One year shown in 365 stunning pictures by Shrewsbury amateur photographer

Amateur photographer Richard Hammerton took his first picture on January 13 last year and continued his labour of love for the next 365 days .

The 34-year-old has uploaded his images of Shrewsbury to a blogging site each evening and the project has proved to be such a success Richard, who works for Shropshire Council's sustainable transport department, is exhibiting some of the images at The Silverton Hotel, in Frankwell, Shrewsbury.

His chronicle of the town captures picturesque scenes from sunsets over Smithfield Road to coracle races in the River Severn, and document some of the most memorable events to happen, including the Olympic Torch visit, the Jubilee street party celebrations and the International Street Theatre Festival.

The majority of the images were taken in and around Shrewsbury, although the collection also features shots from the Carding Mill Valley, Cardiff and Birmingham.

Richard has been posting – or blipping – the pictures on the Blipfoto website and is now well into his second year of taking a photo each day.

"It's a great way to improve in photography, build up a record of the year, and see things that otherwise I might never have stopped to look at," he said.

"I'm now well into 2013 and I don't think I could stop now, it's become a deep-seated habit."

Richard said he had been interested in photography for around 10 years, but had learned a huge amount from his painstaking project.

"From doing this and taking a picture every day, I have learned more about photography generally and about how to get more out of pictures than in the last seven or eight years," he said.

One of the pictures he is proudest of was taken on the 365th day of the project of the bandstand in the Quarry.

"A very foggy morning and a low sun combined to create some really stunning views and transformed familiar places into something much more strange and interesting – a lucky event for my 365th blip," he said.

Richard said he now constantly had his camera by his side so he never missed an opportunity for a memorable photo.

"Whatever I'm doing, if I see something I will stop and get a picture," he said. "I have been doing photography seriously for nearly 10 years.

"I got my first digital camera about 10 years ago and that is where it has all started.

"I worked my way up through slightly better cameras and more advanced cameras."

He said friends and family often commented on the photos on Facebook, but he also enjoyed it when his images were praised on his picture blog from strangers.

"It is a real buzz when you get lots of comments and likes," he said.

Richard added that he had lots of different inspirations for his photos.

"I am inspired to take a daily photograph by all sorts of things – the beautiful town I live in, the sky, the weather, plants, places, finding the beautiful and striking things that are overlooked in unlikely places. Basically the things that have always made me stop and look again now make me stop and take a photo.

"I feel very lucky to get a lot of really positive responses to my work. Doing blip has really refined my instinct for a picture and a good composition – I pass up on things now I would have taken at the start of the year, which only makes it harder, but also more rewarding to get a really good blip.

"For anybody thinking of doing a 365 photo a day project – do it. Taking a photo every day for a year has been an obsessive, challenging, inspiring and unpredictable experience. I've learned more about photography, and what I like to take photos of in the past year than I have in the 10 years before that. I'm not planning on stopping now, I have the blip bug."

To see more of Richard's pictures, visit http://www.blipfoto.com/richardh