Looking Back on 2025: A Year Under Australian Skies
I'm sitting here at the end of 2025 trying to put together what this year meant. Hard to summarize twelve months in a few words. But if I had to pick one theme, it would be this: every night under the stars taught me something.
Not always about photography. Sometimes about people. Sometimes about myself.
My brother from another mother Mike flew in from the US earlier this year. Fellow veteran. Fellow night sky lover. We'd talked about this trip for years and finally made it happen.
I took him to Lake Tyrrell first. Wanted to show him those salt flat reflections under the Milky Way. Then Mungo National Park with its ancient landscapes. He joined my Lake Toolondo workshop too.
Between shots we'd talk. About photography, about life, about what draws us to stand in the cold dark waiting for the right moment. Those conversations meant as much as the images we captured.
We're already planning the reverse trip. I'll visit him in 2026. Utah, Arizona, Nevada, California. His turn to show me around. Can't wait.
That's what this year reinforced for me. The images matter, but the connections matter more.
I ran three workshops this year. Tasmania, Lake Tyrrell, and Lake Toolondo. Every single participant brought something special to the experience.
Nilesh stands out. He's attended multiple workshops with me over the past year. Watched him improve dramatically. His composition got tighter. His processing reached a new level.
We took a trip together through South Australia. Marree, Coober Pedy, Flinders Ranges. Equal parts teaching and learning for both of us. His questions made me think about my own techniques differently. His progress reminded me why I love running workshops. What's really great is we became close friends in the process.
The best part about teaching isn't showing people what I know. It's watching them figure things out for themselves. That moment when something clicks and you see it in their eyes. That's why I do this.
This year I added 1:1 workshop options alongside the group experiences. People learn at different paces. Some need more individual attention. Some thrive in groups. I wanted to offer both.
Steph Ball from Ballara Art and Lifestyle Retreat in South Australia reached out to me earlier this year about collaborating. I'd never met her before. She runs wellness retreats and wanted to combine that with astrophotography at Yorke Peninsula.
When I visited to scout locations, she and another photographer named Karen Waller treated me like family. Steph invited me to dinner on her farm with her family. I went to my first country footy game watching a family member play. They both showed me around the coastal areas, the pink salt lakes, the rugged shorelines.
That generosity floored me. These women opened their home and community to someone they'd just met.
We're planning the retreat for Yorke Peninsula. Along with many beautiful spots to explore there, a highlight will be staying on Troubridge Island off the coast with a beautiful red and white lighthouse, having the place to ourselves for a couple nights. Coastal astrophotography in one of Australia's most unique locations.
But beyond the location, it's about the partnership. About combining different skills to create something neither of us could do alone. That's the kind of collaboration that excites me.
I learned a lot technically this year too.
Tracked panoramas finally clicked. I'd been trying to figure them out for a while. Multiple rows, multiple exposures, getting the overlap right for stitching. It seemed complicated.
Took a lot of failed attempts. Panoramas that didn't stitch. Nights where nothing worked. But slowly it made sense. Now it's part of my regular workflow.
Same with meteor compositing. During the Geminids this year I put together my first successful meteor shower image using PixInsight. Aligning each meteor to the actual radiant point. That felt like a real breakthrough.
Started working with Ha extraction using a dedicated hydrogen alpha filter too. Opens up new possibilities for processing.
The biggest project was creating my own custom brush set for wide field astrophotography. That took the entire year. Failed multiple times. Rebuilt it from scratch. Failed again.
But I kept at it. The final product changes how I edit and I'm proud to now offer it to others. Not because I think I've figured everything out. But because it genuinely helps streamline the editing process. Especially if you don't have a modified camera for astrophotography.
When I got stuck on a specific technique earlier this year, I reached out to an Instagram friend Chris Z. for help. He sent me an actual video tutorial. Didn't just answer my question. Showed me his entire workflow.
That generosity stuck with me. It reminded me what kind of photographer I want to be. When people reach out with questions, I try to give them real answers. Share what I know. Help where I can.
That's how we all get better.
Every workshop I run, I learn as much as I teach. Working with people at different experience levels raises my own game. Their questions make me think about my techniques differently. Their approaches show me new ways to solve problems.
The astrophotography community has exploded this year. So much talent out there. So many people creating incredible work.
It's humbling honestly. But also exciting. More perspectives to learn from. More people pushing boundaries. More opportunities to connect.
I still fail constantly. Every time I go out to shoot, something doesn't work the way I planned. That's just part of the process. The failures teach you as much as the successes.
Maybe more.
Looking ahead to 2026, I've got three workshops currently in the works.
Bruny Island in Tasmania for its unique coastal compositions. Lake Tyrrell focused specifically on panoramic photography and shooting the double winter core arch. And the Yorke Peninsula retreat with Steph on Troubridge Island and beyond.
I'll also be exploring Western Australia and Northern Territory for future workshop locations down the line.
The US trip with Mike is happening too. Personal travel. More shooting. More learning. More connections with people who love this craft as much as I do.
But mostly I just want to keep improving. Not for social media. Not for validation. Just to give my workshop participants the best experience I can. To create images that matter to me. To stay curious about this craft.
Every year I realize how much I still have to learn. That used to frustrate me. Now I find it exciting. The learning never stops. There's always another technique to master. Another location to explore. Another perspective to consider.
If you're thinking about joining a workshop in 2026, I'd love to have you. Check out my schedule and let's shoot some stars together.
Thanks for following along this year. For your support. For your questions and comments. For being part of this journey.
Here's to 2026.
Clear skies.
