Summary and Reflections for 2026

What was 2025?

The past year has been… intense. I think that’s the best way to describe it. Both personally and professionally. It can’t be any other way when you’re an aspiring photographer and CGI generalist, while also managing marketing and marketing processes at production companies in fairly niche and specialized industries. At the same time, I’m no longer a 20 -something-year-old kid who can just float through the blue skies without paying attention to what I’m doing, how I’m doing it, or where I’m squeezing in the time - there’s a personal life, family, a little one, and friendships that I should be nurturing (which is pretty hard given my lifestyle, personality, and the fact that I’m well into my thirties) .

First and foremost, this year - despite many limitations - I tried to fill in some gaps in my equipment and take my portrait and editing skills to the next level. More work with people, more focus, more “intention” in the photography itself. Sometimes it went better, sometimes worse - there are a few shoots I’m truly happy with, and there were a few where my lack of experience really came back to bite me. But that’s important too; there’s probably nothing worse than being convinced of your own greatness, only to face a harsh reality check at the worst possible moment.

I think this is one of the “essentials” of this year: I’m working on understanding my limitations and trying to slowly eliminate them (or at least reduce or work around them). I still don’t feel like I want to confine myself to the narrow confines of a specific field of photography, and I probably never will, but I’m gaining a deeper understanding of various issues, and thanks to that, I can be a better partner in creating something extraordinary.

Nothin' like know-it-alls

Unfortunately, there’s another side to this. Social media is constantly bombarding me with all sorts of photography gurus. And this is an interesting phenomenon. Because, yes - on the one hand, we have courses, for example from Projekt Fotografia, where a lot of interesting people with extensive experience have really shared their knowledge, and where you can generally assume that these are people who genuinely want to show and teach us something, and above all, who have the experience and “battle scars” to speak with authority. We also have courses offered by various photographers on their websites, and quite often these can be valuable as well - it’s easy to judge this by looking at their portfolio.

But unfortunately, there’s also a third group: loud, proud, and obnoxious. Flashy ads bombarding us every few minutes on Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok. Along the lines of “You take photos but they don’t turn out right, and you’d love to take PHOTOS LIKE THIS?!” <insert a very mediocre photo here with very mediocre editing, which you personally wouldn’t consider anything to be proud of>.

So you wonder: how many people fall for this? That’s the first thing. But second, you look at yourself, at your work, which is, for example, pretty good. Objectively speaking, you can say it’s better than that of some online know-it-all. But it would never occur to you that, with your level of experience, you could already be teaching (or at least charging a decent amount of money for it, or organizing full-fledged training sessions). An obvious question arises: maybe I’m a complete loser for not doing this? The simple answer is probably: yes. On the other hand, though, I’d prefer to feel fully qualified to pass on my knowledge.

How about last years photos?

Honestly? It’s actually not bad at all. Professionally speaking, even though time was tight, I managed to do several dozen photo shoots. Industrial subjects dominated, because professionally I mostly deal with photography of machines and industrial installations, but in the first half of the year, portraits also made their way into the calendar, which I’m quite proud of, and since I got my hands on a copy, I might publish the final result later on.

Amateur work? Plenty of that too, though there was definitely not enough nature photography - which I love and always want to return to. And so - we had *Pomroki*, there was *Marzanna* and *Dziewanna*, there was *Rozstanie*, there was *Ula*, there was a shoot at Fly Music Studio with one of my favorite people, there was *Iwona*, there was *Becia*, there were the November experiments with Stajpa, a double - actually, even a triple - session with Anka - in urban settings and at a pole dance studio. Add to that street photography, which I’m getting better and better at, and photos from the air shows in Mielec, which turned out quite well, and… suddenly there’s quite a lot of it. For me personally, it’s still not enough, but even so, this volume might already command a certain amount of respect.

What's going to happen in 2026?

In 2026, there’ll definitely be more action - street photography and wildlife. I’ll keep developing my portrait photography - but not the boring, run-of-the-mill stuff. I want to explore different styles and play with form, not just take “pretty pictures.”

I’ll definitely be working on my editing skills to get the most out of my photos. More studio work, playing with lighting. Turning the attic into a full-fledged home studio, and so on.

And of course - further honing my skills in industrial photography, since that’s most closely tied to my professional work and is my added value in business.

On top of that, I’ll probably invest in new drone equipment, because my current setup was top-notch - but that was five years ago.

That's quite much, huh?