Finding the Universe

Travel tales, photography and a dash of humor

  • Home
  • Blog
  • Destinations
    • Europe
    • North America
    • Asia
    • Australia
    • Africa and Middle East
    • New Zealand
    • South America
  • Photography
    • Buy Photos
    • Photography Gear Guides
    • Photography Tips
    • Location Guides
  • PHOTO COURSE
  • About Us
    • Hire Us
    • Travel Resources
  • Contact
Home » Uncategorised » 2014: Highs, Lows, and my 11 Favourite Photos
Finding the Universe contains affiliate links, meaning if you make a purchase through these links, we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you.

2014: Highs, Lows, and my 11 Favourite Photos

Last updated: January 16, 2019. Written by Laurence Norah - Leave a Comment

It’s time for my end of 2014 post! It’s been a heck of a year – starting in Ecuador and finishing in Scotland – with so many moments and adventures in between. It’s not all been highs though, 2014 has had it’s lows as well.

It’s also been a great year for photography, so rather than two separate posts, I thought I’d intermingle my highs and lows of the year with some of my favourite photos from the year, in case hearing me go on about my year is less interesting to you than my favourite photos. It’s ok, I don’t mind.

Read on to find out what I loved, loathed, and took pictures of in 2014!

Sunset Meteora monastery rock formation greece scaled

Meteora was easily one of my highlights of 2014. From a photography perspective, this part of Greece is unbelievable!

 Eiffel tower Paris portrait HDR

Paris is easily one of my favourite cities in the world, and this year I was thrilled to lead a photography workshop here. I also had some time for photography, and got this shot for the Eiffel Tower, which was the first photo I’ve shared on my Facebook Page to cross the 10,000 likes mark. Which was very gratifying!

High (mostly): I went to a pile of conferences

I’m not sure if a pile is the correct pluralisation of a multitude of conferences, but there we are. This year was slightly nuts in terms of conference and trade shows – I attended six of the things around the world, was delighted to speak at four of them on the subjects of photography and travel blogging, and even helped to arrange and set up one of them.

It’s the less glamorous side of the job of course, but it’s necessary to make the connections that make the rest of my adventures possible, and I do love to teach folks about the art of photography.

sunrise over Quilotoa crater Ecuador scaled

My first country of 2014, and a new one for me, was Ecuador. This shot is taken at sunrise above Quilotoa Crater, which is almost 4km above sea level.

boat in helsinki harbour wide angle

Another new country for me was Finland, which I visited in August when it was warm and sunny. I got this boat in Helsinki harbour in my last few days. I’m back in Helsinki at the start of 2015 – I suspect it’s going to be a bit cooler!

High: USA Today featured me

Awards are always nice! This year my favourite award was the USA Today Readers Choice award, where I was voted as as one of the world’s top 10 travel photography bloggers – in rather illustrious company I am pleased to say.

Acropolis black and white Greece[4]

Athens was a new city for me, and I was delighted to visit twice in 2014. This was atop the Acropolis, a must-visit if you’re in the city.

Besalu Bridge Costa Brava

The first time I visited Besalu in Costa Brava, I had enough time to stand at the other end of the bridge and get a few shots. This time round I had a lot more time to explore, and was able to get some shots I was happier with, as well as put together a guide to the town.

Mostly Low: I ended a relationship

The sharper eyes in the room will notice a couple of changes in the blog, largely that the About Us has changed to About Me. This is because I broke up with Vera towards the end of 2014. It was a fairly difficult period of time, but something that was right for both of us, so whilst it wasn’t a highpoint of the year, I don’t regret it.

There won’t be much change in the blog content and format, but I thought you should know in case you were wondering what was going on…

Desenzano train station Italy

Desenzano train station next to Lake Garda in Italy. I visited Milan for the first time this year, and enjoyed it a great deal! Check out some ideas for things to do in Milan for your visit.

