Grab A Coffee, Sit With Me

Welcome to my longest post yet, where I share my favorite photos that I’ve taken this year. I narrowed it down to ten, ranging across my many travels and experiences in 2025.

Although I display the best of my technical skill here, the context surrounding each photo also influenced this final list. As you go through these, I encourage you to linger a little on each image; they have special meaning to my heart, and the closer you look, the more details I think you’ll find
and appreciate!

In no particular order:

Stargazing. May 21.
I’ve been a photographer for nearly six years. One constant through this journey has been my love of capturing the stars. I’m not terribly good at it, but this photo stands apart from all the other starry pics I’ve taken because of one crucial ingredient: the person in the middle. She’s a fellow photographer friend who was kind enough to stand still during this exposure (Thank you, Kylie!). The photographic theme that moves me the most is the display of humanity. That’s what was captured here – a lone figure standing in the darkness admiring the stars. It gives me such an immense sense of scale. Very beautiful!

Sniffing Ahead. August 1.
This photo surprised me! I rediscovered this while looking through this year’s archives and it blew me away. I’m not sure why it didn’t strike me originally, but I’m enamored by the way the dog Max is posed, how he eagerly looks onward toward the curiosities awaiting him down that road. How cute and adventurous! We’ve had so much fun together this year, and I’m looking forward to many more years with him.

Cheers. September 12.
This was my first IU college football game. I went with close friends and got to participate in the united energy of a crowd, the expensive concession food, and a great time with others. This isn’t something that usually interests me, but this was another step in trying new things this year. It was good fun, and this photo captures the buzz that surrounded me in the stands!

Oceanside Vista. October 16.
I mentioned already that I favor people as subjects in my photos, but I had to show this one. The colors and contrast offer a remarkable snapshot of the Monterey coastline. I love the striking orange and red flora running down the hillside to the hard rocks below, and those rocks jutting into the ocean, made bright and blue by the clear sunlight. It’s a sight to behold, and it’s no surprise that it’s even more beautiful in person. This was my first experience in California in almost ten years, and vistas like this were everywhere.

Pre-Wedding Hangout. November 7.
I took this image of my high school friends in the mild Texas autumn, just before the wedding of one of our own. I slipped on a few technical details – I overplayed the sun flare, the composition needed a few steps to the right, and the colors are off – but I nonetheless love this image because it’s a still frame of us, together in one place, all dressed up, celebrating one of life’s greatest milestones. We don’t often get together like this anymore, but it’s a real treat whenever we do. I don’t take these moments for granted because one day we’re going to have our last hangout together and we may not even realize it at the time. And so I cherish the times when all our paths cross.

Feeling Fireworks. July 3.
Here’s another example of incorporating people into photos where I previously would only isolate the bright, pretty thing. Pictured are a good friend of mine and her husband. They watched intently, hand in hand, at the beautiful explosions of color decorating the sky, and I can’t help but think that their external world matched their internal world. They only got married three weeks before, so they were still in the dazzling “fireworks” phase of their marriage. I’m sure they still are! This image really stands out to me because such a wonderful, ephemeral moment between them got to be memorialized.
Congratulations, you two!

New Waters. May 21.
A newly-met friend this year gifted to me an old film camera. By the power of the internet, I bought film and learned how to use it. The image above is the best to come from it, but I especially love the context. My girlfriend and I went on a retreat to Colorado in May. I’ve been many times before, but this was her first. I thought I knew everything there was about the conference center where we stayed, but then she told me about this creek just behind the lodge! I never knew it existed, and she was so pleased that she could show me a new thing in a place I’m so familiar with. And so, as we literally explored new waters, I figuratively explored the “new waters” of shooting film. The lighting turned out perfectly here! So grateful for that. The icing on the cake for me is that she is such a city girl, so this photo stands in great contrast to her natural habitat.

Blue Mosque At Twilight. March 17.
I took this just offshore while visiting Istanbul. This ancient city left a huge impact on me. No other city I’ve seen with my own eyes gave me such wonder as the old seat of the Byzantine Empire. To see a place of such extraordinary history changed me fundamentally. This image here conveys a small piece of that. In the foreground is the Blue Mosque, and in the distance is the Hagia Sophia, two monuments of religion and art. Seeing the buildings in the light of the setting sun almost gave me the perspective of a bystander witnessing the days of Istanbul’s former glory. I’d like to see this city again, outside of a tour group, so I can immerse myself more in a place so different from what I know and understand.

Meteora. March 19.
I was the media guy on a tour throughout Greece this year. A huge honor and blessing! It was my first time traveling internationally, and this was probably my favorite stop in Greece. Introducing Meteora, a town known for its tall, porous rock faces and twenty-four(!) monasteries built on the cliffs. A millenium of history lay here, complete with art and culture important to Christian Greek Orthodox traditions. We went on a clear, beautiful day and got to see the interior of the one of the few monasteries still active today. The dedication to ancient reverences coupled with the stunning scenery left me absolutely breathless. You can see in this photo how high up these buildings really are. The funny thing is, apparently monks originally came here to remove themselves from society to focus on meditation and Scripture. Imagine their surprise when people flocked to this location to see their art and way of life!
I yearn to visit Meteora again in my lifetime. Everyone should see it at least once.

Santorini Sights. March 23.
Ah, the photo of my homepage. I also took this while on my trip around Greece, and we had the fortune to stop at Santorini for a day. I spent hours wandering the island, taking in the beautiful architecture and landscape. I took many photos that came out really nicely, but this one is my favorite. I was practicing zone focusing, a technique where I use a fixed focal length, pre-determine a distance that will be in focus, then compose my shots around that. Constraints like these force creativity, and even though you really can’t take a bad photo here, it challenged me in a good way. Anyway, I love the layering here. The people sitting on the park bench are facing toward the center of the photo, drawing your eye toward the buildings in the background. There’s enough detail to keep my eye wandering awhile, and the place was absolutely gorgeous.

Thank You for Your Support!

Well, that’s all I’ve got. 2025 has been a landmark year in my photography journey, both through experiencing new places and through shaping my artistic identity. I hope to continue developing my skill next year, taking more risks and creating more opportunities to further my art. I hope you’ve enjoyed following my work as much as I’ve enjoyed creating it! I value your support. I hope you have a wonderful New Year and a marvelous 2026!