One of my goals for 2025 was to update my photography portfolio and this is one goal that I can check off before the end of January! There has not been much of a change in format – the platform I use, Adobe Portfolio, has not added any new features, nor does it support too many customisations, so I left it the same, just tweaking the albums. I have included more of my recent work and made it easier to update in future.
I have shared a few of my favourite images from last year on my Instagram, but I thought I should also share them here, with some added context. Here they are in no particular order:
At my first mountain bike race of the year at Stile Cop, I had wanted to shoot something a bit different to my usual head on race shot. Climbing a bank to get to an open section of track I took out my Fuji X100V, activated the built in ND filter, and slowed the shutter speed right down. On this frame I had managed to get the riders eyes and number board mostly sharp, which is easier said than done. The rest of the frame was a bit chaotic, which sums up a downhill mountain bike run to me. I had not planned to shoot in black and white, but prior to the conversion I felt there was something missing.
Spectating at the Rallynuts Severn Valley Stages was one of my highlights of 2024, there were a couple of images that I could have chosen, but there is nothing quite like seeing a 911 sideways on gravel.
Despite riding a lot with Owen, we did not actually visit the skate park much, this was probably from a Saturday morning when Jen was doing Parkrun. Environmental portraits, like this, are my favourite way to capture the boys, as it avoids them pulling any silly faces, I felt that this one just sums Owen up really well.
Another from the War Memorial Park, whist Jen was doing Parkrun, except this time the boys were staying with my parents, and I had just received my X-H2S, so I explored the park on my own. this guy was meditating on a bench on the bowling green, and I liked the framing between the leaves. This photo reminds me of how lucky we are having a large park near the centre of Coventry where people can relax amongst nature.
The first of two photos from the Coventry ring road photowalk I did in November. We started here at the Canal Basin, which was like a mirror first thing in the morning, so I concentrated on capturing reflections. On this day I had actually made the conscious decision to shoot in black and white, and had set my X-H2S set to the Acros film simulation.
I took lots of photos of Henry at the local cycle speedway track in 2024, most of them riding shots, but this one of him messing about in the grass, whilst waiting for his heat was my favourite. I fell like it just sums up Henry.
The second image from the ring road photowalk, this time about halfway around the ring road, in the subway that goes to Central Six, for those that know it. On the day this was not my favourite of the more tradition street style photographs, but it has grown on me over time. The framing in the square and the silhouette make it for me.
I had these trees in mind for a sunset photo across the valley for a few years, so when weather conditions for a decent sunset combined with a free evening, I drove over to Kineton to see if I could make it work. The sunset was not quite as good as I had hoped, but the concept worked well. It was also nice to get out for the evening, watching as a sun dipped behind the horizon.
When I was sent out on a Christmas Eve mission to deliver some emergency red cabbage there was only one car for the job – my little MR2 Roadster. I had just received my camera back from a warranty repair at Fuji UK and wanted to test it out. This was a super quick shot, as I also had Owen in the car with me. It was a misty evening, and the shot I had envisioned was the MR2 parked under a streetlight in the mist. Sadly where I decided to stop – an industrial estate in Nuneaton, was not particularly misty, but I still like the shot. Rather than including the streetlight I was parked under in the frame, I went for tighter framing, using the light to accentuate the shape of the car. We were probably only out of the car for a minute, but the shot came out well.
It was still misty on Boxing Night, and having been stuck in the house all day, I decided to head out and get the misty photograph I had not achieved a few days prior. Instead of taking the MR2 out, I decided to walk up to Hearsall Common, to photograph the Hearsall Star, a local festive landmark. I had taken a few different compositions, but this one with the cars was my favourite, as the cars and their lights added a bit of an extra something that was missing from the frame. I was not sure if there would be much traffic late on Boxing Night, but I am glad that there was. Walking home from this I slipped on some mud and bashed my knee, but it was worth it for this photo.
Happy New Year!
