The new wall planner may not be as full usual and there may have been a few setbacks to a number of my plans, but I refuse to think that 2021 is going to be another washout.
With the way things are progressing in the battle against Covid, I'm certain that we will have a decent year - it may be condensed into the last 5 or 6 months of the year but that's fine with me.
If nothing else, it has made me more determined than ever to excel in my image making and has also forced me into a different way of thinking/planning for those shots - being restricted to locations close to home forces you to be more creative and that can only be a good thing.
While the Cairngorms trip (due to take place this February) has been put back to 2022 and the Skomer trip has been cancelled (due to Covid related issues) I still have a number of Art Shows to plan for and several competitions to enter, which will certainly test my skills.
One positive for the start of the year was finding out that I'd been awarded The Guild of Photographers 'Photographer's Bar' for the 2nd year running - this requires a fair commitment and a lot of consistency in the images presented as The Guild itself states:
"Membership of the 'Photographers Bar' is a unique distinction awarded to those photographers who have successfully had images assessed by the Guild of Photographers over the course of a year and have attained a score that evidences an exceptional level of professional skill and consistency throughout a full year.
The Guild of Photographers is a highly respected association for all photographers and its competition attracts up to 1500 images for judging by an expert Panel of Judges each month. Points are given to entries and these are then totalled at the end of the year. Those who reach the required threshold are then awarded membership of the 'Photographers Bar'.
Membership of the 'Photographers Bar' is a distinction that is very difficult to achieve - in fact less than 200 photographers have achieved it in the 5 years since its inception, during which time almost 60,000 images will have been entered for assessment by photographers across the UK and from overseas."
I'm delighted to have achieved this again, although it means that I will now have to go for the 'hat-trick'!
