After completing my first full year of retirement, I had the chance to look back and see if being retired met my expectations. In one word, YES! I finally had the time to tackle a major home improvement project that is nearly complete. At the same time, I feel my photography goals suffered a bit because of my time being devoted to working on my home. Now that the project is close to being finished I am looking ahead and plan to set aside more time strictly for photography.
A highlight of 2025 was an incredible trip to Costa Rica where my wife and I ventured around the country for three weeks. Needless to say, the photographic opportunities were amazing and I did come away with some keepers, five of which are including in this list.
So, presented for your viewing pleasure in chronological order, A Year in Review – My Favorite Photos from 2025.
As always, contact me if you see a photo you like enough to hang on your wall. I love to print!
Cheers and all the best!
Kingston Morning Commute
This is a scene very familiar to me since I commuted by ferry for 27 years. I love shots like this one because of all the little details. Note the “Lights Out Please” sign or the arm of the toll booth operator taking payment from a driver. These small details add up to describe the typical commute of people who ride the Washington State Ferries everyday. There is a lot going on in this image with views of Mt. Rainier and the Seattle city skyline. The ferry boat to the right is the former MV Hyak which was decommissioned a few years ago and has since been moved. I did remove a distracting power line that went across the top edge in post processing.
Details: photographed January 20, 2025 in Kingston, Washington. 2 seconds, f/16, ISO100 at 230mm
Mustang GT at Speed
This was my tenth straight visit to the annual Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona. I shot many, many photos so choosing one to highlight was difficult. In the end I settled on this slow shutter speed panning shot of the Ford Multimatic Motorsports Mustang GT3. When the cars run at night many of them have some really cool lighting details throughout the bodywork. The illuminated horse on the side of the car looked fantastic! This is a high speed section of the track so getting a sharp image took some patience.
Details: photographed January 25, 2025 in Daytona Beach, Florida. 1/25 second, f/5, ISO400 at 190mm
Lunar Eclipse
The March 13 lunar eclipse was almost a non-event because of persistent clouds common to the Pacific Northwest in late winter. On this day I was very lucky to get a view long enough to capture images leading up to the full eclipse (the orange moon!). I decided to use images of the different stages of the eclipse to make an interesting composite.
Details: photographed March 13, 2025 in Kingston, Washington. Three images at 0.8 second, f/5.6, ISO1600 at 450mm
Porsche GTP at Long Beach
Attending the Long Beach Grand Prix was another highlight of 2025. Once again, many images were captured and I narrowed it down to two shots that captured the essence of speed. In the end I selected this image of the Porsche Penske Motorsport 963 GTP with the runner up being the Gradient Racing Ford Mustang GT3. Both were captured with very slow shutter speeds which blurs the background but keeps (most) of the car itself fairly sharp.
Details: photographed April 11, 2025 in Long Beach, California. 1/40 second, f/20, ISO100 at 150mm
Star Trails and El Capitan
Well before we arrived at Yosemite National Park I imagined capturing a shot like this one. The planning was pretty straightforward with selecting a location being the biggest challenge. I ended up parking by the side of the road and using the car to shield my camera from the lights of passing cars. I was hoping there would be climbers on the face and in this image you can see two groups. The first is very obvious in the lower left but the other is tough to spot as they were one tiny spotlight near the top and left of the summit. I fired off fifteen images which were composited in Photoshop to create the star trails.
Details: photographed April 29, 2025 in Yosemite National Park, California. 15 images at 300 seconds, f/2.8, ISO800 at 24mm
Second Beach Milky Way
Some of the darkest skies available in Washington state are along the Pacific coast. I took advantage of very clear skies to make a quick trip to my favorite Washington beach. I arrived for sunset and stayed late into the evening enjoying the sounds of the ocean and taking long exposures of the night sky. This image was one I had visualized long before I captured it. I know Second Beach pretty well and where the best compositions of the sea stacks can be captured. This two image composite was the best of the evening. Two images were necessary since I was using my Pentax K1-II camera’s built-in star tracking feature. This feature tracks the sky movement so the stars and Milky Way remain sharp. The unfortunate side effect is that the landscape is blurred since it is not moving relative to the camera. Taking a second image of the scene with star tracking disabled is needed. The two images are later blended in Photoshop.
