A Look Back on 2025 and What’s in Store for 2026

With us being less than a week into 2026 I thought I’d do a post to reflect on 2025 a bit and what you can expect this year.

In this post from early 2025 I mentioned how life had got in the way of photography and I hadn’t been shooting much which is honestly true of the rest of the year as it was probably the least I shot during a year in a very long time. I thought I would have got some great images when I went to Bali but considering I crashed a motorbike within a few hours of my first day, my camera was barely used after.

I can’t really say what has occupied my time for the rest of the year as exercise is part of it, with me working out 6 days a week and at least 3 of those days for being roughly 90 minutes each day. The older I get the more I prioritize my health which leaves less free time to do hobbies. In that small amount of free time, what I often choose to do is watch shows or play games and the interest in photography can come and go.

If I treat Bali as the exception, I shoot the most when I’m traveling as even on this recent trip I took over 800 images in 10 days. Currently I don’t have any holidays planned for 2026 but I need to at least keep up with my shooting, especially trying to do the Flickr weekly challenges which I enjoy.

The Plan for 2026

In terms of what kind of content you’ll see on here, it will hopefully be a mix of reviews and insights into my approach to photography (similar to my more recent articles). When it comes to what gear I’ll be reviewing, I have a few lenses like the Sony FE 16-35mm f/4 G PZ and Sigma 105mm f/2.8 Macro which I have never reviewed.

The most exciting of which will be my review of the Sony Alpha a7V which I managed to buy during my recent trip to Hong Kong. Not long after the Sony a7V was announced I discussed if I was planning on buying one as I was still undecided. The prices are still super high here in Australia but thanks to that holiday, I was able to pay a more reasonable price overseas as Australia prices are always heavily inflated at launch.

Working on that review will be my priority which means taking enough images to get a proper feel of the camera. My original plan was to get the camera as soon as I got to Osaka and use that for all my photos but sadly only Japanese language units were available there and since I can’t read Japanese, this wasn’t an option for me.

I won’t give any official impressions of the body yet since I just got it, but from my very limited use I can say it is a big improvement over the Sony Alpha a7C II and IV with the AF being a noticeable improvement over the aforementioned bodies. The ergonomics of this larger body are something I really missed as well coming form the a7C II.

In terms of the actual review, I wouldn’t expect it any time soon. I like to really use the bodies and not just take simple sample images that are SOOC JPEG’s, but actual proper images I’d post and enjoy looking it. There’s also the aspect of the types of images, I try to get a range of different shots from casual food photos, street photography, portraits and cityscapes/landscapes which will take me a while to compile.

I already have a rough idea of the theme for this review but maybe the 100mm Art or 16-35 PZ lenses will get their reviews in the mean time.

Until Next Time

That’s it for me now so it’s just a matter of time until the next review or post. Happy new year to all the readers and I hope 2026 treats you kindly!