Twenty twenty one (2021) has provided me different opportunities for exploring my photography.
Ají Amarillo Tiradito The Redwood Forest The Redwood Forest The Redwood Forest Hughey being a good boy and staying – with Warming Filter Sunset with warming and GND filters – second edit Sunrise in Cape Schanck Royal Exhibition Building My best composition at Tenby Point Smooth Doggo 2 “Old man” Hughey wearing reading glasses Jono’s Piano Bar in Prahran
I normally post my retrospectives between Christmas and New Year’s Eve, but this year I will be on a road trip when the so call post (this one) would happen. So, I decided to post it before Christmas this year.
It would have been difficult for 2021 to be a worse year than 2020. Having said that, has provided me different opportunities for exploring my photography, not necessarily the best for travelling. I was very photo opportunities hungry and leapt into those opportunities head one. I really enjoyed my photographic year of 2021. Here are the major events in 2021:
- Redwood Forest Trip
- The Joy of Plant Propagation
- Quick weekends at the Mornington Peninsula (for landscape photography)
- Trip to Phillip Island
- The Lights of Melbourne
- New customer
- Self-Portrait Project
- Black and White in 5 Movements Project
- Trip to Cronulla for New Year’s Eve (post to come in the new year)
Featured in 2021
My Top 3 Favorites of 2021
Filters Discussion

Hoya HD CIR-PL
From 07/07 through to 12/07, both my Hoya HD CIR-PL filters arrived. I am very excited about their arrival as I have a need for better CPLs. My 50mm prime lens (with a 58mm thread – henceforth “my 58mm”) had a good enough CPL, the Hoya NXT Plus and a Gobe (one peak) as a…

Filters – Part 5: Graduated ND
I know I’ve used the feature image a few times now, but it is a good photo to use as a study case. For that photo I used my Nikkor 18-35mm lens with a CPL filter. Considering that it was a sunset and I was photographing the sky with the sun AND the native grass…

Filters – Part 4: Vignetting
The whole square filters subject has inspired a lot in my interest in filters in general. The main reason I would use filters on my lenses would be to either protected them with a MC UV filter, or to make the colors pop-up with the CPL filter. Small intermission in my discussion about filters in…

Filters – Part 3: The purchase
No, I have not purchased a square kit for my lenses. I bought round/circular filters. Before we get down to the purchase itself, I have to ponder about a couple more things in regard to the potential of buying the square filters. IF – and that is a big if – I buy square filters,…
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Posts from Projects Executed in 2021
(excludes Self-Portrait)

The Joy of Plant Propagation
Sunday, 28/03, I photographed the third session for my Joy project. I had the participation of Caroline. She has a great personality and is so much fun to be around. Her spontaneity and honesty are so delightful that you spend an afternoon with her without even noticing time flying by. Caroline’s Joy is Plant Propagation.…

The Royal Exhibition Building
Unexpected turn of events when going to photograph the Old Treasury Building.

The Old Treasury Building
I almost didn’t go take photos of the Old Treasury Building because of how cold it was. I had planned, albeit not announced it, to go yesterday to the Old Treasury Building at night to take photos for The Lights of Melbourne project, and I ended up going. I was happy that I would be…

Black and White in 5 Movements project
The problem with starting a project is that, at the start, there isn’t much to see. Projects start small and evolve into something big and beautiful. I wanted a very strong, bold photo to be the first photo for the Black and White in 5 Movements project and I found it. It is about my…
Self-Portrait

Self-Portrait Project Conclusion
It doesn’t seem like it’s already been a year, but it has. I have photographed myself almost every week in the last 53 weeks (I skipped one calendar week and pushed the completion day one week forward) as part of my Self-Portrait project. The project clearly documents my evolution in dealing with a situation that…

Self-Portrait 46
It seems like an eternity ago that I started this project. My life has changed immensely since then, but there are still a lot of pending items. Tomorrow starts a new chapter in my life. I am mentally in a better place and that can easily be seen in the progression of my Self-Portrait Project.…

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Trips
In 2021 I had very few trips, some were planned and others not. Here are the top 2 trips of 2021. (I am currently travelling to New South Wales. The photos of this trip will count for 2022).
Redwood Forest Trip

Redwood Forest Trip: The Photos
I know I haven’t really posted anything about the trip with the exception of the prep-work. I wanted to take photos of: The Redwood Forest The Elizabeth or Stevenson waterfall (preferably Elizabeth) Night Sky Red Rock Scenic Lookout Lake Beeac Lake Colac Botanic Gardens Lake Colac/Foreshore From those, I can safely say I did only…
Phillip Island Trip

The Pinnacles
I do have to say that the Pinnacles are extraordinarily beautiful and despite all the harrowing trials of the day, I have to say it was worth it.

The making of a long weekend
So, my next trip is to Phillip Island, as I have mentioned in the post Dawn at the Peninsula. The trip started out by suggestion of a friend to photograph the Pinnacles. We had planned to drive down on Friday (21/05) morning scout the area, photograph (sunset, sunrise). Because it was going to be one…
Goals
Night Sky Composition
As of the date of publishing the Retrospective (27/12/2021), I have not been able to capture a Night Sky Composition. I am doing a trip to New South Wales for the Christmas period and if a good photo is taken on that trip (even if in the first days of January, but still on the trip), I will consider that I have successfully achieved the goal.
Executed Date: not executed
Planned Date: March/2021
Studio Session
As this year has been a financially difficult one and I did not have money to hire a studio, I have considered Week 19 as my studio session. I have set up, at home, all the required equipment for flash photography. Would have liked to have been behind the camera instead of trying to come up with good photos for the Self-Portrait project.

Executed Date: 07/11/2021
Planned Date: June-July/2021
The Lights of Melbourne – Old Treasury Building

Executed Date: 09/07/2021
Planned Date: April/2021
Parameters Exercise
Executed Date: /04/2021
Planned Date: October/2021