It’s the end of another year, and in keeping with a tradition I’ve mostly stuck to over the last few years, I wanted to take a moment to reflect on the year I’ve had and share a small selection of my favourite photos. It’s an opportunity to look back, review and curate the work with fresh eyes, now that some time has passed since I took it, and consider what still resonates with me — whether because of the experience, the conditions, or the subject.

So, how did 2025 go for me photographically?

I felt a real shift in my photographic motivations during 2025. Subjects and locations that previously pushed me to head out with my camera no longer do — the wide vista, for instance. I did very little in the way of what some might call traditional landscape photography.

I think this has more to do with my lack of motivation for the vistas close to where I live, rather than landscapes in general. I still enjoyed landscape photography when I travelled to North Wales a couple of times during the year. Living in the rather flat and geographically uneventful South East of England means there’s little real drama — no mountains, no waterfalls — and any grand vista worth photographing has already been done a thousand times over.

I’ve come to realise that I need a place with enough variability and interest that, even if it’s familiar, it can still offer a sense of novelty. That sense of novelty feeds my creativity and motivates me to make something that feels, even if only slightly, different from what I’ve already seen. It doesn’t feel like a loss of interest so much as a narrowing of focus.

With that said, while the lack of motivation for those local vistas was very real, the assumed cause might seem slightly contradicted by the fact that I’ve still really enjoyed exploring the familiar and well-photographed London cityscape. So if you’re curious as to why my motivation hasn’t waned when it comes to photographing London, read on — I’ll try to explain that in the next section.

What was my key photographic takeaway for 2025?

If I had one word to describe 2025 photographically, it would be PROJECTS. Throughout the year, I’ve continued with existing projects and started new ones, and it’s these that have motivated me the most to grab my camera and head out. I have several on the go — some I’ve shared already, such as my city and streetscape work in London — but I also have a few others, mostly woodland-based, that I’ve not yet detailed, as I’m still figuring them out.

Whatever the subject, these projects have provided me with greater focus and intent, a deeper connection to the place or subject, and — with any luck — take me on a journey to refine and mature my photographic voice. Perhaps a topic to explore in more depth in its own article one day.

Who knows — with the added motivation and focus that projects have given me this year, this might be the spark I need to one day find the fire in my belly to photograph my local grand landscape once again.

My top 5s of 2025

From the mountains of North Wales, the high-rise cityscapes of London, to the quiet intimacy of my local woodland, it might seem that I’ve spread myself quite thin with the time I have to take photos. But I love photographing all of these places. For this article, I’ve decided to organise the images by subject or location and share a few of my top five photos from each. Each series tells its own quiet story of the year, capturing moments of mood, atmosphere, and the things that still resonate with me.

My top 5 local woodland photos of 2025

I’ve spoken before about the need to find places where I can explore the landscape and make unique photographs. The local landscapes near me haven’t quite fulfilled that need lately, but one place where I can still create new work and experiment with light, colour, and composition is the woodland. It’s a constantly changing environment, and although I have returned to the same forest for most of 2025, I’ve still been able to produce fresh and unique work. The five photos below are some of the ones that stood out to me as I reviewed my woodland photography from the year. Each visit offered a slightly different story, a new way of seeing the familiar.

A clump of small pine tress on the heath taken by Trevor Sherwin

My top 5 photos taken in North Wales in 2025

I usually make one or two trips to North Wales each year, and with its waterfalls, wooded valleys, and epic mountains, there’s always something to capture. I visited in both March and October 2025, and here are five of my favourite photos from those trips.

A lone tree with a reflective lake behind it in Snowdonia taken by Trevor Sherwin

If you want to see more of the work I made during these and other trips to Snowdonia, then check out my blog for more on-location trip reports.

My top 5 waterfall photos of 2025

Like my regular trips to North Wales, I also make it a point to visit the Brecon Beacons once a year or so, hiking and photographing along the waterfall trails. This year I went in late summer, when the leaves were still green but the water flow was modest. I made the most of it and captured a few images I’m happy with, some of which I’ve shared below.

Waterfalls in the Brecon Beacons Wales taken in the summer by Trevor Sherwin

My top 5 small and intimate scenes in 2025

Although I rarely go out with the explicit intention of photographing small scenes, when one catches my eye, I make a point of capturing it because I love getting close and revealing nature’s finer details. Here are a few of my favourite small scenes and intimate landscapes from 2025.

A small pine tree with ferns and heather taken by Trevor Sherwin

My top 5 London cityscape photos of 2025

With the creative spark from the projects I’ve been working on, I spent much more time in London photographing its city and streetscapes during 2025 than in recent years. I continued taking square, black and white photos for my Timeless City work and, often in the early mornings, captured images for City Stille. Here are a few of the colour photos I took, but if you’d like to see more of my black and white cityscapes, you can pop by [here] to view them.

HMS Belfast and Tower Bridge at sunrise in London taken by Trevor Sherwin

My top landscape photos of 2025

Although I didn’t take many wide vistas in 2025, I still captured some scenes I would consider traditional landscapes. Most of my work this year is on the intimate side, offering something more unique and less recognisable — something I’ve been intentionally working towards. Alongside these intimate scenes, I’ve also shared a couple of wider views from my local area below.

A small tree or bush on a misty morning by Trevor Sherwin

Hopefully, you’ve enjoyed this glimpse of the work I’ve created in 2025. With the variety of subjects on show, I hope it offers a small window into the different places, moods, and stories that have captured my attention over the year.

Looking forward to 2026

With my photographic tastes and motivations evolving somewhat in 2025, I’ll refrain from trying to predict where things might head in 2026 and simply let them unfold. That might mean spending more time in the city, or satisfying that creative itch by exploring and photographing my local woodland. I have a couple of project ideas I want to explore further — something featuring trees or natural landscapes, but I also want to be mindful of the time I have to devote to these various projects.

At this stage, all I would say is to expect more urban city and streetscapes, as well as plenty more woodland photography, over the next 12 months.

I also want to work harder at adding content to my website, as I didn’t feel as motivated as before to write new articles. And lastly, I hope to self-publish a Timeless City project zine. I won’t put pressure on myself — my photography remains a hobby and does not need to generate an income — so above all else, it must stay fun and creatively fulfilling.

This will be my last article of 2025, so whatever you do and whatever you have planned, I wish you all a happy and successful 2026.

Until next year.

Trevor

My Top 5’s of 2025