My Favourite Photos of 2025
This year was one that got in the way of me making the work that I hoped I would be able to make. It got in the way because it robbed me of a lot of (alone) time, peace and quiet, inspiration, creativity and a lot of gear as well. There are a few prerequisites that allow me to be my most creative self. A lack of stress, plenty of alone time, being well rested, focus, being able to operate gear without thinking about it and also working alone. You might think that I forgot to mention good conditions, but fact is that I do not need good conditions as much as the things I just mentioned. Most of the time the conditions come to those who are prepared and who show up. I have had plenty of days where I showed up when the conditions were not in my favour and I would just set out to take a walk. Very often something happens during these walks, the light hits something just right, the sunset lights up the trees, a small hint of fog makes the forest look more painterly or on a blue sky day all of a sudden the forest starts to glimmer due to a rain shower of a day before.
No, I do not need to have perfectly foggy conditions, but I do need to be working alone with just a few exceptions. I also really need to operate my cameras without ever having to fiddle with buttons to find what I need, to go through menu systems to find a hidden option or having options that reset unexpectedly. This year was one with many gear problems. A new camera that was dead on arrival, a lens that sounded like it was getting fried, an SD card that got wiped by the new camera, two lenses with the infamous blue fogging issue that these lenses from 2019 are prone to developing, which needed to be repaired, months without my favourite lenses and another purchase of the Lumix S1R II. It took me quite a while to get used to the on/off button, the new AF system and the new lenses, which are all reasons for me not being as comfortable as I used to be with my equipment. I like things to work, for a long time. My S1R never had any issues, but it was getting too heavy. My back started giving me problems, but if that had not been the case, I would still be working with that camera. I don't like change very much, as it gets in the way of the creative process.
Picture made in the summer of 2025 under a clear blue sky
As a result my best photos of the year were taken in the beginning when I was still confidently working with my trusted camera and in the end when I had got used to the new camera and lenses. This shows that buying new gear will not always help you get better results. In my case, it did not help and I feel that Spring and Summer were more or less lost to all these gear related issues.
On the positive side, I have taken photos that are amongst my favourite ever in this way too short year and I was also very honored to be end up as a finalist in the IGPOTY awards.
I find it hard to rank my images, but the one below is my favourite of this year. All the other pictures are shown in a random order.
I was very fortunate to end up exactly in the only area that was affected by hoarfrost in January of this year. On day 1 I was not alone which worked against me, but the next day, I was fully focussed and completely in the zone....There are quite a few images of that day in this post.
A day with a boring grey sky and quite a lot of wind still made this last image that I made in 2025 possible. Neither an epic tree, nor epic light, but the yellow colour helped this scene to stand out.
A very foggy start of a winter morning that very soon became a very dreary looking one. I was fortunate to be completely alone in this part of the forest that day.
Frosty conditions changed the dark greens and reds into shades of pastel. I loved the stillness of it
Birches and hoarfrost are made for each other
I took a long walk on a winter day with just my back up camera (OM1 II) , not expecting anything. When I was on the way back to the car, the sun started to set and in the winter, the light becomes warm and sometimes fiery orange. It lit up this scene and I photographed this handheld. It is a firm favourite.
When I had no more zoomlenses to work with, I had to use a 100mm macro lens for a while. This was the second photo I made with that, in the midst of summer...in the rain....
Another photograph of a birch covered in hoarfrost. This one is very special to me
A thin layer of snow on a magnificent oak tree
In the beginning of autumn I walked into the forest on what seemed to be a cloudless day without any photo opportunities. It was however a day that I had to myself, which has been rare in the past few years. I set out to enjoy myself regardless of the blue sky and then this happened ...
And it became even better when this happened. I gasped and stood in awe. What an experience
And five minutes later I took this photograph which I loved instantly. Sometimes you only need a few good days that together end up giving you the best images of the year.
Finally autumn arrived and even though I do not seek out foggy conditions, I certainly got treated to it one early morning. With my 24-105 lens that had just been returned to me, I took these two photographs
After that the fog soon lifted and just a slight hint of it remained. I went to another spot and ended up with this photo, which is a personal favourite of mine. I love this image.
There was one more day with hazy conditions and I was very fortunate to finally being able to make this photograph that I had seen in my mind's eye numerous times before
This one will probably surprise you. When I was working on a project in the winter to keep me occupied even on grey sky days, of which we had plenty, I was walking around in my own area, with its marshes, river and thousands and thousands of birds. I heard the geese take off and quickly pointed the OM1 II, which was my loyal companion on all my tripod-less walks, to the sky and ended up with this image. This one is straight out of the camera.
I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude to all of you who have bought one of my eBooks or have booked workshops or mentorships. You have helped me stay afloat, which has been a struggle in the past year. If any one of you reading this would like to support this unsponsored blog and make it possible for me to keep working and writing these articles, please consider purchasing one of my eBooks, for example the recently released Master of the Frame eBook. I appreciate your support so much.
