Top Ten Photos of 2025
#1
“Waiting in Flatiron Plaza”
March 13, 2025
Camera: Fujifilm X-T20
Lens: XF 23mm f/2
I was in New York City doing street photography for the first time and I saw I was near the Flatiron Building, so I had to go check it out. Unfortunately, the building was completely surrounded in scaffolding and the light on the front of it was bad. But I noticed a line across the street for some kind of promotion, so I headed over there.
There was fog/smoke coming out of the exhibit and it was picking up the sun, so I got close and a lower angle to highlight the rays of sun streaking between the people with the buildings in the background. That is the Flatiron Building in the background on the right, so I did end up getting a photo I liked of it, just not how I expected.
See the whole series here: First Time Doing Street Photography in New York City
#2
“19th & Broadway”
March 13, 2025
Camera: Fujifilm X-T20
Lens: XF 23mm f/2
This is part of my First Time Doing Street Photography in New York City series. I was walking up Broadway when I noticed this flower arch with the column splitting through the middle. At first, there was only the gentleman cleaning the front and people passing on the sidewalk.
As I waited to see how the scene came together, the couple on the right exited the building. I waited for a passerby to step through the exact center of the frame and that’s that!
#3
“56th & 8th”
March 12, 2025
Camera: Fujifilm X-T20
Lens: XF 23mm f/2
This is part of my First Time Doing Street Photography in New York City series. I was walking down 8th Ave when I noticed this nice window scene at 56th St. I liked the colors of the sign and plant with the horizontal reflections of the crosswalk reflected in the window. At the table closest to the window, two people were having an animated conversation.
I spent a minute there getting a few different moments and chose this one as my favorite. To see the other frames, check out my blog post here.
#4
“Reimagined”
February 6, 2025
Camera: Fujifilm X-T20
Lens: XF 23mm f/2
This photo is from the Indianapolis Museum of Art Galleries at Newfields. It shows my daughter taking in the light display of The Clowes Pavilion Reimagined.
First off, I like the moment: contemplation while taking in art. I also like the color palette, the cool blue tones set against the warm lights behind. Additionally, the openings between the columns look like arrows directing our gaze upwards, matching where she’s looking as well.
The bottom part of the image is very symmetrical with her at the center, while the top portion, the light display, has an asymmetry to it. See my post of photos from the museum here…
Creating Art with Art: Documentary Photography at Museums
#5
“View from Lanai”
January 3, 2025
Camera: Fujifilm X-T20
Lens: XF 23mm f/2
I’m always looking for a different perspective on the same subjects. So instead of photographing the beach straight on, I looked out the smaller window to the North. I like the geometry of the building set against the natural landscape. The lines of the window frames point your eyes towards the horizon.
Also, the way the beach is mirrored in the glass gives a bit of symmetry to the photo overall. Because of the reflection, the horizon goes through the entire image, but it’s broken up by the building, so it’s not perfect. The colors also feel like Southwest Florida to me.
#6
“Beach Dumpster”
January 9, 2025
Camera: Fujifilm X-T20
Lens: XF 23mm f/2
Walking down the sidewalk, I noticed the contrast of this dumpster full of renovation trash set against the beautiful beach scene. I skipped taking this photo a couple different days because I wondered if it was too cliche, but finally I went over to take a closer look and thought it made an interesting photo.
This isn’t meant to be any kind of social commentary. I don’t know if this waste was from someone fixing up their place after hurricane damage or making cosmetic renovations to their beachfront home. It was just an interesting image.
#7
“A Walk to the Beach”
January 4, 2025
Camera: Fujifilm X-T20
Lens: XF 23mm f/2
I was holding the camera waist-high to take this from the height of my 5 y/o. I couldn’t see through the LCD screen too well in the bright sun as we were walking, so in the moment I couldn’t tell if I was getting exactly what I wanted.
By holding the camera right at the back of the board, there’s a great sense of perspective here, like you’re following right behind him. I like an image where you feel like your physically standing right next to the subject.
#8
“Mylar”
February 6, 2025
Camera: Fujifilm X-T20
Lens: XF 23mm f/2
Another image from Indianapolis Museum of Art Galleries at Newfields. The artwork in this photo is called Untitled (Mylar) by Tara Donovan. I wanted to photograph a portion of this piece with a person passing through the opening.
