Heading into 2026…
In terms of pure photography, I have to say that 2025 was a good year for me. I really enjoyed photography again. For awhile, it felt a bit stale. I didn’t feel like I was improving. I made a mid-season acquisition for a Fuji X-T5 and haven’t looked back since. All in all, it was a year of some cool photography firsts for me.
First time buying Fuji cameras
First time I’ve ever used a zoom lens that goes past 75mm
First time I’ve intentionally tried photographing nature and wildlife, in particular bird photography
First time daily-carrying a dedicated camera
Overall, I think I was finally able to do the one thing that I felt I was failing at: actually improve my photography. I took more keepers in half of 2025 than I did in all of 2023 and 2024, combined. I mainly attribute this to EDC-ing a dedicated camera, but I’d like to think that my skills leveled up as well. It remain to be seen whether I can keep it up in 2026, but it’s a challenge I look forward to.
Before we sweep 2025 under the rug, here are a few of my favorite photos, all shot on the X-T5.
Closing Out 2025
NO NEW CAMERAS IN 2026! I’ve had a little too much G.A.S. in 2025, so let’s hope I show some spine and lock in on photography instead of getting more stuff. In all honesty, I need less stuff, not more. Full disclosure. I did just pick up an Insta360 Go Ultra with literally days left on the calendar, so it counts towards 2025! Alright, that’s enough for 2025. Glad it’s over, and I hope we all have a collectively better 2026.
Happy New Year!