A big, big year. So many amazing opportunities, countries (26!) and of course people. In a last minute rush on New Year’s Eve, here are twenty pictures that really stood out for me from this hectic year.

The marathon rail epic that is GCERC was over a year in the planning. I’ll admit that for much of that time I was turning over in my mind what exactly to take by way of photography kit.

The Scandinavian leg is hard to describe. Hundreds and hundreds of lakes, thousands and thousands of miles, millions and millions of trees, and a few answers to the question: “what’s the difference between Norway and Sweden?”

I’m writing this on a short train journey. 5 hours. 5 hours is a short one. Just time to justify getting the laptop out. Less than that, and it’s feels like too much hassle. Get your head around that.

You might have seen pictures from this twitter feed sweeping socialmedialand over the last few days <1>. Crowd-sourcing at its finest. People take photos of other people while they are asleep on public transport. They tweet them to @sleepycommuters. This…

But it bloody lashes down. A cold, wet, dark November morning. Sane people are hiding in bed for at least another few hours. The less sane are taking their prized veteran cars on the annual run from London to Brighton.…

…USE THEM! Star client of the month is the wonderful Learning Pool. I’ve been shooting at their events for a while now, building up a vivid record of their learning events and vibrant community.

I live very near the M25, close to a bridge carrying a main road over it. Just over a year apart, in July 2010 and August 2011, I took news photos of two spectacular crashes right next to it.

One of the very first bits of advice I was given as I clutched a Kodak Instamatic back in the 70s, was to make sure I had the sun behind me when taking family snaps. Well-meant advice, of course, but…

The official launch of the Shard – tallest building in London by some distance – was trailed as being something spectacular. Lasers, searchlights, pyrotechnics… Sauron’s eyeless tower conducting a thorough inspection (or benediction) of its new neighbours: much to see…

LeWeb comes to London! Today was the first of two days of a little bit of Paris in England (well, quite a lot it seemed, with the whole crew from bouncers to videographers shipped in by the debonair Loic Le…

A simple photo. Such a powerful thing. It can demonstrate bare, unpalatable truths. It can lead to a swift journey to the courtroom. It can certainly frighten the hell out of people, especially those in authority. And even more so…