10 reasons I'm grateful to be a photographer in 2022

The beautiful Paris skyline seen through the vast clock window in the Musee d'Orsay. On the horizon is the Sacre Coeur in Montmartre and just on the other side of the Seine is the ferris wheel in the Jardins des Tuileries.

My most recent blog was about my trip to Paris in December and the images I chose to become prints. On the weekend I had an order for the Through the Clock Window image. This small win made me realise all over again why I’ve chosen to do what I do. I was so pleased and grateful that this customer (who I don’t know but follows me on Instagram) chose my photo out of all the hundreds of thousands out there, to look at on a daily basis.

This then started a train of thought about my gratitude for my new career. In the same way that it’s good to start the day with gratitude for all the good things we already have, I thought it would magnify the benefit to start this year of 2022 by making a list and to amplify it by writing it all down. My thoughts will hopefully spark some ideas for your own list if you don’t have one already.

You can’t have a photography blog without photos so I’ve attached one to each point (randomly selected from the last couple of years). Any images for sale will be clickable in this blog. If you see something you like that’s not clickable, just send me a message.

Keep going to the end of my list of 10 to see my latest print in detail (which I’m also very grateful for :) )

I’M GRATEFUL FOR :

Photo of my camera by @nigelbuckner Instagram

1) GREAT GEAR

I’m grateful to have all the gear I need to take the photos I want. Of course, every photographer wants ‘just one more’ lens, camera bag or piece of lighting equipment but I’m glad to be able to say that for what I want to do right now, I’ve got all I need. After all, there are some amazing photographers out there using only phones.

2) HEALTH

I’m grateful to have my health, to be able to walk around everywhere I need, to travel and to lug around quite a heavy bag of equipment!

Looking over the river Thames in London on a stormy day and the buildings glisten in the soft light. In the shot are the London Eye, Guys hospital, the Shard, Tower Bridge and 221 Bishopsgate

3) LONDON

I’m really grateful to live in London with all its swish, fancy places, its historic places and its gritty, grimy places that only a mother could love.

They all inspire me to capture them in their many moods.

A street in London's Chinatown is decorated with strings of hanging red lanterns. Unlike the rest of London where street bollards are normally painted black, these are painted in red and gold. The street is attractively cobbled.

4) ONLINE INFORMATION

I’m grateful that the opportunity to study photography online is huge. I absolutely love YouTube and it was there that I first saw the possibilities for me. I was taking lots of workshops and talks in real life before covid but when they disappeared it was easy to turn back to online help and inspiration.

I learn best by watching or reading and then getting hands on practice so online tuition is perfect for that.

5) CONNECTION

I’m grateful that I can connect with people. Not everyone needs to ‘get’ what I do or will do in the future but if even some people do then that is an amazing thing.

6) FREE EXPRESSION

I’m grateful to have a way of expressing myself. Every time I take a photo, every time I edit an image I’m consciously or unconsciously expressing myself.

I believe that to have this opportunity and ability is so good for my mental health and wellbeing.

7) INSPIRATION

I’m grateful to have a constant stream of inspiration from my Instagram feed, street art, galleries & museums, films. So many visuals drive me on to improve that I’m limited only by my technical and artistic skills - which I’m continually working on. It’s really cool to have such a sense of purpose!

8) TIME TO EXPLORE

I’m grateful and lucky lucky that I can spend so much of my time on photography and exploring visual arts.

I spend my time hunting out beautiful and interesting places and then spending time in them.

9) FRIENDS AND CONTACTS

I’ve made a lot of new friends and contacts through photography.

When you’ve got a shared interest in common, it’s so much easier to connect with people on a deeper level than you would otherwise.

The buildings of Canary Wharf in London as seen from the South Quay area. At the front is a new building under construction showing the ever expanding reach of the prosperous financial and residential district. One Canada Square is flanked by banks.

10) PURE ENJOYMENT

It’s a lot of fun!

I can stick with reality if I want to. Sometimes a place or thing is so lovely that it’s a challenge just to try to capture it in all its glory.

Or I can play around with it to give it a new twist.

See my next image which is my latest print for a real twist on a familiar and famous London riverside building.

It’s called OXO TOWER - MIRRORED

The OXO Tower and OXO Tower Wharf building in London by night in mirror image to spotlight the beauty of its structure.

If you’re also a photographer I hope that some of these resonated with you. If you’re not and you’ve got other interests, I’m sure some of these are general enough to apply to anyone.

I’m attending a MeetUp group this week. It’s called the Success Club (I love that name!). Anyway the topic is how to achieve your one big goal for the year. I thought I’d do a bit of thinking in preparation and I realised I didn’t have any idea of what my goal might be, so any advice on how to achieve it would be useless. I turned to YouTube and someone I follow called Lavendaire. Her advice on goal setting was to start with a theme. A what?? was my initial thought! But she explained that her theme was Nourish and she was intending to nourish and care for her body and mind. It then popped into my head that mine should be Growth. Technical and artistic growth. Striving to create photos and images that are meaningful to me and to other people.

Anyway, back round to gratitude. There’s a school of thought that says that in order to grow and develop you have to be grateful for what you already have in the here and now and acknowledge that. I am genuinely grateful so I’m keen to get on with the year and see what it brings.

I hope that you too have many “reasons to be cheerful”

Loren x

ps The reference is to the song “Reasons To Be Cheerful” by Ian Dury and the Blockheads, 1977