It’s not every year that I look back upon and think, ‘yeah, that was a pretty great year’. I have never made a ‘best of the year’ post before through any social media outlet. But not every year has been like my past year.
Never before had I rode on a moped in South-East Asia in +40C heat to look at ancient temples or floated through entire towns built on stilts on a lake. Nor had I ever lived ocean-front for a summer in Tasmania before. In previous years I had never been to Europe, let alone Northern Europe, experienced a Finnish sauna or walked through cobble-stone roads from medieval times in Estonia.
But 2015 was different. From snowboarding in the New Zealand Southern Alps to scuba diving on the Great Barrier Reef in Australia and surfing on the Great Lakes in Canada, I am fortunate that 2015 is chalk-full of stories and adventures for me.
So for the first time I am posting not my ‘best photos of 2015’, but some of my favourite memories that I captured through my lens. Not all of them are necessarily my best photos of the year, and for some people they might not be that great at all. But for one reason or another, they stick out when I think back on 2015. So here they are – I hope you enjoy viewing and reading about them!
Tasmanian Waves
January 14, 2015 – Redbill Beach, Bicheno, Tasmania, Australia – I had been in Tassie about a month when I took this photo. It was the first day I had gone out to take photos of surfers in Tasmania. They weren’t the biggest waves I had ever seen, but I remember standing on the rocks looking at the surrounding landscape, feeling the water temperature and seeing the sheer power of the ocean there. I couldn’t believe where I actually was geographically, so far from the crowds of mainland Australia beaches. Everything about it was impressive. (Matthew Timmins Photo)
January 14, 2015 – Redbill Beach, Bicheno, Tasmania, Australia – Also impressive was that many of the surfers out there that day were groms. The future of surfing in Tassie looks good! (Matthew Timmins Photo)
Dolphins Out My Front Door
February 2, 2015 – Waubs Bay, Bicheno, Tasmania, Australia – Does seeing dolphins ever get old? I haven’t had a whole lot of dolphin sightings in my life growing up around freshwater lakes, so I don’t think so! I spotted these beauties playing near the shore from my living room window. It wasn’t the first time I had seen dolphins from my window there, but this day the sun was out and the ocean was calm. I grabbed my camera and had about two minutes to watch them swim right in front of me before taking off around the next corner of the bay. (Matthew Timmins Photos)
Tasman Peninsula
April 20, 2015 – Tasman Peninsula, Tasmania, Australia – Taking a cruise with Pennicott Wilderness Journeys through the Tasman Peninsula was another highlight. Seeing the highest seaside cliffs in the Southern Hemishphere was pretty amazing, as was watching Australian and New Zealand fur seals and other wildlife. It was a ‘once-in-a-lifetime’ trip, and a highlight of 2015 for me. The ocean also had some of the biggest swell that the company can safely go out in, and it was hands-down the biggest swell I had ever been out in. Not a trip for those who get sea-sick. (Matthew Timmins Photo)
April 21, 2015 – Tasman Peninsula, Tasmania, Australia – The next day we did the Cape Raoul hike, a day-long hike that goes through the forest and then follows the cliff-line a couple hundred metres above the sea. When we got out of the forest it was so foggy you couldn’t see the ocean. When we finally arrived at the end of the hike, the clouds cleared for a few minutes this is what they were hiding. The hike allows you to see areas where the boat cruise can take you, so it was great to see the opposite view of places we had seen at sea level the day before. (Matthew Timmins Photo)
The Neck
April 23, 2015 – Bruny Island, Tasmania, Australia – There were many top spots to see on Bruny Island and the Tasman Peninsula. The Neck of Bruny Island was just one of them, connecting North and South Bruny Island. From this lookout towards South Bruny, you can see the road that goes along the edge of the water. (Matthew Timmins Photo)
Mt Field National Park
Friday, April 24 – Mt Field National Park, Tasmania, Australia – This hdr photo of a waterfall taken during a hike through the park was just one of several similar waterfalls we saw while we walked through ferns and rainforest. Add wallabies chasing each other through the forest and the thrill of ‘maybe’ seeing a platypus, (we didn’t), I recommend going to this park if you get the chance. (Matthew Timmins Photo)
Mt Wellington Sunrise
April 30, 2015 – Hobart, Tasmania, Australia – This was a fitting shot to be taken on my last day in Tasmania. It was freezing cold – after a full year of summer I had gone a bit soft I guess. It snowed up there the next day, and I was not quite dressed for the weather. The view was worth it, however, and was a nice goodbye after 5 months in Tassie. (Matthew Timmins Photo)
matthew timmins PHOTOGRAPHY 