2025 Retrospective: 12 images that defined my year

As I sit down to curate my favourite images from 2025, I’m struck by how much this year pushed me outside my comfort zone. These twelve photographs represent more than just technical achievements, they’re markers of personal growth, unexpected challenges, and the joy of sharing experiences with people I love. Each image tells a story of adaptation, whether it was wrestling with manual focus on hummingbirds, making do with wide-angle lenses when my telephoto failed, or simply waking up before dawn in freezing conditions. This is my photographic journey through 2025.

2025 was a year rich in travel, new experiences, and precious time spent with amazing friends and family. I love looking back at my years to see what I’ve captured and experienced in terms of photography, but also what I can improve moving forward and which locations might inspire future work. Retrospectively examining what you’ve achieved is a valuable habit. As Honoré de Balzac said:

Discovering New Territories

In terms of new destinations and bucket list items, I finally managed to tick off four experiences this year.

Costa Rica: Embracing Manual Focus

First, I discovered Costa Rica, from top to bottom. I was lucky enough to spend over three weeks there, which allowed me to create some incredible images. Notably, these two toucans gave me a few thousand poses under the rain before finally settling on this really interesting gnarly tree.

In Costa Rica, I really tried to challenge myself. Thanks to my sister-in-law, who brought me a new toy to experiment with, a TT-Artisan 250mm reflex lens fitted on my Nikon Z8, I pushed my boundaries. This lens is totally manual, so focusing on subjects like hummingbirds feeding was quite tricky, but I ended up creating one of my favourite images of 2025:

Hummingbird in flight, Costa Rica | Nikon Z8 + TT-Artisan 250mm f/5.6 | Manual focus, maximum concentration

I believe challenging yourself as a creator and photographer is key to growth. Trying new lenses or intentionally limiting yourself can unlock creativity.

Skomer Island: When Plans Change

In Skomer, this is exactly what happened—partially by design, but also because the weather forced my hand.

We stayed on the island for two nights, something I’d always wanted to do but had never achieved. Unfortunately, the first day was pouring rain. Did I let that stop me from getting my camera out? Absolutely not! I doubled down, convinced the rain would allow me to create unique images. And it did! But it also got water into my main wildlife lens, the Nikkor 180-600mm. For the rest of the trip, I was stuck with my Nikkor 14-30mm or 24-120mm f/4 on my Z8, and my GF 20-35mm and GF 100-200mm on my Fujifilm GFX 50R—not exactly a wildlife champion, but a good reason to stay creative.

This forced me to switch my plan and shoot wide. The good thing about Skomer is that past 17:00, after the boat leaves, the puffins become less skittish and aren’t afraid of getting close to humans. They even use us as shields against gulls. This made wide-angle photography interesting and landed me this image of a curious puffin, another favourite.

Atlantic Puffin, Skomer Island, Wales | Nikon Z8 + Nikkor 14-30mm | When gear failure leads to creative breakthroughs

To be frank, it was incredibly challenging to reduce my Skomer stay to just this image. I was there with friends who kept me on my toes and motivated, while we created amazing memories together.

Florida: Workshops and Wild Encounters

Straight after Costa Rica, my wife and I went to Florida to visit her sister, where I ticked off the other two bucket list items. For my birthday, my lovely wife gifted me a workshop with Mark Smith, one of my favourite photographers who specialises in bird photography, particularly ospreys. The workshop consisted of taking a boat to visit osprey nests and capturing the fledglings on a lake near Vero Beach.

With our luck, we also encountered a pair of owls during the trip. These two parents were posing and interacting, calling to their chick that was in front of them. What an experience!

Barred Owl pair, Vero Beach, Florida | Learning from the masters of bird photography

Further along the lake, numerous osprey nests and parents returning with serious catches to feed their young were an amazing sight. It’s hard to isolate a favourite given how many good images I captured.

Osprey with catch, Vero Beach, Florida | The reward of patience and expert guidance

To cap off the Florida trip, and probably one of the most incredible experiences; I took my wife and her family to Crystal River, north of Tampa. We dove with amazing sea creatures: manatees! Really tricky to capture, and I’m not particularly familiar with underwater photography, so it’s not my best image technically, but I’m still happy with it. It reminds me of that incredible moment coming eye-to-eye with this beauty.

Manatee, Crystal River, Florida | First steps into underwater photography, room to grow, but what a memory

As you can see, photographically speaking, 2025 has been a year of experimentation with new tools and genres. You’ll also notice I shot significantly more wildlife this year.

