Photographs of the Year: My top 12 from 2012

ONE of my favourite hobbies is photography and during 2012 my camera was always with me as I enjoyed some incredible experiences.

Highlights were undoubtedly attending my first ever Olympic and Paralympic Games at London 2012, together with a holiday in the United States touring stunning parts of California I had never been to before.

Needless to say I had the opportunity to take some fantastic snaps along the way with my trusty Panasonic DMC-FX150 Lumix. These are my photographic highlights from the year just gone:

1) As I suffer pretty badly from vertigo my visit to the Grand Canyon was a challenging experience, particularly as we strolled out on Skywalk – a glass balcony bolted on to the west rim of the canyon which gives you clear views down the 4,000ft drop.

It’s easy to see why this is one of the ‘Seven Natural Wonders of the World’, at 277 miles long and up to 18 miles wide. I love the perspective on this picture – it hints at the bewildering scale of the place.

2) The scary thing about the Grand Canyon is you can go right up to the edge and peer into this giant chasm to watch the Colorado river running through it thousands of feet below. I took this photograph of a brave (or foolhardy) girl posing for family photographs while hanging over the precipice at the Arizona landmark. My wife and I still get butterflies in our stomachs every time we look at this picture.

3) We are lucky in the UK to have some incredible scenery of our own. Our holiday in the Lake District in May gave me the opportunity to get some memorable shots as the sun glinted off the various lakes before setting spectacularly over the water.

This first shot was taken as the sun went down at Ambleside – there is a lovely tranquil feel to this and I like the flecks of cloud in the sky.

4) The second picture from the Lakes was taken at Coniston Water on a pleasant sunny afternoon. There is almost a three-dimensional feel to this with the lapping waves of the lake.

5) Like countless others, I entered the ballot for tickets for the 2012 Olympic Games in London this year. This felt like a once-in-a-lifetime chance to see it. After the initial disappointment of not getting tickets to gymnastics, athletics or swimming, I was eventually grateful for the opportunity to see weightlifting and the men’s football final.

This picture was taken at the latter as Brazil battled with Mexico for the gold medal in front of 90,000 spectators at Wembley Stadium. The shot captures the colour and atmosphere generated by the occasion – you can almost hear the Brazilian samba band in the background as you look at it.

6) This second picture from the Olympics was taken at the weightlifting competition for athletes under 105kg, at the ExCel arena in the Docklands. The Ukrainian gold medallist lifted an amazing 227kg in one of his lifts. My shot shows Ecuador competitor Jorge Arroyo Valdez taking the strain. I was lucky enough to sell one of my other photographs to a gift card company after they spotted it on my Flickr website.

7) Surely one of the world’s greatest car journeys on the planet is the trip along California’s Pacific Coast Highway. The winding roads cut into the coastline cliffs give you amazing views of the ocean. We drove north from Santa Monica up to Carmel. This stunning shot was taken from one of the car park viewing spots en route and shows a spectacular bridge and the precarious nature of the road as it falls away to cliffs with no fencing to stop motorists going over the edge.

8) When the Queen of England visited my town, Stamford in Lincolnshire, I was determined to get a good spot to record the historic moment. I managed to get a clear view as her motorcade passed slowly through the town back in June. Shortly afterwards, of course, the nation celebrated her Diamond Jubilee.

9) During a stroll along the pier at Oceanside, a few miles up the Californian coast from San Diego, I spotted some hugely talented surfers. Taking multiple shots every second I managed to capture some dynamic surfing pictures such as this one. The massive breaking wave behind him illustrates just how hard this sport is to master.

10) After missing out on seeing the athletics at the Olympic Games I jumped at the chance when a friend offered me a spare ticket to watch the Paralympics track and field programme in September. Having watched on television the thrilling performances by Jessica Ennis, Mo Farah and Usain Bolt in the stadium the month before I was eager to experience the atmosphere. And it didn’t disappoint. This picture shows 80,000 basking in the sunshine and cheering on the athletes, no matter who they represented.

11) The second shot from the Paralympics captures the family appeal of the games as a mother and son enjoy the sport with the iconic Olympic flame in the background. Both of these photos were taken at the Olympic Park in Stratford, east London, with a Samsung Galaxy SII mobile phone.

