2025 Photography Milestones: New Gear, Techniques and a few favorite images.

This year has been quite a productive one. I have managed to capture a few images that have been in my head for some time. A couple of visits to Denmark, and a long awaited photography trip to London have contributed to that. But I have also managed to pull out a few keepers from my hometown and nearby areas as well.

One of my definite favorites from 2025. Trondheim, Norway. Oct 2025. Hasselblad X2D with XCD 35-75.

At the beginning of the year, I made a few investments that has impacted the way I approach photography, and maybe to some degree, the results. First, I exchanged my old printer (Epson 3880) with a newer model, the Epson sc p900. This was a fantastic experience, as I have struggled a lot with different technical issues with my old printer the last few years. The new printer in itself is quite a magical piece of hardware, but this purchase also started a cascade of related investments. My 27-inch iMac started to get a bit long in the tooth and was exchanged with a MacMini M4pro. That also meant that I lost the (wonderful 5K) screen of my iMac, so I had to invest in a new screen as well. I still use my Benq SW 321c as my main screen for photo-editing, but I needed one more screen for other use, and I even prefer two screens when working with images in different programs. The choice fell on the Benq MA270U. I wanted a somewhat smaller screen than the 321c, and the MA270 checked most of the boxes for my needs. I am very happy with that. In particular, I enjoy its HDR capability. The “new” HDR function in Lightroom is very interesting, and I’ve just started to work a little with it. I know the MA270U is not the best HDR-screen out there, but for now it’s adequate for me.

A long planned image from London, July 2025. Hasselblad X2D with XCD 21mm.

With a new printer and screen, I also needed to exchange my old Spyder calibrator, and ended up with the Calibrate Display pro HL. It works perfectly as intended.

And then the stage was set to try out a few new papers. All of a sudden, I was back in 2012-13, when I tested tons of different papers for my then new 3880. I ran through numerous tests before I decided on a few new papers to print on, both semi-gloss and matte. More on that in a different post later.

As mentioned in earlier posts, I also purchased a new camera and lenses to complement my Hasselblad setup. The Nikon Z7ii with the 14-30 and 24-200 has proven to be a very capable combination for lightweight, hand-held and improvised photography. I feel confident that this gear has enabled me to capture a few images I would not have otherwise made. Several of this year’s favorites came from this set-up.

One of those hand-held images from the side of the road. Fauske, Norway. Aug 2025. Nikon Z7ii with the 24-200mm lens. Hand-held.

I also got myself a new iPad this year. For my London- and Copenhagen trips, I used only this for my entire processing workflow. As I was unsure about how I would like the iPad-version of Lightroom and Photoshop, I purchased the cheapest iPad I could find, the A16 model. I added a USB-C splitter, card-reader and external HDD. It was an interesting experience. The iPad worked very well, even with the huge Hasselblad-files, and the results came out quite good. But I still find the iPad-version of Lightroom too restrictive. For dedicated hard-core photography trips, I will still work primarily on my MacBook Pro. I might do a post on my iPad workflow later.

A trip to Copenhagen gave me a few keepers too. This is from one early morning at Nyhavn. Nikon Z7ii with the 14-30mm.

But back to what matters. The results. I got quite a few images this year that I’m really happy with. I hope you find them interesting too. Here is a gallery of my best work from 2025. Click on the image to see what gear was used and a few facts about how it was captured.