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Architecture,  Lens-Artists,  Photographic techniques,  Themed galleries

Gallery: favourite miscellaneous photos of 2021

Maybe it’s the ex-librarian in me that drives me to put things into categories. But as a librarian I learned that some things fit into categories more easily than others! That was certainly true of my favourite photos from last year, and when I’d finished sorting them I was left with a set that didn’t neatly fit into a single theme. Hence this last selection is labelled ‘miscellaneous’.

For Tina’s Lens Artists challenge this week I am posting a series of galleries, each on a different theme and with a selection of my favourite images taken in the past year. Some have featured in previous posts, many have not.

My chosen themes reflect some of my favourite subjects for photography:

Miscellaneous

From architecture to ancient history, weather conditions to sculpture, this is perhaps an odd mix. Most of the photos were taken on my various short trips (‘staycations’) but there are several from close to home and another from our weekend in Paris.

My featured photo shows the memorial to the World War 1 Christmas truce at St Luke’s Bombed Out Church in Liverpool, and was taken in August. The remaining images, below, are all in chronological order. Some are very obviously edited for effect (I do enjoy playing around with my images!); others are pretty much just as I shot them. Some have appeared in previous posts; many have not.

Park bench and path in the snow

Snow in Lammas Park, Ealing, January 2021


Small house with red shutters reflected in a river

By the River Tyne in Hexham, Northumberland, May 2021


Modern building all white apart from one open window

In London’s Docklands, June 2021


Graveyard with half-timbered house beyond

Stokesay Castle, Shropshire, July 2021


Sepia shot of old houses

In Masham, Yorkshire, August 2021


Two small children at the feet of huge sculpture of woman with insides exposed

At the Yorkshire Sculpture Park (work by Damien Hirst), August 2021


Pale yellow drink with river, bridge and houses

An evening pastis beside the Seine, September 2021


Rose in foreground with out of focus white dome beyond

Les Invalides from the garden of the Musée Rodin, Paris, September 2021


Church interior illuminated with blue light

In Hexham Abbey, Northumberland, September 2021


Black and white photo of a bus in front of a garage

Old bus at Beamish Living History Museum, north east England, September 2021


Black and white photo of a Chinese pagoda among trees

The pagoda at Kew Gardens, west London, October 2021


Raked gravel, rocks and low plants

Japanese garden at Kew, west London, October 2021


Black and white photo of an ancient stone circle

Stonehenge, Wiltshire, November 2021

Phew, it’s been a challenging but enjoyable task reviewing my photos from 2021 and settling on my favourites. I’m tempted to do it all again next year, but for now, as someone once said,

That’s all folks!

17 Comments

    • Sarah Wilkie

      My photos are organised by the place they were taken – country and areas or towns within it. Photos from my trips, which are the majority, are organised in separate folders for each day with another folder for the very best (imho) shots. For these challenges I either rack my memory for possible images or trawl through some folders hoping to find some. That’s why you often see several images from the same place!

  • wetanddustyroads

    I enjoyed your list tremendously Sarah! The snowy picture in Ealing is really pretty and you captured another sort of chilling atmosphere with your image of Stokesay Castle with the tombs in the foreground.
    I enjoyed these very much – thank you for sharing!

    • Sarah Wilkie

      Thank you again – I hadn’t thought of the photo of Stokesay as chilling really. Atmospheric yes, but the gravestones seem too old to me to invoke any fear 🙂

  • Rose

    Oh yes, you mentioned previously that you were a former librarian. That career certainly helps us form the habit of categorizing everything. I’ve worked in a few libraries – 2 college libraries, and a small-town public library, all wonderful places. 😊
    I’d love to visit Stonehenge. It seems like an archeological mystery that has yet to be fully explained, there are so many theories.

  • Manja Maksimovič

    Oh, you were a librarian! 🙂 I pretended to be one in my room all the time growing up but never got to be one for real. I love your mixed company of favourites, especially the featured one. Only the one by Damien Hirst I find a bit disturbing, not because of her pregnancy but because of her head.

    • Sarah Wilkie

      Thank you Manja – I do know what you mean about the Damien Hirst sculpture, but I like the photo for the two little children looking up at the towering sculpture, rather than just for the sculpture itself!

      • Annie Berger

        What an incredibly daunting task going through your photos and trying to figure which were your favorites after taking the additional effort to edit them, too! I applaud and salute you, Sarah.

        My favorites of YOUR favorites are the sculpture park and the stone cottage reflection. Thank you for sharing each of them.

        • Sarah Wilkie

          Thank you Annie – I enjoy revisiting and re-editing my images so it’s not really a daunting task at all 😀 And thanks for sharing your own favourites from my selection. It’s always interesting to know which ones appeal to people, and you’ve picked out a couple that differ from the choices of others!

Do share your thoughts, I'd love to hear from you!