2025 was certainly an interesting year, quiet on the photographic front but a landmark as far as accreditations were concerned. This was the year that I got my MPAGB, something I thought was out of my reach, but it did take a toll on my picture taking for a while.
The preparation for the MPAGB attempt took all my spare time as I selected, reviewed and re-printed the images – every print was re-printed. This was a very much an iterative approach of processing amendments and printing (on several paper types) to get the very best. I also lent on my mentors who very kindly shared their time and knowledge with me.
Having spent so much mental and emotional energy on the MPAGB I took a few months out just to relax, recuperate and refresh. As a result, I have taken fewer images than I would normally do, but I really did need that time to reflect. The rest of the year remained quiet photographically and this showed up when I did my annual ‘best of the year’ photo book, there are fewer pages than usual, but I believe the quality is probably a little better than previously – at least I hope so!
So on to 2026 and let’s see what the year has in store for me. There is the South Africa trip to look forward to in September / October, including a visit to Umghedi waterhole but I want to be taking many photographs before then. I need to concentrate on my core subjects of macro, portraiture and creative but I also intend to add many more sports images this year too. I would also like to have a dabble in Astro Photography for something new to learn, must always keep learning.
As his usual at this time of year, I will be creating a mind map of the things that I intend to photograph and the where/when/how/et cetera. I always find this helps me focus on what I want to achieve.
One of the things that I neglected in 2025 was this website and my intention has always been to put two articles per month on but I fell well short of that and will correct it going forward. I’ve also been dabbling with AI and creating some infographics and cheat sheets so I will be sharing those throughout the year too.
At club level, I was highly pleased that Chorley PS managed to wi9n both the PDI and Pront national competitions this year. A fantastic acheivement by all involved.
I hope everybody has a great 2026 and if you’re a photographer, I look forward to catching up with you at some stage during the year.