End of 2025

 Other, better organised photographers have probably shared their Best of 2025 posts on their websites by now. All I could manage was to select a few of my least worst pictures from the last few weeks. I present them here to 'clear out the cupboard', as it were, before the start of 2026.

Vietnamese Mango Dessert Shop Sign, Downtown Sokcho

I initially liked this photo a lot. The orange-yellow colours of the sign stand out nicely from the grey wall, the angle and intensity of the light is good, and the horizontals and verticals are okay. Well done, me. But I realised later that the bottom section of the picture is too busy where the bicycle overlaps the the sign.  I wasn't going to include it in this post, but I thought it might be a good exercise in describing why the photo is a failure.

Bricks Block 482 Cafe, Sokcho

The 482 in the name comes from the building's location in the old address system. Downtown Sokcho has a number of harbourside structures that have been turned into coffee shops. What else? I once heard someone on the BBC say that England would eventually be a nation full of old people selling coffee to each other. Maybe that's happening everywhere.

Neighbour's Bicycle

My neighbour bought this bicycle last year but I'm not sure she's ever used it. Or perhaps she's just very good at parking it in the same place all the time.

Thatched Rooves, Wanggok Village

I probably should have focused closer to the foreground for a better depth of field. I'll get back there someday, I suppose.

View from southwestern shore of Cheongcho Lake, Sokcho.

Cheongcho Lake is more or an estuary or harbour than a lake. Maybe it was a proper lake and then harbour developers dug out a big entrance so large boats could get in.

Downtown Bus Stop, Sokcho

I think this young man was looking beyond me to see if another bus was coming. If I had turned the phone camera a fraction of a centimetre to the left, I could have gotten the whole reflection of the bus symbol into the frame. Damn. Also, the background is messy, but at least it's very bright and contrasts well with the bus' sideview mirror.

Some Alley, Somewhere in Sokcho

I want to go back to that spot (if I can find it again) and photograph this in black and white on a regular camera. Maybe colour will be good as well.

I spent most of 2025 bouncing between cameras and going to the same places over and over with no idea of what I wanted to photograph. Making a resolution is just inviting bad luck, but in 2026 I would like to stick to one camera and pursue a project that will provide me with focus and motivation. Best of luck to me and best of luck to you this coming new year.