2021 Review
Despite the lingering challenges of the global pandemic, I actually enjoyed 2021 for many reasons and progressed in lots of ways. The past 365 days have whizzed by; when I think back to what I was doing this time last year (stuck in the UK’s #3 Lockdown) I can hardly believe all the things that have happened in between. I’ve enjoyed looking back through my hard drives, emails and photo galleries from the past 12 months and thought I would share some of the interesting things that I didn’t get round to sharing along the way.
Let’s start at the beginning.
January
How low can you go?
January 2021 was about as bleak a start to a year as I could have ever thought possible. The 2020 festive period had been robbed by the UK’s 3rd Lockdown which ran into the New Year with no clear end in sight. Thankfully we weren’t housebound (yet) so were at least able to enjoy some of the frosty and snowy mornings January had on offer. If it weren’t for these outings, I would have literally no photos to share with you of this month, as I was completely unable to work due to lockdown restrictions. These photos do bring back some fond memories as it was the first proper snow we’d had in years, at least in Cambridgeshire which always seems to avoid it.
February
Things are looking up
February couldn’t have come around soon enough. Lockdown restrictions were starting to lift and I was able to celebrate my birthday and start my new role working for FocalAgent as a property photographer! The bookings weren’t exactly flooding in but work was work and I was eager to get back to it. However, before my “ball” had even started to roll, I was forced into a 10-day isolation for having come into contact with family members who tested positive for Covid. They were all fine, thankfully, but it left me feeling more frustrated that I wasn’t progressing in the way I wanted to.
The only saving grace for February was that Sawtry (the village we live in) was treated to starling murmurations each evening at dusk. I first saw these one evening whilst enjoying the sunset from the comfort of my locked-down house. Not knowing how long the murmurations were going to stick around for, I found myself frantically running around the top floor of the house with my camera trying to capture them as they danced around overhead before the sky turned to black and they would roost for the night, thinking it would be my only opportunity. In reality, they spent around 3 weeks swooping about the evening sky and I was able to capture them on a few occasions, and properly once released from isolation. They also left a tremendous amount of ‘mess’ on the cars, so the car wash down the road certainly benefited from their visit.
March
Walking before running
March saw the arrival of our friends’ gorgeous little labra-doodle puppy, Josie. She was loads of fun to photograph, playing with her toys in the garden and napping around our feet on the patio. The month was also taken up largely by planning renovations to our garden, more property shoots and recruitment for CE Photo’s Summer 2021 which involved a lot of spreadsheets and getting distracted by the kites outside my window whilst conducting Zoom interviews.
April
Lights, camera, action!
In April I completed my first corporate video project. Having worked almost exclusively within photography, I spent a lot of time self-teaching videography through YouTube videos and trial and error. I invested in tripods, microphones, lights, a teleprompter, and more and soon realised that my current storage situation was going to need revising. The video project with Dermatonics was a great success and gave me the confidence I needed to pursue more freelance work like this.
May
New Beginnings
By May the bluebells were out in full force in the nearby woods, I shot my first Newborn shoot of the year and most excitingly I was asked to capture a surprise engagement on the Beach! Daniel had explained to me that he had planned to propose to Nikita in Bali on their holiday, but sadly due to delays and an eventual cancellation he couldn’t wait any longer and just had to pop the question. Not quite as exotic as Bali, but just as romantic and still a beach, Daniel proposed to Nikita at sunset in Hunstanton and she said yes (thank god!)! I’d never shot a proposal before, but I knew for a while that I wanted to and I feel so privileged to have been able to. If you or someone you know is planning a special proposal and would like some truly unique photos then please do get in touch!
June
Family Time
June began with a family getaway to the Norfolk Coast, our first holiday together in years, even before Covid stopped all travel! We had a lovely time walking on the empty beaches, eating BBQ food and playing board games; it was just what we all needed after some time apart.
Alongside the busy property bookings, I spent a couple of days taking headshots too.
My favourite outing of June was to London with my Mum. We’ve always shared a love of photography, and in particular the Wildlife Photographer of the Year exhibition at the Natural History Museum. It’s become a tradition for us to visit and enjoy the gallery, although this year we enhanced the day with some street photography as well, resulting in some of my favourite photos of the year!
July
Hotting Up
July was one of my busiest months of the year and easily the busiest month of my freelance career until then. I shot 3 gorgeous weddings in 2 weeks…
… photographed the cutest litter of puppies you have ever seen…
… had an epic week hiking in the Lake District…
… and took my first steps into the world of PR Photography with CPG Media, getting to shoot for clients including Deliveroo and Nokia.
August
Back to my roots
August was probably my favourite month of the year. I was fortunate enough to be able to return to my role as Photography Coordinator at CE Photo and spent 2 weeks in Croatia helping the team of new photographers settling into their role as Sports and Family photographers in Neilson’s beautiful Alana Beachclub.
The prospect of travelling again, whist exciting, was also a little bit unnerving. I used to fly about 20 times each summer for the role, before Covid, but after over a year being grounded in the UK, I must admit I did have my hesitations but thankfully everything went smoothly. I had an absolute blast in Croatia, it was an amazing place to work, the team were great, the location was stunning and I loved getting back to shooting families and sports.
