A very belated Happy New Year everyone. Apologies for the delay - I've got a several exciting 2013 posts coming very soon!

Wanted to share some highlights of the year in an end-of-year collage.Actually, I've only included the second half of the year (1/2 / 2012 ?) since the blog was started in July. Looking through, I feel privileged to have had so many stunning opportunities to attempt to capture this variety of visual beauty. Click on the images to take you to the relevant posts from earlier this year. Unusually, photos are square-cropped here so not in original shape. Alternatively you can see the images in their normal form in the slideshow below.

Comments / feedback welcome - just click on the "add comments"  text at the bottom on this post.

Slideshow of above photos. Hover over the photo and click "play".

Cake cutting after a delicious Christmas dinner.

Technical details: Tamron 28-75mm lens, photos shot in raw with minor exposure / colour / white balance edits before conversion.

More wide angle photos taken at the Rickmansworth Aquadrome. The second photo shows the extent of flooding on some of the paths - fortunately this young cyclist seemed to enjoy the new challenge.

Technical details: Tokina 19-35mm lens, photos shot in raw with minor colour / white balance / vignetting edits before conversion.

Photos taken at Winter Wonderland, Hyde Park. Unfortunately didn't have the tripod (all photos taken hand held) so looking forward to revisiting this somewhat magical (and very commercial) place with an abundance of night photography opportunities - watch this space!

Technical details: Technical details: Olympus ZD 12-60mm lens; all unedited  and  straight  from the camera.

A selection of photos taken with a new macro lens - somewhat challenging in the lower light of an overcast, breezy winter day and playing with an incredibly shallow depth of field. The combination of a (slight) telephoto focal length, large apertures, short focal distances and a full frame sensor are all factors affecting and reducing the depth. The small branch shoots in the third photo of tree bark are approx. 3mm long.

Technical details: Sigma 105mm lens, photos shot in raw with minor exposure / colour / white balance edits during conversion.

A combination of heavy morning fog, frost and icy daytime temperatures set the scene for some beautifully cold and eery winterscapes... Warmed only slightly by the meek winter sunset. My hands were frozen through thick gloves after half an hour!

Technical details: Tokina 19-35mm lens, all unedited  and  straight  from the camera.

Below are a few photos taken at Aldenham Country Park on a beautifully chilly winter's day, testing out a new wide angle lens. The last photo shows a flock of relaxed Canadian geese on the ground.

Technical details: Tokina 19-35mm lens, all unedited  and  straight  from the camera.

My Body Temple is an exciting new "Green Chemistry" business, founded by  specialising in beauty and health products made from 100% natural ingredients. It was lovely to take some photos of their festive product launch, smell some innovative aromas (orange, white tea and mint shower gel or vanilla and white chocolate body lotion, for example) and meet several happy customers.

Their mantra: "Nature’s Answer to Natural Beauty. Natural beauty is all around us. Our aim is to bring the natural beauty of the forests and meadows and the banks of streams into our products and to you. From the great beauty of the natural world comes the inner joy and inner calm that we find so fulfilling. Nature sustains but it is also a rich reservoir of ingredients that are beneficial for our health, skin and beauty and are free from unnatural additives that cause long-term damage to our skin. "

MBT is a family-run company managed by Shraddha and Rajiv Bhuva, a consultant pharmacist and dental surgeon respectively. More details are available on their site at mybodytemple.co.uk and products can be purchased online at celebratory launch prices.

Technical details: Tamron 28-75mm lens, photos shot in raw with minor exposure / colour / white balance edits before conversion.