Image of the 2025

The first Image of the Year blog post was January 2018, so this is the 9th edition, if I've counted correctly. I've blogged about what goes into selecting the images that go on the yearly podium, but I don't propose to revisit all that here and now. I figure the interested can go back and find the posts easily enough. 

I still think the IotM and IotY are a good idea as long as I'm trying to become a better photographer, and thus will continue. Plus it sometimes sparks comments from my readers about their agreement (or not) with my choices. Plus plus, from a blogging perspective, it gives me 10% of the blog post production goal right there. Yes, I'm going to aim for 10 a month in 2026. 

As it turns out, I took fewer photos in 2025 than in any year since started using a real camera. Lots fewer. I'm not entirely sure why, but suspect that even when I took one of the cameras for a walk, I was a lot more picky about what made me click the shutter. I know I'm much more picky about what images get edited at all, and what gets a 4 or 5 star rating. Those have become more rare over the years. 

In one sense it's quite straightforward to capture a focussed, reasonably well exposed image of something. But is it an interesting something? I'd like to think my photography is getting better at producing interesting images, but also that my standards are getting higher.

It's a complicated world. In one sense creative people should only put their very best work out in the world. Yet, recognizing the best is difficult, and other people disagree. Part of learning how to do their best work, is to share work with other creative people, even if it isn't the best. Maybe it was the best you could do in those circumstances, and it's a learning experience to have someone else make suggestions. 

Another part is the whole social media "thing". I don't even know what to call it anymore. There are a huge number of creative (loosely defined and YMMV) people trying to capture eyeballs by putting out a near infinity of still images, video, text, and other art forms. In addition there are the AI bots and trolls flooding the zone with shit. Does an artist put out a steady stream of pretty good stuff with the occasional real winner, and (hopefully) maintain the attention of their audience, or put out an excellent work once in a while, only to find their audience isn't there anymore?

I don't have any real way of knowing how many images appear in my blog over a year. In 2025 there were 139 posts, which is more than the previous couple years, about the same as a couple years before that, and way less than before that. The main section might have only one photo, but there's usually several that I hope are topical, or (rarely) more than 20. The Of the Day section started off with 8 in January, and ended up with 11. If I wave my thumb in the breeze and assume an average of a dozen images per post, that works out to 1,668 images over the year, or 15 per post is 2,085 images. That's actually a lot of images, and if you've slogged through all of them, congratulations. Thank you for reading.

Were they all 'the best?' Certainly not, though I think they're all pretty good.  Well, mostly. A few I look back on and wonder what I was thinking. Best comes down to about a dozen, or two dozen at most images. I'm pretty sure that there's only a few that get lingered over or returned to, and it's something different for different people. I'm also pretty sure that some get scrolled past as you wonder why I'm still on about a topic. Maybe I'll revisit the whole Of the Day idea.

Oddly enough, much as I've gone on about dithering about the choice in previous years, this year I got from the first cut of 28 down to the final dozen quite quickly. There are several near repeats, like similar images of the same waterfall. Knowing I'll only pick one of those narrows the decision down to about 6 images, which is where I am just now, with the serious dithering starting.

Actually, the main dither for a couple weeks now is trying to define a self-assigned photo project for 2026. I'd like to expose a roll of film a week, aiming to end up with about 400 or so photos. The idea is to print at least some of these in the darkroom, and maybe produce a book of the best of said photos. As I commented to a buddy, I want the project to be detailed enough so I know what to go look for, but not so detailed it’s a straightjacket, and not so loose as my usual photo life of wandering around taking photos of whatever catches my eye. Here it is Jan 1, and I still have not achieved clarity. Well, later in the day I did, sort of. It's foggy out. More later.

I've also been dithering about books. Now I can start working on a 2025 book of photos because now I know which ones they are.  I'll probably work on it in January and hit the print button when there's a good Blurb sale. The harder one is New Brunswick. Still dithering, trying to figure it out.

I can hear you saying to yourselves, get on with it. Here's the final 12.

It took a while to get down to the final three, and I'm still not sure I've got them in the right order. Will you forgive me if I say it was a photo finish? What these three all have in common is that I knew they were going to be good when I clicked the shutter. I saw the image in my head, and worked to capture it while  hoping I wouldn't mess anything up or the scene wouldn't change somehow. That's one of the reasons to work through lots of images that aren't the best, so when you find or create the good ones, you have the required skills. 

I have come back to these images again and again throughout the year.

2nd Runner Up

One of the photos I had hoped to get in New Brunswick was calm water reflecting trees in full colour. Yes, I know it's a bit of a cliche. On our last full day, we were crossing the one lane bridge in Shediac Bridge. I was paying attention to the road, and Linda exclaimed "look how calm the water is!" That was a first during our visit. I pulled into the parking lot for the busy lunch place, and walked back out on the one lane bridge that does not have a separate pedestrian walkway. I got some nice photos of the reflection of the trees looking one way, but when I turned around I nearly swooned as I saw this. A couple of clicks later I hustled off the bridge to avoid a truck.

1st Runner Up

From a walk in Carburn Park on a bitterly cold day. I'd stopped on the way home just to see if there was anything interesting happening along the river, even though I wasn't really dressed for the weather. On the way back I saw this, and was instantly captivated. I didn't see the image for nearly a week till I got a chance to develop the film.

Image of the Year

I was driving back to the AirBnB from exploring a New Brunswick beach when I saw this. A second later I was on a bridge looking for a place to turn around. Did that, with another driver wondering what the heck I was doing, then made a dodgy left to get into a little boat launch. I got set up and worked the scene hard, trying different exposures and slightly different compositions. There was a guy eating his lunch nearby, watching me, but he didn't say anything.