The colour of springtime is in the flowers, the colour of winter is in the imagination.

Terri Guillemets

I have always loved winter. The real winter, when cold November rains and howling winds change into hard frosts every morning. Your face and hands go numb in the ice cold drafts. The streets fall silent apart from the familiar crunching sound under your feet when you walk on the freshly fallen snow. These are my memories from my childhood in Czechoslovakia. The weather in England is so much milder. December is almost like the continuation of dreary November days. The spells of frost are quite rare and don't last very long. However when the right conditions do happen, it is a breath-taking sight.

I was very lucky this year as I experienced both. The English mild winter with beautifully atmospheric mornings, and real white winter in Slovakian mountains. I enjoyed wonderful few days over Christmas with my Mum and celebrated the last few days of the year with my partner Martin.

December was also the final month of my photo a day challenge. It was a challenge in every sense of the word. It is a fact that when you have to do something it is more difficult to enjoy it at times. Nevertheless I have no regrets. I enjoyed some great moments, breathtaking sunrises, stunning sunsets, quiet nights and deep blue hours, peaceful mornings shrouded in autumnal mists. Not every day was full of magic, so I had to find the magic myself. I truly believe that beauty surrounds us everywhere, and having to capture something every day made me look for it and find it in the mundane and ordinary. It made me see beauty each and every day, and for that I am grateful. That will stay with me even when I am not taking photographs.

However there were times when I wanted to quit really badly. It put a lot of strain not only on me but also on our everyday life, holidays, weekends. Martin was so tolerant and supportive that if it existed I would nominate him for the Nobel Prize for Patience. But it doesn't, so a big thank you is definitely in place. Thank you for all those days when he had to put up with me getting out and stopping doing other things just to take a photo of the day, or processing three weeks of pictures in one day, or writing about them for my website. Thank you for all those encouraging words: "don't forget to take your daily picture", "I won't let you in the house if you don't bring your picture", "point your camera at anything, just don't fail", "you will finish it even if I have to take the picture myself". They made me laugh and kept me going.

I also would like to thank to all those who followed my project and supported me all the way. It made a huge difference for me, and the encouragement made me carry on during hard times.

So here is to the New Year - free of all the "must do" pictures, full of happy moments and "can do" pictures. Wishing you all a wonderful year, full of joy and happiness not only in your photography world but also in your real life. Look forward to seeing you around.

If you would like to see any of the images and read the stories behind them, please us the links below. There are also a few outtakes that didn’t make it as a picture of the day, but which I found hard to part with.

I wonder if the snow loves the trees and fields, that it kisses them so gently? And then it covers them up snug, you know, with a white quilt; and perhaps it says, "Go to sleep, darlings, till the summer comes again.”

Lewis Carroll