It goes without saying 2020 has been an odd year to date. Lockdown has brought a myriad of different challenges and impacted all of our daily lives. The one thing that has been a constant for me is getting out with a camera every day to take photos.
Throughout this period I have been working full-time from home and it could have been quite easy to slip into a pattern where leaving the house didn’t happen, not even getting out to the garden. Photography helps with that giving purpose to being outside and engaging with the environment. Of course many of you will be aware that in partnership with my wife, we’re into the ninth year of taking and posting a photo and a few journal words every day. In the past I’ve relied on travelling for work, being in varied locations across the country where there is always something new to photograph. It isn’t the same when you don’t go anywhere.
Generally I’ve tried to avoid spending money through this period, despite the relentless stream of camera shop emails with deals. One thing I did relent on was buying a second hand camera body converted to shoot infra-red, something I’ve wanted to try for a long time. It creates photos that won’t be everyone’s cup of tea but I’m enjoying the challenge of it and I like the results (which after all is what matters in your photography more than anything else).
Like many of you I’m sure, this has become a period of getting to know my local environment much better than ever before. Some new routes and footpaths have b
een discovered but it has been great to just spend more time looking at what is pretty much on our doorstep, watch it evolve from spring to summer and really focus in on photographic opportunities rather than worry about what can’t be accessed. Given our club summer challenge of photographing this area, hopefully you’ve been doing the same.
Below are just a few examples of what I’ve been shooting in and from the garden and in my local area.
Chris Andrews