I started 2025 as I mean to go on – riding my bike! We saw the new year in at home, after a tasty roast dinner, one of our friends came round with her son, who is friends with Owen. The boys played together nicely – although Henry wreaked havoc on their Minecraft world, by releasing all the livestock from their farms. Then the older boys started making some videos on their tablets. The grown ups were able to chat and drink Select Spritzes (a throwback to our trip to Venice last year). All the boys managed to stay up to see in the new year – a first for Henry.
Thanks to their late night, the boys gave us a lie in this morning and after a very late breakfast of pancakes and bacon, we got the fire lit and settled in for what was forecast to be a cold and rainy day. However, the weather improved, so I got out for a short local ride on some muddy trails. It was a slow ride, but it was good to get out for some fresh air, especially as I was not expecting to be able to get out.
Usually going into a new year we have a lot of plans, but do not really have anything firm for 2025, we have a few ideas for holidays – all we know is that we want to get Henry on a plane, and we would like to go back to Scotland. We may combine these ideas, but we could also go to France, or somewhere completely different, and drive to Scotland as a separate trip. There may be some big exciting changes coming, but they are just ideas at the moment, so I do not want to jinx anything. Our lives are still going to be busy with activities for the boys – Owen has decided that he wants to join Henry at cycle speedway and Henry wants to join Owen at karate – whilst better than two new activities being added, it was nice that they both had their own things going on. Hopefully not having too much in the calendar will leave plenty of opportunity for spontaneous adventures.
As in previous years, I have set myself some goals for the year ahead:
A carry over from 2024, but it was the topic of the group chat with my friends last night, so will continue to make more of an effort in 2025.
Another carry over from 2024, but I did not get around to it – I have an idea of how I want to do it, and it should be easier than my previous plan.
Like the previous goal, it is carried over from last year, and I have got some ideas, although in typical Lewis fashion I have started by sorting out my Lightroom catalog, to make it easier long term to find my top images. Writing this now, has made me have a rethink, so my portfolio may end up getting updated more than once…
Some of my favourite days last year were motorsport events, watching a rally, and going to Festival of Speed. So I want to make sure that I do more of it. I have got a things lined up for the next few months – karting this month and Race Retro next month.
The MR2 has not had enough use, so I want to make sure that I get it out, and Wales is my favourite place to drive, so combining the two seems like an ideal plan!
Owen’s riding has come on so much over the last few months, so I want to keep the excitement going. I have a few ideas on where we could ride, but it comes down to holiday plans.
It is too easy for me to ride with Owen – we can ride fun trails together at a decent speed. However this has meant that Henry has not ridden with me as much as Owen had when he was the age Henry is now. Which means that Henry is not as confident on the bike as Owen was. I know Henry will appreciate some daddy and Henry time and hopefully it will help his confidence on the bike.
At the moment I have one working bike, but only just. I have been riding my hardtail, a lot, but it is desperate need of a full rebuild. However in order to do that I need to get my full suss bike working again, and ideally my town bike, neither are big jobs though.
A goal carried over from 2023, Bwlch Nant yr Arian in Mid Wales has some great looking trails, and is also known for their daily Red Kite feeding – which is enough of an excuse for me to go for a ride. It also seems like somewhere that might be worth visiting with Jen and the boys as part of a Mid Wales trip.
This is a more focussed version of the “Ride one of the 10 of the best XC trails in the UK” goal, which I have had for a few years. And also another goal which relied on my full suss bit being rebuilt. I last rode there in 2018, it was a tough ride, but very rewarding.
Another long running goal, which should help with other goals.
Being an uncle is fun, Sienna is two and half now, which is the sort of age
For the last ten years, at least, my goal has been to get my weight down to 85kg, which has clearly not happened. 90kg is more achievable, but if I get there, I will try to keep going to 85kg. My plan is more riding and less pizza.
The lack of any firm plans for 2025 is exciting, the year has started well, and hopefully that will continue.