A look back over my 2025 year of photography
It’s that time of the year between Christmas and New Year when the world seems to slow down, and you never know what day of the week it is. It’s been nice this year to take a break and recharge the batteries before the new year, and also to reflect on the past year. I usually use this time to get some photos in Dublin City as it can be nice and quiet, but this year more than ever it's been living up to that old carol song, and it really is a “bleak midwinter.” It’s been so overcast here, it’s nearly too dark to do anything interesting.
I’ve written in the past how the winter light here in Ireland is really lovely, giving a low glow until nearly midday, but this year, it’s just been a dull overcast depressing gloom. For the past two weeks, bar one day, it’s been like perpetual twilight. So instead of heading out in the gloom, I’ve been going back over old photos in my library and pondering the past year. I actually got out to take photos quite a bit this year, but I have been really bad at sharing the projects that I was shooting. These include photographing a local stately garden throughout the seasons, visiting a national park at sunrise and sunset and a trip to Scotland to see lough ness. So, as they’ll never see the internet light of day otherwise, here’s a quick overview and some images I took over the past year.
Some of the trips I’ve already shared
We had quite a bit of travel this year, and I’ve already shared a few of these trips. The year started with a visit to Switzerland, where I rediscovered the meaning of the word “cold”. In April, we visited Berlin for an extended trip, and I shared the photos I took on my iPhone and also with my “proper” cameras! We were also in London for a few days and I took some video and photos along the River Thames. There was also that time I tried to capture a murmuration by a famous lake in Ireland.And of course, our epic trip to Wexford that started it all!
Scotland
Back in September, we took a trip to Scotland for a vacation. It was something I’ve always wanted to do, and it didn’t disappoint. I still want to write about this properly because it was quite an adventure, but I had made a little video which I never shared. I didn’t post it on YouTube as I felt there wasn’t enough of a narrative in it to do well on YouTube, but instead I’ve uploaded it to Vimeo and you can find it below. I will definitely share the story of the whole trip, though, as this only really scratches the surface, and doesn’t include our time in Edinburgh. So stay tuned for that, early in the New Year.
Glendalough
During the summer we visited one of my favourite places in the east of Ireland, the beautiful Glendalough National Park. I’ve talked about this place many times before, but for this trip we stayed over so we could capture sunset and sunrise. Or at least the early hours of the day before it became overrun with tourists. While I didn’t exactly get the images I had hoped for, I did get some nice shots, and below are a few of them.
Visiting an Urban Farm: Airfield
Near to where I live there is a lovely stately house and urban farm which you can visit. This is in the middle of the suburbs of Dublin, and was once a stately home, but is now an active farm with crops, animals, and everything. It’s also an educational facility and is generally a great place to get a nice walk away from the bustle of the city. We go there quite regularly and this year is no different. I’ve been trying to capture the time passing by getting it during various seasons, and while this didn’t quite work, I did get some nice shots there throughout the year.
Getting Burnt in Galway
During the summer I was in Galway for two days, and the first night we went to get some photos by Salthill at sunset. The second day, while I was waiting for my wife to finish her work, I was wandering around taking photographs. As it started fairly overcast, it never occurred to me that I was slowly getting burnt. I normally am pretty good about sun safety, but for some reason this time it never even occurred to me that I was getting burned. And it didn’t become apparent until we stopped for dinner on the way home and my arms were bright red. I did get a few nice photos, though!
Other photos from Dublin throughout the year
I actually haven’t taken that many photos in Dublin City this year as I normally would, but of course, I have taken some. So here is a random collection.
Thank You and Looking Forward to 2026
As we’ve reached the end of the year, I wanted to say a big thank you to everyone who has read my website or looked at my photos over the past year. I hope to make next year an even better year for photography and photography content here on the blog(s). I have some plans which I hope I can pull off, which should see some interesting content coming next year. But for now, I just wanted to say thank you and wish everyone a happy new year.