12) Sunsets inevitably provide poignant, atmospheric images and a walk along the California coast at Santa Monica enabled me to capture this delightful scene. I love the way the brilliant colours of the receding sun peak out from behind the silhouette of a palm tree.

Bucket List Experiences: Number 357 – Cycling along California’s Pacific Coast

Pacific paradise – the Los Angeles County beach bikeway

Some people dream of walking along the Great Wall of China, following the Inca Trail in Peru or swimming with dolphins when you ask them the life experience they’ve always wanted to have.

Mine involved a push bike, a series of beaches west of Los Angeles and the odd ray of sunshine. I finally got to pedal along California’s spectacular Pacific coast a couple of months back and it was certainly something I won’t ever forget.

Not all of it went according to plan. In fact, I came dangerously close to killing myself en route but that didn’t spoil the experience too much.

It all started in Santa Monica when my wife and I picked out a couple of sturdy-looking bikes from one of the many hire stands dotted around the coastline. Fifteen bucks each for the day seemed like a pretty good deal to fulfil a lifelong ambition. I was advised to have one with a basket on the front which was a real blow to my street cred – I fancied myself as more of a Bradley Wiggins than a middle-aged Mrs Miggins pedalling into town to do some shopping.

As it turned out, the basket was a great idea because you can dump the ruck sack in it and just concentrate on cycling and enjoy the views without a dead weight on your back.

Now, cycling along some of our roads in the UK, as trucks and buses brush past perilously close, can be a terrifying ordeal. In Los Angeles County the concrete bike path is built into the beach so the only dangers are from speeding cyclists overtaking silently or inconsiderate joggers running five abreast. Obeying the state beach laws, which compel you to keep to the right, we made our way serenely from the Santa Monica pier area south towards Venice Beach.

Perfect conditions with warm sunshine and barely a breath of wind coming off the ocean. Venice Beach has a real cosmopolitan mix with street vendors and entertainers lining the promenade, sporty types cavorting around the many sandy volleyball courts and other lifting heavy weights in an outdoor gym dubbed ‘Muscle Beach’. There are fascinating sights everywhere as you bike your way through the neighbourhood.

Time out: A brief rest on my Bucket List biking trip

Next up was the pleasant boating community known as Marina Del Rey and this is where the bike path temporarily ends, forcing you reluctantly to cycle along some busy roads in the town centre, emerging back on the beach track as jets drone in and out of the nearby LAX city airport. The stretch through Dockweiler Beach is best forgotten, with heavy industry and pretty bleak views as you glance inland.

We stopped for lunch at the picturesque Manhattan Beach. Locking the bikes against fencing lining the majestic pier, we enjoyed strolling around the streets and looking at the multi-million dollar beachside homes. It was at this point we realised we had probably better head back towards Santa Monica, having already spent three hours pedalling 15 miles, as well as suffering the onset of painful saddle soreness.

Time for lunch: Manhattan Beach

This is where the experience began to take a turn for the worse. All was well as we travelled back through Dockweiler Beach and headed back to Marina Del Rey. Here there was a tight right-angled bend, bordered by sharp rocks and a steep drop into the Pacific, as the bike path winds away from the beach inland along a peninsula.  I took my cap off as the sea winds began to pick up and, stupidly, lost concentration. Instead of slowing and braking I pedalled on into the corner. Turning frantically in a bid to avoid the rocks, the frightening drop and a party of pedestrians, I careered headfirst over the handlebars, ending up in a dazed bloody heap on the ground mercifully away from the edge.

Crash Corner: The fateful bend off the Ballona Creek Bridge in Marina Del Rey where I came off the bike

 

I had cleverly shaved the skin off one of my elbows and battered my knee but I managed to pedal in agony back to Santa Monica, stopping briefly for some ice and bandages. This was only the second day of a two-week holiday but it didn’t stop us enjoying the trip. And the accident has not prevented me recommending a Pacific Coast bike ride to others. Next up on the Bucket List: a cycle tour of the Grand Canyon!

A stunning view of part of our route stretching from Manhattan Beach down to Dockweiler Beach