The year is rapidly drawing to a close and everyone is looking back at 2025 with the familiar mix of joy, regret and thankfulness. We all have high hopes for 2026 and that goes for both our personal and professional lives.

So how has 2025 been for me and my work? Well – a mixture of joy, regret and thankfulness sums it up surprisingly accurately. It has been quieter than the previous three or four years with a little less travel and fewer peaks of excitement but my clients both new and old have presented me with moments that I will treasure and memories that will stay with me for a long time.

The joy of being out there, cameras in hand and doing what I love to do is just as real and just as strong as it ever was. Combine that with the joy of seeing my work used well and widely it’s been a good year.

I mentioned regrets and there have been a few but mostly in the form of disappointment. Projects that didn’t happen, days when the light wasn’t what you would have wished for and pictures not being used as well as I would have hoped.

So much to be thankful for. Family, friends and life outside of work or course but when it comes to making a living I have a wonderful selection of clients, get to do some really interesting things and it’s all wrapped up in creativity.

I have a few things booked in for next year, and for that I’m both excited and grateful. I’m looking forward to the challenges that will come my way.

I’d like to wish everyone who’s reading this a very merry Christmas and an exciting, prosperous and fulfilling new year. Thanks for indulging me and reading my posts and as I move through the twenty-sixth year of writing them I hope that they help others to think about their own work.