From the pictures above you might be fooled into thinking that I wasn’t actually working at all, but that just goes to show how great the opportunity that CE Photo offers budding photographers, although my favourite day of the trip was definitely off resort with some friends and visiting the local cable park, where I couldn’t resist but take even more photos.
September
Drinks all around!
September saw my return to freelance work and continued partnership with CPG Media, starting with a PR shoot for Absolute Vodka up in Manchester.
I spent a few days photographing cocktails around London for London Cocktail Week. These turned out to be some of my favourite images of the year!
To Top it all off, I was finally able to organise and shoot the long-awaited couples shoot with Tesni and Jordan, who were due to get married in Cyprus a month later.
After years and years and over 100 portrait shoots, you’d think that photographing your best friends would be simple and unstressful but I was actually more nervous about it than any of the weddings or families I’d shot before; the pressure felt huge, but thankfully we rose to the occasion (Tesni and Jordan included) and captured some gorgeous photos of them both.
October
October started with a socials content shoot for Courvoisier including my first Instagram Reels specific video. I’d not shot video specifically in a vertical format before, so this was a fun learning experience.
Then came the biggest event of the year! After two years of planning, and an additional 6 months of waiting with baited breath, Tesni and Jordan’s wedding in Cyprus was a “go”! We spent 10 days on the island, with a few either side of the big day to enjoy what Cyprus had to offer; sleepy beaches, mountain waterfalls, and lots of delicious food and drink. Having recently upgraded my iPhone to the state-of-the-art 13 Pro, I decided not to take my ‘pro camera’ with me, and put my new pocketable one to the test. Whilst I did manage to take some cool photos with the long exposure mode, it didn’t quite produce the impressive results I might have expected, reaffirming my stance on the smartphone vs camera situation, in that they still don’t come close to the quality of pro-level kit. Nonetheless, it was definitely nice to take some quick snaps and get back to focusing more on relaxing than taking pictures.
I finished off October with a Halloween shoot at Mayfair’s eccentric restaurant, Park Chinois. Salon Chinois offers a truly unique experience, with frequent, brief but dramatic acts throughout the evening. It’s difficult to put to describe with words, and I’m not even sure the photos paint the full picture, but it’s certainly a memorable experience and would recommend it if you’re looking for a dazzling evening in London.
November
Getting into the swing of things
In terms of number of shoots, November was my busiest month of the year (my “ball” was well and truly rolling now), starting with documentary photography of Cephas William’s Portraits of Black Brittain exhibition in Bluewater shopping centre.
The next day I travelled up to Newcastle for an anonymous publicity stunt which turned out to be for John Lewis and the launch of their Christmas advert. The next day was back down to London for some photos of LadBible’s Hero campaign.
Next I was off to Silverstone Race Circuit for Samsung’s Pole Position Conference, then back into London for Entain’s sustainable gambling conference, as well as the Irish Funds conference.
Away from work, we were loving the vibrant autumn colours and were treated to a mini fireworks display by Jess’s Dad.
Tesni and Jordan had their UK wedding reception, everyone clearly loved the selfie-station I created for them.
Casey and I teamed up for a day shooting social content for Jo by Jo Loves.
November was rounded off with an exciting shoot with my first real celebrity of the year, Gareth Southgate, at The Oval cricket ground, for the launch of Alzhiember’s Society new campaign, Game On. The initiative aims to raise awareness of the increased likelihood of developing dementia through sport and raised money in a charity auction of some truly unique lots, including VIP Monaco Grand Prix tickets, VIP Champion’s League Final tickets, dinner for 30 atop the BT tower, and more!
December
Finishing on a high note
December began with lots more driving, over to Gloustershire for a Lidl store opening, up to Manchester for Teresa Heath-Wareing’s VIP Business retreat weekend and down to Sandhurst Military Academy for a PR stunt that Disney had organised for the release of the new Kingsman film, it was certainly an exciting few days.
I really enjoyed getting in the Christmas spirit with the Varma family and loved capturing some portraits for their Christmas cards.
For my final shoot before the Christmas break, I had something extra special. I got to shoot the still for Virgin Media’s new broadband campaign involving the one and only, Usain Bolt.
On Christmas-eve-eve we travelled up to Doncaster to choose a puppy that my mum and dad would be adopting, and I obviously couldn’t resist bringing the camera with me for some adorable snaps.
For Christmas we enjoyed visiting both Jess’s and my parent’s houses. After the year of photos I’d had, I chose not to fuss with capturing any more, and just sit back and enjoy some family time. I did have some nice walks in the Sawtry woods though where I was grateful I had my camera with me to capture the frosty details.
Christmas may have been over but I wasn’t quite done with 2021 shoots just yet, I still had one left in me. I spent New Years Eve back at Park Chinois and just like Halloween, the evening was full of dazzling acts to celebrate the end of another year.
2022
Off to a great start
As I’m finishing off this blog, we’re already 3 weeks into 2022 and I’m excited to say that things are off to a great start, infinitely better than this time last year! One of my promises is to be a lot more active on Socials throughout 2022, hopefully reducing the need to write such a long summary blog at the end of the year, as well as keeping my followers up to date throughout the year. If any of this has interested you, then please do feel free to follow along:
@alex_cossey for personal projects
@alex_cossey_photography for families, weddings, etc
@alex_cossey_media for business work
Thank you to those who have made it this far through the blog. I hope your year is off to a great start too, and I look forward to sharing more of my experiences with you soon!
