This was the year that I full-fledged converted from photographer to traveler. With older kids and an older body, I just didn’t have it in me to wake up early on vacation for sunsets and I didn’t do any solo photography trips this year with a heavy workload at my real job. Nevertheless, I took lots of photos when the chances arose, and the chances weren’t too bad since we did a lot of travel this year. The big destinations included multiple Caribbean cruises, Panama, and Japan. Sprinkled in with those, we went to Washington, Idaho, Arizona, Florida, California, Utah, and Nevada. The following are my ten favorites from 2025.
#10: Rio Negro River, Brazil
Unsurprisingly, Brazil is going to be heavily represented this year since we spent a lot of time in nature and the Amazon is just incredible. This image marks the first time a cell phone image has made my top ten list. I took a lot of shots from our boats on the river, but this one just spoke to me.
#9: Tushar Lake, Utah
I was fortunate to do a camping trip with our oldest daughter and some other youth on Tushar Lake in Utah. It was my first time here and the mountains didn’t feel like Southern Utah. The area reminded me more of Idaho where I grew up. Some down time let me take lots of shots of the lake. I had two favorites so I defaulted to Mallory’s choice and she picked this one.
#8: West Rim of Zion, Utah
Photos from this trail have become somewhat regular on these lists each year. It has become an annual backpacking trip for a small group of us and the sunsets over the cliffs never fail to disappoint. It is quite the sacrifice bringing my camera along this hike so I would be disappointed if I didn’t get at least one image for my top 10. I don’t haul the tripod, but the Platypod does okay.
#7: Flycatcher, Panama
I was amazed at all the wildlife in Panama. I was not expecting it and decided not to haul my big lens on this trip. That was a huge mistake. I had lots of monkey, sloth and bird pictures taken with a smaller lens that just didn’t work out because I was too far away. With that, I was pleasantly surprised how well this shot of a bird in flight came out given I used a smaller lens and was shooting from a boat. It isn’t perfect by any means, but I like it. This was taken on our boat tour of the Panama Canal.
#6: Judea Waterfall, Brazil
My second image from when we were in Manaus. This one came from our tour of Presidente Figueiredo National Park. Even though our tour guide was awful, this area was so incredible, it was one of my favorite days of the entire year, and yielded 3 of my favorite images. This waterfall was a favorite photo spot so I had to set up my tripod and make a quick shot between groups that were crowding this small area.
#5: Lake Tushar Campground, Utah
I am a sucker for astrophotography. I only spent about 30 minutes shooting it the entire year though, and it was one night during our campout. This was my favorite image from the night with the vibrant milky way and one of our tents in the foreground.
#4: Monkey in the Amazon, Brazil
Between Panama and Brazil, I got lots of monkey pictures this year. This one was my favorite of the bunch. I took this one on our tour to see the giant lily pads, or Victoria Amazonica, There were a couple monkeys that came down out of the trees and hung out with us for a while.
#3: Judea Waterfall, Brazil
I generally have a rule that I can’t have more than one image from any given location, but I made an exception this year because the shot of the waterfall from inside the cave is so completely different in my mind, and I like it even better!
#2: Stingray at CocoCay, Bahamas
We went to 3 different islands in the Bahamas and visited Grand Turk twice (plus Angra dos Rios, Brazil) this year so I got some good snorkeling in and it was difficult choosing a favorite. CocoCay was much more of a playground than a snorkeling trip, but I got off the ship early and rushed to what was supposed to be the best snorkeling spot. It was well worth it. We were the only ones in the water and it was crystal clear. Finding this sting ray was awesome. I went back later in the day and it was so crowded and murky that it wasn’t even worth snorkeling.
#1: Cachoeira da Iracema, Brazil
Another waterfall from Presidente Figueiredo National Park. We spent a lot of time here so, although the conditions weren’t great, I got to take a lot of images. Picking a favorite was tough, but I liked the long exposure and how much of the brown in the water came through on this one.