being too Enid Blyton.
So those are my favourite photos of the year - and I'm looking forward to recording another year of inspiring sights.