Great diversity, Joe, and parallel quality.

I feel a touch uncomfortable attempting this, given a) the extremely high quality of similarly themed galleries and b) a rather limited range of subject matter. My 2014 output involved 56 motorsport events (mostly four wheels, sometimes two), several zoos/nature reserves... and not much else. Here, then are some consequences.

January: greylag madness in Kelsey Park, Beckenham (K-5 IIs, Sigma 100-300)



February: house-hunting in Kelsey Park (K-5 IIs, Sigma 100-300)


March: Group C cars let loose for a high-speed demo during the 72nd Goodwood Members' Meeting (the first since 1966 - K-5 IIs, Sigma 50-150)



April: I had to include one shot from Oulton Park, as it's my favourite place on the planet. The start of the 2014 British GT Championship (K-5 IIs, Sigma 100-300)



May: I missed the Monaco GP for the first time since about 1997, but the Masters Historic Festival at Brands Hatch was adequate compensation (K-5 IIs, Sigma 100-300)



June: the Cholmondeley Pageant of Power remains one of UK motorsport's unsung gems (K-5, Sigma 50-150)



July: car racing returns to Mallory Park after a hiatus triggered by a spat over noise levels. Happily, a new management team has secured the circuit's future (K-5, Sigma 50-150)



August: this was my first visit to an Aintree event since car racing stopped in the summer of 1982. The bikers still use it several times per annum, though, and the track looked much the same as I remembered (K-5 IIs, Sigma 50-150)



September: young trumpeter swan spies its first Pentax, possibly (K-5 IIs, DA 300 & 1.4 TC)



October: one shot, a zillion photographic clichés (K-5, Sigma 50-150)



November: the Thames doing not very much (pano from K-5 IIs, Sigma 10-20)



December: Christmas lights on Regent Street with an early present I bought myself when Amazon France had a lightning deal (K-3, Sigma 10-20

Lovely stuff, Alan - great technique in a wide variety of situations.

Some nice kit, nicely portrayed. A very fine set, Simon.

Nice work, Gary. The gull portrait has lots of pleasing detail and the piers appear to be engaged in a rare strain of marine Tetris. The shots might be very different, but they are equally striking and have parallel appeal.

Indeed, Alan. When the thaw began yesterday, there was a short period during which ice topped with a thin film of water turned most of the lake into a giant mirror. If I'd attached a bell, perhaps the parakeets would have descended...

Some very nice shots here, chaps. Particularly like the otter and cranes (Alan), black swan and reflective ringed teal (Tom) and red-breasted goose (Neil). Next time you plan a Washington day out, perhaps one of you could drop me a PM. It's about 280 miles for me, but I can manage day return trips to Croft circuit without any bother and Washington is only about 25 miles more distant...

I'll probably be loitering somewhere, Ian. The frost looks deeper still this morning and more sunshine is forecast...

A few from the past two mornings in Beckenham. Mostly taken with K-3 and DA 300 f4, but the K-5 IIs and Tamron 17-50 f2.8 were used for #5...

1


2 - "Whose bloody stupid idea was it to leave Egypt?"


3


4


5


6


7


8

Thanks to all for the kind words about both photos and left eye. Vision hasn't improved over the past 48 hours - but it hasn't got any worse, either. Hopefully I'll have a better understanding after another trip to the vet this afternoon.

@Mark Wood: Mark, I'm sorry but I don't seem to have anything of you or Gordon Scott individually - by the time racing started I was more concerned about my eye than trying to take shots of everything. That said, you both appear in the image below. I missed the accident of rider 111 (Aaron Bradley) because he had a huge lead and I thought the second group of bikes would make a better photo. As I focused my attention in that direction, I heard the sound of Suzuki sliding on asphalt and knew I'd just missed a shot of the leader hitting the deck...