I hate photography resolutions. I’m terrible at keeping them, especially the photo-a-day ones. I’m like a 100m sprinter taking part in a marathon – overdelivering for a few weeks, only for the initial enthusiasm to wane.
It feels like I’m setting myself up for failure once more, but I have extra reason to work on my photo-making resolve in 2025 after noticing a worrying trend in my own photography journey last year: apathy.
Taking photos for work is no problem. I review the best cameras regularly for TechRadar and need to use them properly to form my opinions. I’ll be snapping anything from footballers with pro cameras to portraits with the latest mirrorless models.
However, in 2024 I really didn’t make many photos outside of work, and that has to change. I don’t want the creative flame in me to burn out altogether.
So how am I going to kick apathy in the bucket and turn things around this year? Learn from 2024, which has taught me that I need to switch up the tools I use.
Keeping a space in my pocket
In 2024, I generally took snaps using my phone rather than a dedicated camera, and most of these photos were functional: life admin, receipts, short videos of family life and so on.
For me, my phone doesn’t encourage photographic creativity, even in situations that it should. I’m far more like to take a quick family snap with it than I am to work the moment for the best possible photo, in the way that I do with an actual camera.
It’s clear to me that to nurture my creative eye once more for personal work, I need to use a dedicated camera more often – and I bought the Ricoh GR IIIx in 2022 for this very reason. It’s a pocketable camera with smartphone-beating image quality and handling.
When I first bought the GR IIIx, I set myself a photo-a-day goal, only to fall way short of the year-long finish line. I learned a lot along the way and penned an article about the experience over that year.
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I’m not specifically setting myself a photo-a-day challenge again – I know better than that. But what I want to work towards is enjoying and more so wanting to make photos again.
A recent foray with my vintage point-and-shoot confirmed how much more enjoyable a camera is for photography than a phone, and so a pocketable camera will be my choice tool once more.
In 2024, I downgraded my GRIIIx from my pocket to my bag on commuting days. With it stowed away, the general notion for its use was ‘just in case’ – there’s the apathy – as opposed to a statement of intent to be creative, like when it used to live in my pocket.
And so, 2025 will be the year that my point-and-shoot – whether that’s the Ricoh GR IIIx or vintage Sony Cybershot RX100 – finds its place in my pocket one more. Being quicker to hand, I’m sure I’ll be quicker to use it, and my creative eye will be the beneficiary.
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