The Sun Sets On 2021

 

We've reached the end of another year living under The Plague.  It was supposed to be a year where we finally broke free of COVID, but not only has that not happened, but it seems to be back with a vengeance.  We had a bit of a reprieve over the Summer and Fall, but the Winter has seen a new variant bring the number of infections higher than ever.  Now, this is a photography blog, not a medical blog, and I am nowhere near smart enough to have any kind of medical opinion, so let's get down to the business at hand.  Our little yearly recap of what passed before the lens of my camera.  With everything being shut down for most of the first nine months of the year, I still managed to get some pretty cool shots despite rarely leaving my backyard.  A couple of photographs found their way back onto CTV News and also in La Presse +.  I managed to get back onto the field to photograph a couple of football games in the Fall when restrictions finally began to lift a bit and then, what I had waited 20 month to do again, I was able to photograph four concerts.  Those concerts look to be far away again as there are sure to not be any for the next little while as lock-downs and curfews are back in the immediate future.  It was a good year for insects, as a group of honeybees took a liking to the giant sunflowers that decorate our backyard.  The dragonflies and butterflies are still a little shy, though they continue to curiously fly around me when I'm outside.  Maybe 2022 will be the year I finally earn their trust.  The local blue jays and cardinals are also continuing to tease me as they fly over our yard to stop at one of the neighbours.  The Heir Apparent continues to be the most photographed subject in the house, despite those photographs not making their way here to the blog.  As for the year to come, who knows what is in store.  We'll start by hoping for another year of good health, and hopefully everything else will fall into place after that.  Which brings us to our final photograph of the year.  I took it from one of my favourite spots near where we used to live as it offers a great view of Montreal.  It was only after getting home and taking a closer look that I saw what looked like an angel in the sky.  Maybe it's just my eyes playing tricks on me, but a quick look in the top right hand corner of the photograph should reveal a white cloud that appears to be a winged angle looking over the city.  These days, we could all use a little angel looking over us.  The photograph was taken at f/16, 1/400sec, ISO 400 at 70mm and then cropped to give it that wide angle look.  To everyone who takes the time to stop here, read my words and look at my photographs, I thank you very much and wish all of you a happy and healthy 2022.  See you next year.