I had just walked out of a darker area of the museum and hadn’t adjusted my camera settings when I saw this moment happening, so the slower shutter speed made for some unintentional motion blur. I ended up liking this version better than the sharper one I took next. The art almost looks like it’s vibrating. See the rest of my museum photos from that day here…
Creating Art with Art: Documentary Photography at Museums
#9
“Columbus Circle”
March 12, 2025
Camera: Fujifilm X-T20
Lens: XF 23mm f/2
Another photo from my First Time Doing Street Photography in New York City series. I was standing in front of this food cart when I noticed a woman approaching with a bag that matched the colors of the cart. I waited for her to pass by and made this photo.
Something that takes this up a level, to me, is that I was photo-bombed by Echo-1, the Ghostbusters’ car. I didn’t see it there in the moment, but I did notice it afterwards and walked up to take a photo of it. It wasn’t until I was editing my photos that night that I saw I had it in the background.
I do wish I had noticed it at the time, so I could have gotten in more in frame, but I still like the photo.
#10
“Sunset through Glass Table”
January 8, 2025
Camera: Fujifilm X-T20
Lens: XF 23mm f/2
The sun was setting as I walked into the condo. I wanted to get a photo because of the great color & light, but I needed to find a different perspective on a subject photography by thousands of people every day. The glass table with a drinking glass and a lamp with a lucite base caught my eye. I held my camera at table height so the drinking glass would take up a lot of the frame.
One thing I really like about this that you might not immediately notice is that you can see a continuation of the water all the way to the edge of the shore through the table at the bottom.
About this project
I’m tracking my Top Ten Photos of 2025 throughout the year!
Last year I thought it would be funny to post my Top Ten Photos of the year starting on the very first day. My wife, Courtney, suggested I run with it and track my Top Ten Photos throughout the year.
In addition to posting them on social media, I’ll have this as a home for the photos so you can see where the current top 10 stands, along with other images that were in the top 10, but have fallen off.
Past Top Ten Photos of 2025
As I take new photos I like better, I’ll drop the others below the line. Sometimes I bring them back into the Top Ten.
Let me know your favorites in the comments and I might take that in consideration when choosing the current iteration of the Top Ten!
“Putt Putt and Crocs”
January 7, 2025
Camera: Fujifilm X-T20
Lens: XF 23mm f/2
The two main things I like about this photo are the minimal color palette and how the line of the bricks curves from the top left to the bottom right. It’s a minimalist photo, but it has some complexity to it.
“Beach Beverage”
January 9, 2025
Camera: Fujifilm X-T20
Lens: XF 23mm f/2
For this photo I was drinking a bourbon & Coke at the beach and as I raised the glass, I wanted to capture a first-person perspective. I like the out-of-focus sparkles from the ice and how the blue straw is barely visible. The way the glass distorts the horizon also adds some interest to me.
“Dune Through Trees”
January 9, 2025
Camera: Fujifilm X-T20
Lens: XF 23mm f/2
I saw these people standing on the dune and so I looked for an object nearby to give a sense of scale. A lot of times I like to have something close to the camera and further away to have a more layered image with depth.
“Barefoot Beach”
January 3, 2025
Camera: Fujifilm X-T20
Lens: XF 23mm f/2
I liked the morning shadows from above and waited for some walkers to come through to add some points of interest. I also like how the horizon is not visible in this image. It makes it kind of graphic in a way.
“Beach Dozer”
January 9, 2025
Camera: Fujifilm X-T20
Lens: XF 23mm f/2
One of the first days I was there, I was walking back to the beach when a very large excavator was driving past a bunch of beach chairs and umbrellas. And that WOULD HAVE been a great image, but my camera was already at the beach without me and I couldn’t get there in time!
So I kept an eye out for another chance to photograph the machines working at the beach and this was the only one I had. It’s minimal. It’s ok. I don’t imagine it will stay here too long! Ha!
“Hurricane Dunes”
January 9, 2025
Camera: Fujifilm X-T20
Lens: XF 23mm f/2
These dunes were not created by a hurricane, but were the result of one. The dunes used to be much smaller and covered in vegetation, but they were completely wiped out. As a part of the clean-up efforts, bulldozers and excavators have been building up these larger dunes. A lot of what I wanted to show here was documenting the changes I’ve seen vs previous visits.
I really enjoyed reading the background story of each photo Zach. This is definitely a great project to do every year!
Thanks, Gabriel! I have to give credit to my wife for telling me to talk more about the photos. Thanks, Courtney! 😄