Joanne Gordin

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA

gordin-philly

"When I spotted these two trucks, the driver of the green truck had just finished squeezing past the red one and was opening his side view mirror from the closed position. I prayed he would move slowly so I could get in position and set up the shot."

Mike McGowen

Texas, USA

"I was playing around with different settings on my Nikon Zf and taking photos of our Australian Shepherd named Penny. Black furred dogs are difficult to photograph, especially in color! I captured this photo using the highlight-weighted metering mode just as a ray of sunshine came through the blinds. I loved the way it turned out! It’s bittersweet because she passed away in August and it was one of the last photos I took of her.

My primary photography goal for 2026 is to work on translating the technical knowledge I have in my head to my photos. I still quite often forget to adjust some parameter that the scene calls for (like shutter speed to eliminate subject motion for people/pets). A secondary goal is to continue to participate in the challenges."

You can follow Mike on Flickr here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/memcgowen/

Irene van Middelkoop

Pretoria, South Africa

"This is my friend who is keen to start photography again but just doesn't seem to get around to it (I can understand that!). So my sister, she and I have started a little monthly photography challenge to get us all going! At the time of this photo, we were having lunch at the Pretoria botanical gardens, which is a wonderful venue for photography.

My aim for 2026 is still to improve on my general photography, follow more of these courses, and do the (bi)monthly challenges, as well as another monthly challenge which I follow here. I have realised that I need to practice and experiment more, as well as get to know my camera even better (too many options!!) in order to improve my photography."

Bill Farrell

Taipei, Taiwan

"I like this photo because I got exactly the image I was trying to get. And I achieved that with my new Viltrox 75mm f/1.2. I like how the light catches the subject's hair and highlights that. There is a calm, serene, isolated urban sense to it. 
Fujifilm XT5 Viltrox 77mm f/1.2 taken with iso 800 f/1.2 ss 1/220. September 28, 2025. 

These days I am primarily working on my street photography. I would like to improve that and somehow further refine my style -- whatever that is."

Check out Bill's Instagram @billfarrelltaipei.

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