2018 was a good year for my photography after a rather fallow year in 2017. Joining steemit.com got me encouraged and I started posting old images to the weekly contests and doing okay there, earning bits of Steem crypto here and there. 

In May I travelled to a guitar gathering and did a decent amount of shooting there with my Nikon D300. Later on in the month, I sold all my Nikon gear and bought a Sony α7III and that really got me back on track again! 

This is Broadway Tower, near Moreton-in-Marsh in the Cotswolds area of England, where I went for the guitar gathering. This is the only shot in the top 12 taken with my Nikon and my favourite lens for that camera, the 40mm micro f/2.8. It was taken just before 8 in the morning as I started my drive home to Scotland. 

My son at the new crazy golf course in Brodick. The old one had been falling apart for a very long time, and yet it was still popular. It was a long time in coming, but we finally got a new course and, thankfully, they did a great job with it. I love my son's hat in this shot too  - he's a very photogenic little lad - my best subject in fact, since he was a baby. He enjoys having his picture taken. 

Mandolin and banjo picker Matt Flinner on a UK tour with the bluegrass band Carpenter & May. This was shot at a church in Rutherglen, Scotland, where they played after a night in my local area. It was a real treat to get to see this band playing twice in a row! Matt's a superb musician. 

More great music on Arran! This is Rodney Worley depping for the guitarist in the Tennessee bluegrass band Midnight Run. They were a very tight little band, great fun and fabulous musicians. Once again, a great treat to see a band of this calibre in a small venue on Arran. I ran sound for them and got to know them a bit more over breakfast the next morning, when I interviewed Rodney for my podcast at Acoustic Guitar IO. 

Probably my favourite shot of the year and taken on one of the best days of the year, if not of the last 10 years! I'd been to this spot on Arran once before, a month before actually, and it was in total cloud. The second time was rather different! It's taken from the peak of Caisteal Abhail in Arran's northern mountains and the views are absolutely stunning. I experienced the joy of living there that day. 

Another shot from the hike into the northern mountains, this time looking out over Suidhe Fhearghas over the Firth of Clyde towards mainland Scotland and some other islands dotted around the firth. You can just make out the nuclear power station at Hunterston and the windfarm on the hills of Dalry. 

It's interesting that half of my top 12 were shot on the same trip. SteemFest3 was held in  Kraków Poland in November and it was so inspiring to be somewhere new and be surrounded by so many like-minded content creators. A truly wonderful trip.