2014: Highs, Lows, and my 11 Favourite Photos

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!

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 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.

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 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!

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!