James Breeden – Photojournalist

1) I started off the year with a trip to Barbados in January for The Sun to photograph Ronald Fenty, father of global pop superstar Rihanna. As is typical with most of these jobs, despite being there for about a week I ended up with less than five minutes to take his picture when we met in Bridgetown. Barbados was definitely one of the nicest Caribbean countries I've been to.

2) The obligatory cheesy postcard beach shot from Barbados!

3) Locals in Barbados sell tourists bottles of this smelly shark oil on the beach, promising them that drinking it will make them "strong in bed" and that they'll "last all night"!

4) A man in Barbados stands to attention and salutes me as I try to photograph drug dealers in the upscale resort area of Sandy Lane in Barbados.

5) I photographed Australian actress Krista Vendy (who used to play Tess in Neighbours) at the Renaissance Hotel in Hollywood for the Daily Telegraph (Australia). Krista was taking part in the 'G'Day USA – Australia Week' fashion show.

6) Up-close with Krista Vendy in Hollywood

7) Portrait of Mary Helen Bowers, the ballerina who trained actress Natalie Portman for her Oscar-winning role in the 'Black Swan'. I photographed Mary on the roof of the London Hotel in West Hollywood. She was incredibly patient while my light stand kept blowing over in the uncharacteristically strong wind.

8) Mary Helen Bowers strikes a ballet pose on the roof of the London hotel in West Hollywood.

9) Portrait of Michaele Salahi, who gained notoriety for gatecrashing the White House state dinner in 2009 with her husband Tareq Salahi. This year Michaele famously left Tareq for Neal Schon, the lead guitarist of the band Journey. Photographed at the SE hotel in San Diego.

10) Working for the now defunct News Of The World, I got the first photograph of Cheryl Cole in weeks, following the protracted speculation surrounding her possible appointment as a judge on the debut US season of the X-Factor.

11) A man armed with a garden hose tries to defend his home against a brush fire burning in Happy Valley, Los Angeles, before firefighters arrive.

12) This was probably my favourite feature of 2011. A commission for FourFourTwo magazine in the UK, shooting pictures of a soccer team called the Aztecas which is comprised of rival Norteños and Sureños gang members in Watsonville, just outside Santa Cruz, California.

13) Gang member and Aztecas FC player.

14) The other side of the wire.

15) Bringing gang members together through the power of football (or soccer).

16) Time for another cheesy picture, this time from the 'Comic Con' convention in San Diego. I was working for The Times and was supposed to be taking a portrait of Jonathan Ross. For one reason or another the job never happened but I couldn't resist snapping a picture of this Stormtrooper checking his iPhone!

17) It was very interesting meeting Dan Price at his tiny underground home in Oregon. Dan himself is a former photojournalist who became burnt out with the game and opted to live a simple, clutter-free life as a 'real-life hobbit'.

18) This was probably the most fun job of the year. In August I took part in a three-day photo/film shoot on location in the Anza-Borrego Desert State Park for an upcoming reality TV show for Discovery Channel called 'Combat Cash'. In searing 120 degree heat Stephanie Hernandez fearlessly modeled while the two hosts of the show fired WWII flamethrowers just a few feet behind her. I was a safe distance away using my 135mm f/2.0! The show airs January 11th on Discovery.

19) Sunset on a beach where Scottish fraudster Michael Brown, who donated £2.4 million of stolen money to the UK's Liberal Democrat party, was often seen walking his dog. I was working on the story for the Daily Mail but unfortunately the reporter and I never found Brown.

20) A guard mans a gate at the notorious 'La Victoria' prison in the Dominican Republic. We found out that while living in the Dominican Republic under a false identity, Michael Brown had served time in 'La Victoria' – for fraud.

21) The Kimbell Art Museum in Dallas acquired Poussin’s “Sacrament of Ordination" for $24 million after being on display in the UK for hundreds of years.

22) Dr. Christian Jessen, presenter of the UK's Embarrassing Bodies TV show. I photographed him at his hotel in Dallas, where he was in the US filming a new season of his hit show. As usual a very short time to get my shots so I kept it simple.

23) Oprah Winfrey look-alike Charlette Cummings, photographed in Florida. Great fun as a subject and probably the nicest woman I met all year.

24) At the end of 2011 I returned to Haiti for the first time since I covered the aftermath of the earthquake. While I was there Real Madrid played FC Barcelona in one of the biggest league matches of the year: El Clasico. Hundreds of soccer-mad Haitians clamored to find any available space in front of small television sets showing the match in Port-au-Prince. Barcelona won 1 – 3.

25) Crowding around to watch the game. Most of the Haitians I spoke to were either Real Madrid or Barcelona fans.