What are you going to change for 2025 photographically speaking?

I've found recently that I'm just drifting, I look back over the last year and I dont find much I like that arent family photos. So for this year I'm looking at trying to create a coherent body of work around a theme. My decisions so far are:

Square format for printing
Black and White
Possibly using high ISO noise as an integral part of the image
Possibly using long exposure

It's the theme I'm still working on. All this is sort of inspired my Michael Kenna and Bruce Percy, preferably not just copying them

Ultimately this may lead to a Royal Photographic Society submission for an ARPS panel or at least thats my goal, who knows if I will get there

What are your thoughts on this?

Good idea for a Thread.

To early to really think about what direction my photogrphy is going to take in 2025. I have a few ideas, but nothing planned so far. I would like to do something along the lines of Gabriele Basilico, who photographed the Architectural caos of our present day cities. The 60's tenement blocks thrown up cheaply, but with time have a certain charm are a candidate.

I try to set up projects around things I am interested in outside of photography. I like history, and the built enviroment, so my projects generally lean in that direction.

I also enjoy using the set of shift lenses, that I have accumulated.

Past projects have included the little Renaissance states around Mantua, which was a documentary project, but I tried to capture the sleepy atmosphere of this area. Or a project I did about a small river that runs through our town, that is hardly photogenic, but I wanted to see if I could do something interesting with an uninteresting location.

I am coming to an end of a project on Romanesque Architecture, and I think I will move onto one about Lombard Gothic.

I think it is pretty important to have some sort of purpose and goal for my photogrphy. I think if we just casually photograph things we come across, when we are out and about, we end up with unsatisfying results. I once did semi professional performing arts photogrphy. I am sure it is my best work, because I had a subject that I had to be interested in. I had to understand the mechanisms of Dance, Opera, Theatre and Music. My purpose and goal was to produce press release pictures and archival record shots.

I usually finish a project with a Blurb book, or an Ebook.

For various reasons, I drifted a bit in 2024, I had a big health problem that put me out of action for a couple of months. My present project is coming to an end as I am running out of locations. Who knows what 2025 will bring.

Hi,

I'm thinking I won't be changing anything. Since 2020 I have been making good use of a Nikon Df and a Pentax 645D. The Df for subjects which move and the 645D for subjects which do not. And then printing using a Epson SC-P5000. With the Df up to 8x10 and the 645D up to 16x20.

I have thought about a P645Z some. 10 additional MP and CMOS v CCD. But the used market for Fuji GFX 100 units sometimes seems like a better direction. The 50 MP CMOS sensors show a bit too much aliasing for my tastes, whereas the 100 MP sensor doesn't. Plus the 100 is BSI, and that's a plus.

A GFX 100 means always manually focusing with my Pentax 645 lenses. And I don't want to pay the prices for GF lenses.

Too bad Pentax quit before making their own 100 MP sensor model.

Stan

After an accident with nerve cord damage, I won't be changing anything other than my theoretical knowledge and processing ability.

I have Sigma SD9, Lumix LX1, Lumix DC-G9 and a Lumix DMC-G1 (converted to IR).

This what I was thinking, but rather than doing this in post I was thinking of in camera

I really want to run a program to teach street photography. There will be a few components, seminars, constructive criticism for a series of photos based on themes, mentoring, photowalks. I have no clue if someone wants to enrol.

I have recently been finding what you said above - becoming unsatisfied. I still enjoy going for a walk most days and shooting what I can find but I am really getting sick of the same things.
I don't live near a big city so architecture and street is hard for me to find - and we don't have anything like what you have in Italy / Europe. I have been thinking I need to start looking around the towns for some older buildings. But I also get what you mean about having a project / goal. I only have two kit lenses for the short end so also need to think about upgrading those...

I had similar ideas about my Architectural photography, but just in an online enviroment. I started putting some things together on my Blog (that nobody reads!).

I know this site wants to produce/have some material on the web page, to help build traffic on this forum. I wonder if something might evolve from the membership.

The trick is to find something you are interested in like your dragonflies, and plan and put together an Ebook or Blurb book, with all the different species.

For my Romanesque project, the photography is just a part of the project. I have done a lot of research and read a lot of books, that I have picked up SH. I see the buildings with this architecture in a different way to when I started.

I did one project of a boring river near home with an LX100. It was a deliberete choice to get beyond gear.

I think something like that as a group endeavour would be interesting. I'm happy to get involved

2024 was thinking about changing our setup and we did just that in the last few months (from Canon DSLRs to Eos R series with new lenses)
2025 will be enjoying the new setup and more 😎

I'm gunna take a photo of my train set.
That of course, assumes it approaches something like a state of completion this year.
Its "per annum" track record so far, is pretty dismal.