Happy New Year!

After making several trips last year, I’m home with the family for a quiet holiday season. These mannequins at Nordstrom seemed the most holiday-like and dressed for a night on the town — perhaps for a New Year’s Eve party.

I’ve enjoyed testing my new camera, which I have yet to officially reveal. Sharp observers might have noticed the tags on the posts, or if you hover over the pictures with a mouse, the camera and exposure settings will be revealed. In fact, the pictures in the last eight posts are all from this new camera, the Leica D-Lux 8.

The Leica D-Lux 8 is a high-end compact camera still in limited supply. Like many compacts, such as the Fujifilm X100 VI or the Ricoh GR III, it’s often on backorder. I acquired mine recently after putting my name on a waiting list at the New York City Leica Store.

A good part of last year’s blog coverage was of my trip to Paris and Switzerland, a trip I took two years ago. But I’ve been very busy in 2024. I was on four trips, taking lots of pictures, of course, and purchased nine cameras and a bunch of lenses. It’s been my most active photography year on the travel and gear front. I’ve discussed all my trips and cameras on my free photography magazine already. I’ll slowly reveal them on the blog as the opportunity arises.

The D-Lux 8 is my newest, and I’ll blog about it over the next few weeks as I test it.

2025 looks to be another busy year, and I already have multiple trips in the works. I also expect a significant life change this year if everything works out as planned. Gear-wise, my base do-everything camera will be the Sony’s, the A7C II, and the A7C as a secondary. My fun take-everywhere EDC (Every Day Carry) camera will be the Leica D-Lux 8 and a few others I purchased in 2024. Finally, I have some specialty cameras that I will use on occasion.

I suspect it will be another busy year for photography. On the blogging front, I’m considering mixing in some shorter series to add more geographic variety. My younger son is scheduled to graduate from college this year, so my wife and I will slip deeper into empty-nester status.

I hope you had a wonderful 2024 and have an even better 2025. Stay happy, healthy, and creative.

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