I started this year with the intention of doing the 365 challenge, taking and sharing at least one photo a day. Having seen a reference to Blipfoto as a platform for this, I signed up; only to find that what I thought was free membership actually carried a fee after the first month. Sneaky!
So I abandoned Blipfoto and with it my short-lived challenge. Instead, pinching an idea from fellow blogger S J Butler, I thought I would share some of my favourite January images here. Maybe I’ll repeat this exercise in future months, but I’m not holding myself to that!
Technical notes
Some of these shots were taken with my compact Panasonic Lumix and some with my phone. Some are straight out of the camera or with minor adjustments; others have been quite heavily edited with Nik Color Efex, or in one case Nik Silver Efex. It’s pretty obvious which ones have been ‘fiddled with’!
On top of the Queen Victoria monument, London, 2022-01-01 
Parakeet in St James’ Park London, 2022-01-01 
Heron in St James’ Park London, 2022-01-01 
Outside the Natural History Museum, London, 2022-01-06 
Pitzhanger Manor from Walpole Park, Ealing, 2022-01-10 
Looking into a tulip, 2022-01-13 
Fading tulip, 2022-01-14 
Camellia in a local garden, 2022-01-16 
In the Moon & Maybe, our favourite local coffee shop, 2022-01-17 
Pollarded street tree, 2022-01-18 
Tulips still hanging on bravely, 2022-01-19 
Installation at a lights festival near Battersea Power Station, 2022-01-20 
Seed head, Lammas Park, Ealing, 2022-01-30
36 Comments
rkrontheroad
You’ve been busy in January! My favorites are the sad tulip and the bare tree pointing in all directions.
Sarah Wilkie
Thank you Ruth. These were mostly just taken as I went about my daily routine!
leightontravels
Enjoyed this January collection Sarah. Particularly the London shots, as we are heading up to the capital tonight for a few weeks. I’ve even cleared my online work schedule for a week in order to do some focused exploring. Weirdly, I have come to realise that your articles don’t show up on my reader until 1-2 days after the actual posting date. As far as I know, this hasn’t happened with any other blog I follow. I remember you saying that WP had “forgotten” that you follow me. Some black magic at play Sarah.
Sarah Wilkie
Thank you Leighton 😊 WP can certainly play some odd tricks it seems! Enjoy your time exploring London again – I look forward to reading about your discoveries.
Annie Berger
Smashing photos – I know you want faves but wow that’s hard! If pressed, I could look again and again at the heron and the pollarded tree. have you ever considered selling your photos? if not, you should!
Sarah Wilkie
Thank you Annie, and pleased don’t feel pressed to choose favourites 😄 Still, I’m glad to hear you liked those ones in particular! I do sell a few photos through an online image agency, Dreamstime, but I only make a few cents per sale.
Alli Templeton
An outstanding selection of images, Sarah. Love the parakeet, and that amazing shot of the pollarded tree. Fantastic. Glad you spotted the 365 challenge trap! 🙂
Sarah Wilkie
Thank you Ali 😊 That tree is one of several I pass frequently and I only looked up to take the photo because of the 365 ‘pressure’!
restlessjo
Love the one outside the Natural History Museum. It seems full of movement. How are you doing in February, Sarah? It’s whizzing by!
Sarah Wilkie
Thank you Jo 😊 February is off to a great start but I’m caught up in some activity that’s keeping me from blogging as much as usual and also visiting friend’s posts. Normal service will be resumed around the middle of the month!
restlessjo
Not to worry. Staying fit and active is paramount. Blogging is a luxury, and one we can well live without.
Sue
Love the tulip images as they are on their way out, and the seed heads. More, please!
Sarah Wilkie
Thank you Sue – there will be more!
Sue
Good!
Leela Gopinath
Beautiful pictures Sarah!
Sarah Wilkie
Thank you Leela 😊
the eternal traveller
Lovely photos. I love my Panasonic Lumix.
Sarah Wilkie
Thanks – they’re great cameras, aren’t they?!
Anabel @ The Glasgow Gallivanter
Excellent selection: top two for me, the parakeet and the seed head.
wetanddustyroads
I love your pictures Sarah! My favourites are the Natural History Museum and the one where you looked into the tulip (that is almost magical)!
Sarah Wilkie
Thank you 😊 As I said to Lisa below, I love to hear about people’s choices of favourites!
lisaonthebeach
Thay are so beautiful Sarah! Thank you for sharing! It’s hard to choose a favorite, but I do love the colors “looking through the tulip”! 💜
Sarah Wilkie
Thank you Lisa – I do always like to hear which ones people choose as favourites!
lisaonthebeach
You’re welcome! I like that as well (when people share their favs). So, I’ll also say, the top photo is pretty awesome!
Mellow Wanderer
Cool pics!
Sarah Wilkie
Thanks!
Alison
Lovely gallery Sarah. I think that’s a better idea doing a monthly gallery of photos. I try and use my camera but never seem to have very good results and with a little bit of editing from my phone photos achieve a much better result. I love that parrot photo
Sarah Wilkie
Thanks Alison – I’ll try to keep this up for future months! And if the phone works best for you that’s great. My main issue with the phone is not being able to see clearly to compose my shots without a viewfinder, especially in bright sun, but it’s very useful when I don’t have a camera with me or don’t feel able to carry one.
Alison
Looking forward to February’s gallery 🙂
margaret21
I like this gallery, though I had to wait till I could get back to my laptop. My phone wouldn’t let me scroll through.
Sarah Wilkie
Glad you liked it Margaret. I would have thought it should work on a phone but I’ll check the settings. Thanks for alerting me 😀
margaret21
It may be my phone, which is no state of the art model.
Sarah Wilkie
Just checked – they show up fine on my phone but the captions look odd. I’ll have to play around with the format for future months I think!
margaret21
That’s all beyond my pay-grade!
Terri Webster Schrandt
Gorgeous photos, Sarah! Of course I saw the birds! Is your Lumix the fz300? Too bad about blipphoto–there always seems to be a catch. I still maintain that WordPress seems to be the best way for photographers to showcase our photography. Other social media outlets don’t always appreciate a great image, preferring to like random images of people
Sarah Wilkie
Thank you Terri 😊 I have the FZ200, a slightly earlier model, and love it! I also have a Lumix point and shoot (can’t recall the model) and many of these shots were taken on that. It’s pretty good for a lot of things but less so on long zoom shots. And I agree about WP and photography for sure!