IMG_3829

Ok, so not exactly landscape shot as you might expect. This year I did some event photography, with this particular shot at the Travel Massive event at the TBEX conference in Athens. I love taking pictures of people when given explicit permission to do so, and hope to do more of this sort of thing in 2015.

High: I visited a lot of places, including some new ones

In 2014 I went to 14 countries, including four that I were entirely new to me – Sri Lanka, Ecuador, Finland and the UAE. The latter I visited twice, and Finland is my first destination of 2015 – I’ll be spending much of January there, getting, I suspect, quite cold.

TripIt tells me that I travelled 114,487km this year and spent almost half the year on the road. Next year I think I’ll focus on doing more at less places, and getting to know locations a bit more in depth. Still, I’m not complaining, 2014 was fantastic for travel!

Dubai dream smoothed 1 - scaled

Dubai was another new city for me this year, and I loved shooting the skyline – for this particular shot I was able to get atop one of the skyscrapers in the Marina area, which was amazing for photography. See more of my photos from Dubai here.

High: I worked with some awesome people and brands

2014 has been a really exciting year in terms of partnering up with some wonderful companies and people. I taught a number of workshops and gave talks with the talented Daniel of Canvas of Light, and hope to do more of those in 2015. I became a Vanguard Professional, and also partnered up with Trover, Yonderbound, Panasonic and more.

I hope to be able to bring more great brands to these pages, and also offer you guys more in thanks for your readership. This year I’ve already given away a top of the range smartphone, return flights to Dubai, a GoPro and more – next year I want to give you guys even more awesome stuff to win, as well as additional benefits to being a reader. Stay tuned!

Dani sunset tempelhof airport Berlin

Naturally I thought I should finish this year’s wrap-up post with a sunset photo! This is at Berlin’s Tempelhof Airport, my favourite place in Berlin to experience the city. Have a fantastic 2015 whatever you get up to and wherever you are in the world. I can’t wait to share my adventures with you!

Enjoyed this post? Why not share it!

Home » Uncategorised » 2014: Highs, Lows, and my 11 Favourite Photos

Monthly Giveaway

Don't miss out on our exclusive monthly giveaways with lots of fun travel and photography related prizes! Click here to see our current giveaway and enter!

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Let me know when there's a reply to my comment (just replies to your comment, no other e-mails, we promise!)

Subscribe to our monthly Newsletter where we share our latest travel news and tips. This also makes you eligible to enter our monthly giveaways!

We only ask for your e-mail so we can verify you are human and if requested notify you of a reply. To do this, we store your data as outlined in our privacy policy. Your e-mail will not be published or used for any other reason other than those outlined above.

About Us

Laurence and Jessica Norah

Hi there! We're Laurence and Jessica Norah. We've been running this site since 2010 as full time professional travel bloggers. We visit all the places we write about personally, and all our content is based on our own first hand travel experiences. We also take all the photos you see on our sites. So grab a drink, dive in, and read on! You can also find out more about us here. Comic included.
Photography course
monthly giveaway
Carbon Neutral Policy

SUBSCRIBE BY E-MAIL

Want to keep up to date with us and our latest travel tips? Subscribe to our monthly newsletter.

Being a subscriber also makes you eligible to enter our monthly travel and photography giveaways!

Thank you!

Please check your e-mail to confirm your sign up.

Affiliate Information

This website contains affiliate links to products and services that generate a small income to us if you choose to use them, at no cost to you. We only recommend products and services that we use ourselves, and will always link to relevant information, regardless of whether or not there is an affiliate program. See our Code of Ethics for more information.

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

  • Privacy Policy
  • Copyright
  • Code of Ethics
  • Sitemap
  • About Us
  • Work with us
  • Contact us
  • Blog
  • Destinations
  • Travel Resources
  • Photography Tips
  • Monthly Giveaway
  • Web Stories

© Copyright 2010 - 2021 Finding the Universe®· All Rights Reserved ·
Part of Travel Cats Media Ltd. Registered in England and Wales. Company Number: 11524454.