Closer to Home: Switzerland

Less Time, But Quality Moments

With all this travelling, I spent less time hiking and capturing my beautiful home. This is something I want to remedy this year by visiting 15 new locations and completing more multi-day hikes.

I did manage a few snowshoe hikes, one notably in Stoos, where at sunset I captured this cold image of the church against an incredible background. I revisited this location several times and created a similar composition in summer.

Chapel at Stoos, Switzerland | The benefit of returning to locations across seasons

Leukerbad: Perseverance in the Face of Failure

Another place I visited frequently, but with less success, was Leukerbad, initially to capture bearded vultures. Three trips and three overnights led to unsuccessful results. We only had one sighting, from really far away. But as usual, my friends and I didn’t despair. We took it as an opportunity to spend time together and try new things.

Many smaller birds, snow finches and alpine accentors, came while the wind and snow were high, leading to interesting images. Talking about using wide angles for wildlife: these birds, unaccustomed to humans and looking for food, ventured quite close while keeping the ridge behind them. This image of one puffing its chest and posing on a small pedestal was too good not to capture:

Alpine Accentor, Gemmi Pass, Switzerland | When your target species doesn’t show, stay present for what does

But the most spectacular moment came after a failed astro session. The sunrise the next morning over the valley was astonishing! It’s a shame my friends stayed in bed, after we’d all prepared for our failed astro venture, I can’t blame them. But the conditions were so special, even though the wind was brutal. It led to this incredible image:

Sunrise over Gemmi Pass, Switzerland | The reward for those who stay when others sleep

Urban Landscapes and Ancient Forests

San Francisco: Chasing the Golden Gate

On yet another trip, I finally managed to take my wife to San Francisco. I was there for work, but we spent a weekend exploring both ends of the Golden Gate: a place I adore that lends itself well to creative photography. Last year I failed to capture an image I was after: framing the iconic bridge at blue hour. This year, the blue hour shot still wasn’t ideal due to fog and the usual low clouds, but when the sun rose, the side of the tree trunks transformed, and the clouds around the bridge’s pillars lit up and glowed, providing this utterly unique image of the Golden Gate:

Golden Gate Bridge at sunrise, San Francisco, USA | Sometimes missing your planned shot leads to something better

Wales: Mood and Atmosphere

Speaking of trees reminds me of an ancestral forest near the Pembrokeshire coast in Wales. I’d visited before and loved it. Our trip to Wales took us back there with one of my friends. We explored in misty conditions, walked around, and found a group of gnarly trees that were incredibly photogenic. I love this image I created of this place:

Ancient woodland, Pembrokeshire, Wales | Already planning a return in thicker fog

Something must be wrong with me because I’d love to revisit it in even thicker fog! I’m one of those photographers who loves mood and atmosphere, and this is the type of scene that lends itself perfectly to it.

Budapest: First Impressions

For one of my final trips of the year, I visited Budapest; my first time there, and I cannot lie, this city impressed me. It’s gorgeous and very photogenic; the food and wine are amazing! There are so many photo opportunities around the Danube. I’m a big fan of the Széchenyi Chain Bridge, especially at blue hour when, at dusk, it’s lit from all sides.

I spent considerable time around and on the bridge finding compositions. One of my favourites is actually a panorama I made early in the day. It was freezing, but the sunrise was amazing, and as a bonus, I had the place to myself. I love the peace and tranquility that comes with this type of commitment. It’s really rare to be alone in such a busy and vibrant city like Budapest.

Széchenyi Chain Bridge panorama, Budapest, Hungary | Frozen fingers, warm light, peaceful solitude

Looking Forward

There you have it: 12 images from 2025, each representing a moment of growth, challenge, or pure photographic joy. As I reflect on this year, I’m struck by a few patterns. I photographed significantly more wildlife than ever before. I learned that gear failure can be a gift in disguise. I discovered that some of my favourite images came from moments when plans fell apart and I had to adapt. And perhaps most importantly, I was reminded that the best photography trips are the ones shared with people you love.

For 2026, I’m setting some intentions: explore 15 new Swiss locations, complete more multi-day hikes in my home country, continue pushing myself with manual focus and unfamiliar lenses, and return to places like that Welsh forest in even thicker fog (yes, I’m serious about this). I also want to dedicate more time to underwater photography, that manatee image showed me there’s a whole world I’ve barely scratched the surface of.

Here’s to living twice, once in the moment, and again through the images we create.