My Favourite Photos of 2022

This year was one where my number one hobby seemed to be placed on the backburner. My D-SLRs almost gathered dust for the first two months of 2022. But there's that adage that says the best camera is the one you have with you, and I always had my smartphone on me, so I never really missed a shot.

For 2022, I've decided to limit my annual collection of favourite shots to only 12 photos—one for each month. To that end, I've kept track of all the photos that I have taken throughout each month and have only picked one from that group.

By looking at each month, this post is also my year in review.

One of the first photos that I shot in 2022 happened when I was sitting on my butt, in my favourite chair, watching "The Circle" with DW and Kid 2. It was January 2, and our orchids—for which we had been caring for a couple of years, with success—were resting on the window ledge beside me, just in my peripheral line of view.

We have two pots of blooming orchids: one, pink; the other, white, which was almost in full bloom with 10 flowers opened up. The white orchids were just to the left of and slightly above my head, and I turned to admire them between episodes. They were in a partial silhouette and I had an idea for a photo, to have the petals in monochromatic shadows but to illuminate the labellum with just a hint of colour. I reached for my smartphone and took the shot, and then edited it in Snapseed to get my desired result.

I was happy with the outcome, so much so that even at the beginning of 2022, I knew that it would make the list of my favourite photos of the year.

In February, DW and I weighed the risks and decided to go to Mexico. We were triple-vaxxed, wore snug-fitting KN-95 masks when we were in enclosed spaces, and avoided close contact with people while we were there. Further to keeping our distance from others, we spent most of our time snorkeling in Akumal Bay. To our joy, there are beautiful coral reefs with all sorts of tropical fish and grassy spaces where sea turtles come, year-round, to graze.

While there is no guarantee that we would actually see any sea turtles, we happened upon a juvenile turtle on our first day and we saw the same one, again, on our last full day at the resort. Because I always swam with my 360-degree camera in hand, I was able to extend the selfie stick and get a closeup shot without getting up in the creature's face.

It was easily my best photo of that vacation and of the month. I didn't even bring a D-SLR to Mexico, choosing instead to rely on my smartphone and 360 cameras to record images.

I have no regrets.

March was a pretty dry month for photography. First of all, I rarely left the house. It was the first month of 2022 when I pulled out my D-SLRs but even then, I only used them a couple of times.

The first time was on my birthday and I decided to also pull out my soft box with a speedlight, and I practiced taking self portraits. One of the photos is now used as my profile shot for this blog.

The only time I really left the house and ventured outdoors was on the last Sunday before the mask mandate was lifted. DW and I went for a brunch on Elgin Street, and afterwards we went for a Centretown stroll. With only a 50mm lens on my D750, my angle of view was somewhat limited but I managed a few good shots: the best one being of the post office at Elgin and Sparks Street.

In April, DW and I began a ritual of starting our Saturday mornings with a walk around Mud Lake, along the Ottawa River, near Britannia. Some mornings, I carried my Nikon D7200 with my 70–300mm zoom lens, with which I would capture some of the birds and other wildlife. Other mornings, I just went for the walk, leaving my heavy D-SLRs at home.

On one foggy morning, I arrived with only my smartphone. While, at the time, I kicked myself for leaving a better camera at home, I was still able to capture images of the beautiful fog that blanketed the lake. I had a couple of favourites from that morning but I think the best of them was the one that was shared on the CBC evening news, during the weather photos segment.

In May, I became more active. I got on my road bike and cycled all over the city, including a 70K ride to raise money for CHEO. But May is when the flowers bloom in Ottawa, and I took advantage of the Tulip Festival to capture some images. I have a couple of favourites but if I've challenged myself to one photo for the month, this one would have to be it.

June was a bit of a slow month, in terms of photography, though I did get out for one of my photography group meetups, at Britannia Beach. And surprisingly, my favourite photo from that get-together wasn't of any of the models who participated: it was the sky, after the shoot and after a rain shower that caught my attention.

(I just want to add that the models were just great, too. You can see some of my photos from that shoot here.)

I didn't touch either of my D-SLRs in July, thought I was pretty active. Summer was in full swing, and DW and I were out with out kayaks as often as possible. I took several photos and shot some video on those outings, but it was an evening walk, along the Rideau Canal, on Canada Day, where I captured some lovely blue-hour photos with my smartphone. My favourite photo of that walk was taken as we walked past the Pretoria Bridge.

Fun fact: DW's dad used a crane to drive the iron beams into the bed of the canal, as part of the construction of this bridge.

My D-SLRs saw little action in August, though I did use one of them a couple of times: once, during a walk from Andrew Haydon Park to the harbour at the Nepean Sailing Club, and again for some fireworks, as part of the Sound of Light show. But when I look back at those photos, nothing really stands out for me. I could hardly call any of my shots a favourite.

But on one evening, during a walk that DW and I took through Beryl Gaffney Park, we came to a point where a runoff of the Rideau River met the Long Island Dam, at Nicolls Island. The sun was setting and the sky was dramatic, and I only had my smartphone on me. But as they say, the best camera is the one you have at the time.

I made use of that time.

September was a tough month in which to pare down one photo that I liked. In the last half of the month, DW and I were in Portugal, where I had both of my D-SLR cameras, my smartphone, and both 360-degree video cameras. In those two weeks, I recorded hours of video and took thousands of photos.

How can I choose just one?

There is one photo that as soon as I had snapped it, I knew I had a good picture, even though I was still under the influence of jet lag and I had consumed a couple of glasses of port wine. We were on the Gaia side of the Douro River, down at the river's edge, looking across to Porto. My Nikon D750 was clipped to the shoulder strap of my backpack and my D7200 was slung over my other shoulder, on its strap. Because it was fitted with my 70–300mm lens, I used it to zoom directly across the river, at the Cais da Ribeira, the riverfront promenade.

I filled my lens with the edge of the promenade and the buildings behind it.

"That's the shot," I told DW as I pressed the shutter release.

It's not the only good shot I captured of our trip but it's my favourite. You can see other photos in my Flickr album.

October saw me back outside, taking in the fall colours. I also attended another photography meetup, and this time, one of my favourite photos was of one of our subjects. Sophie just seemed so comfortable in front of the camera that it really was impossible to take a bad shot. This, however, is one of the best.

In November, Ottawa saw a lot of unseasonably warm days and we had great weather on most weekends. DW and I would meet up, a couple of times, with friends and walk some of the nature trails around the Ottawa region, including the Gatineau Hills.

A couple of days after our first snowfall, we decided to trek up to the Carbide-Wilson Mill, near Meech Lake. We've visited this old site many times before but have never gone up after snow has settled in to Gatineau Park. By the time we set out, most of the snow had melted but we were able to capture a bit of it. Here's my favourite shot from that morning.

I didn't leave the house very often in December. When I did leave the house, it was to run errands or to visit friends and family. In other words, I didn't take many opportunities to grab a camera and go out.

I did head out after our first snow storm, however, with camera in hand. DW and I wandered the Lime Kiln Trail, not too far from home. The power of the storm left a thick layer of snow covering one side of tree trunks along the trail, and the evergreens were still thick with the white stuff. But the ruins of the lime kiln had a lovely covering of snow and made for a good subject.

I thought that I would get no definition of the sky in my shot—just a white emptiness—and that I would have to replace it with an artificial sky, but in post processing I was able to recover the blown-out blue and the cloud.

(I did, however, add the sunrays in post-production.)

There's a lot of texture to the photo, and that's why I like it.

So those are my favourite photos of 2022. As always, I want to thank you for visiting my blog and giving me your support. I wish you good health and happiness in 2023. Stay awesome!