Details: photographed August 21, 2025 in Olympic National Park, Washington. Two images – the sky using AstroTracer at 150 seconds, f/2.8, ISO800 at 24mm; foreground image at 270 seconds, f/2.8, ISO 800 at 24mm
Paper Wasp
This is the first of the images from Costa Rica to make the list. I was sitting on the deck of our rental cottage waiting for hummingbirds when this paper wasp landed on the foliage close by. Waiting for it to turn sideways to the camera, I snapped a shot. I did not think much of the image until looking at it later. It shows a uniquely special and simple moment in nature where the subject is frightening and yet very beautiful. This image is probably my favorite from 2025.
Details: photographed October 16, 2025 in Monteverde, Costa Rica. 1/500 second, f/5.6, ISO800 at 450mm
Rainy Season Storm
October in Costa Rica is near the end of the rainy season and we did experience many drenching storms. On our last evening in Monteverde, the skies cleared around us but also showed us what was coming. I captured this image of the sunset behind the rowdy storm headed our direction. The scene was very dramatic and did include some lightning which I did not manage to capture. I did get wet though!
Details: photographed October 18, 2025 in Monteverde, Costa Rica. 1/4 second, f/8, ISO100 at 150mm
Red on Green
Summer tanagers migrate to Costa Rica for the winter and the bright red coloring of the male is spectacular. While chilling on the deck of our small cottage (we did a lot of that) this beautiful male perched in a nearby tree. I thought the contrast of bright red and soft green was striking as I captured the shot. Nice!
Details: photographed October 24, 2025 in Drake Bay, Costa Rica. 1/250 second, f/7.1, ISO400 at 450mm
Broad-billed Motmot
Quietly strolling through the forest in Arenal Volcano National Park we knew there were motmots around (we were using the Merlin app to help us listen). When finally spotting one, the next 20 minutes were spent trying to get a good angle and light to capture an image. After taking many blurred or obstructed shots and I captured this image knowing that this was a good one. A quiet “YES!” and small fist pump to celebrate ensued.
Details: photographed October 29, 2025 in Arenal Volcano National Park, Costa Rica. 1/320 second, f/5.6, ISO800 at 450mm
Iconic Butterfly
The blue morpho butterfly is probably one of the best known symbols of Costa Rica. You see them often in the rain forests but capturing a good image is another story. They rarely sit still and flutter about teasing you with their beautiful aqua blue wings. I chased quite a few of these rather large insects hoping to get a proper shot of their iconic wings fully open. When butterflies perch they generally close their wings. The blue morpho has stunning under wing camouflage that is beautiful on its own. This image taken in La Fortuna gave me a little bit of both in a simple setting. The raindrops on the leaf provided atmosphere. Recently, I was quite pleased when Pentax USA included this image in their 2025 year-end roundup.
Details: photographed October 31, 2025 in Reserva Biológica Ecocentro Danaus, La Fortuna, Costa Rica. 1/200 second, f/5.6, ISO1600 at 450mm
Red Skies at Point No Point
The best aurora borealis of 2025 visible in the Pacific Northwest occurred the night of November 11. Of course, the forecast was for cloudy skies in my area but I ventured out regardless. I decided to stay fairly close to home by trekking to the lighthouse at Point No Point near Hansville, Washington. As the clouds started to break up the colors of the aurora began to show through eventually building to one of the strongest auroras I have ever witnessed. I scrambled madly about looking for good compositions and kept coming back to the location used in this image. After a couple hours the light show began to subside but not before the sky turned deep red and I captured the shot.
Details: photographed November 11, 2025 in Hansville, Washington. 10 seconds, f/2.8, ISO800 at 24mm
Thanks for checking out my favorite images for 2025. I really appreciate everyone’s support and all the best to you for 2026!
Cheers!
Those are simply incredible! Wow!
Many thanks, Justin! I really appreciate it!