As the year is almost over, it is time to review my favorite photographs of 2025.
Note: Since 2020, I have been keeping a list of “Best of 2025” photography blog posts on my website. If you would like to be included in the 2025 list (keep in mind this list will build through the first couple weeks of January), feel free to Contact Me and send me the URL of your post. I would be happy to include it.
What Is A Favorite
One thing to keep in mind is that these images are my favorites. They are not necessarily my best, or images using the most technical skill, and they are definitely not likely to be your favorites of the photographs I made this year. They are, for many reasons, my favorites.
After some time spent going over my 2025 backlog, I started with a total of 55 candidate images. I liked all of them to some degree, which then required culling. It got particularly difficult once I was down to about 25. I have been sticking with 12 images each year, so rejecting some were difficult. It reminded me of some past photo club judging, where getting down to the final 3 (and honorable mentions) could be a real headache.
I would also mention that I blog a Photo of the Month, and it would be lazy to simply make those selections my blog post. But some months are more productive than others, and that is reflected in these selections. That being said, several of the images below were in fact blogged previously.
Without further ado….let’s look at some photographs.
The Images – 2025
TP472
Who doesn’t love fog in Torrey Pines? This was my January Photo of the Month, and now that the Torrey Pines trail system remains closed for another few months, I miss it greatly.
TP524
This image was my April Photo of the Month, so I don’t have too much to say here. I will say that I had admired this location for many years, and it took some thinking, and help holding back a couple branches, to get this image. I think it would look quite nice on my wall.
MTRP1058
I spent some good time in Spring 2025 walking Mission Trails, particularly after work (in this Winter season, that is not possible, I look forward to Earth’s tilt getting to a spot more my liking). Kumeyaay Lake is a nice spot that is quiet, even during the busy season. I love using the Merlin ID app here to see what birds I can here, and while I did say it is quiet, I could do without all the invasive bullfrogs).
DLY124
This image was a later find from Daley Ranch in Escondido. While I took a lot of oak forest photographs I liked, this was one of the best examples or iridescent clouds that I can remember.
EC257
This one was my May Photo of the Month, so I won’t say too much more here. This is a scene I want to return to, and Oakoasis County Preserve, particularly the loop hike, looks seriously underrated. Don’t tell anybody, or I’ll have more people to deal with on my next hike.
WLD78
This image is not a technically demanding photograph, and these flowers are made to show off. This came from the Wilderness Gardens County Preserve near Pala. There were a lot of flowers out during this season, but I love how well this one presents.
LM915
This was my August Photo of the Month. There isn’t too much more to say, other than the fact that Monsoon Season is often great, and Foster Point remains my favorite viewpoint in San Diego County. I have so many other versions of this sunset that I still haven’t edited.
SNT857
This may be too urban for many folks, but I love this spot since it is about a 30 second walk from my front door. Sometimes, at the last minute, I notice the clouds look nice, and I head out over the Mast Blvd bridge. This was a surprising nice sunset, and even if it includes a parking lot, I feel lucky to live so close to a very nice place like Santee Lakes.
CRD423
I am always a sucker for the moon in my images, and as some people have told me, I also have a tendency to love these vertical images. I like negative space. This image may not be for everyone. I find drawn to it though, and it made the cut.
SDRP472
San Dieguito River Park is a nice place to hike and photograph during marine layer season. As mentioned for my November Photo of the Month, I particularly like those moments when the day transitions from overcast to clear. There are always different ways to complement the subject of your photograph in these conditions. I look forward to visiting soon.
LM1024
A beautiful November evening in the Lagunas, momentarily without a care in the world. I spent over an hour at this spot, read a little on my Kindle, enjoyed the scenery in all directions, reveled in the solitude, and for my patience, got quite a pretty sunset.
TP1132
I won’t say much here, as this image is going to be my December Photo of the Month. But with the trails still closed at Torrey Pines, and a particularly low tide, walking the beach and photographing the cliffs was a great time. I will also include how and why I accidentally ended up making this photograph in my blog post.
As always, thank you for viewing, and I hope you enjoyed the images.
Further Viewing
T.M. Schultze Fine Art America Print-On-Demand Store
T.M. Schultze is a San Diego-based photographer, traveller, and writer. He writes, photographs, and draws things of the outdoors that have inspired humans for thousands of years. He co-authored the Photographer’s Guide to Joshua Tree Park which can be purchased here.
An excellent collection. My favorites are the Oakoasis County Preserve and the Foster Point images.
Beautiful photos my friend! I particularly love LM1024 & CRD423, love some good negative space in my photos and any time you can get the moon in there I am a sucker for it.
It’s funny that you mentioned pulling them from blog posts throughout the year as those end up being some of my favorites of the year also, otherwise they wouldn’t have made it into the blog post. LOL! At the same time, you somehow feel compelled to offer some big “reveal” for a yearly set of favorites – but maybe all of this is just overthinking it as photographers probably do compared to most viewers.
I enjoyed this journey back through your year’s explorations. “Out west” offers such varied and grand landscapes compared to where I live but I imagine even those can create some yearning for something different at times. I’d take that view 30 seconds from my front door – at least you have some of those hilly things on the horizon. That Oakoasis preserve looks like a place full of more potentials to dig into. Happy 2026, it has to be better than 25, right?! It seems everyone is exhuasted from last year.