I have just published episode 111 of my Wild Nature Photography Podcast. In this episode, I look back at the incredible year 2024, the travel, the countries, experiences, and photographs, and I look forward to travelling and participating in workshops in 2025. 2025 kicks off in just a few days with travel from Australia to Mongolia for back-to-back workshops for Pallas Cat and Snow Leopard in both the far east and west of this amazing country. This will be quickly backed up by two back-to-back Arctic Fox workshops in the far north of Iceland. It’s promising to be a huge year, and I am super keen to get underway.
Although I am covering most of the review content for the 2024 year and the upcoming 2025 workshops in the podcast I do want to single out a few items below.
In competition terms, 2024 was consistently positive for me. I was a finalist in Bird Photographer of the Year (for the second year in a row), took first place in the people’s choice award in the Asia/Pacific Photography awards in the Nature category. I was also very pleased to take out both Gold and Silver awards in the Australian Photographic Prize and was a grand finalist in the same award. I was also a finalist in both the portfolio and single shot categories in the Travel photographer of the Year competition (winners yet to be announced). Lastly I was delighted to represent Australia again at the World Photographic Cup (the Olympics of Photography). I still lament the loss of the APPA’s (Australian Professional Photography Awards) as the then only photographic print awards. Hopefully, new print awards will emerge in the Nature / Wildlife category in another competition in the near future. On top of the above, I was also announced as a multiple semi-finalist in Nature’s Best Photography. 2024 has been a solid year; despite my lack of entries in the various competitions, I managed to either win, place or be a semi-finalist in almost everything I entered.
In equipment terms, 2024 was the year of the EOS R3 for me (I did not take delivery of the EOS R1 until December this year). The Canon EOS R3 has been nothing short of a game-changing tool in my photography and has served me faithfully in everything from the extreme -55º Celsius of Ellesmere Island in Winter to the heat of the African desert. It was my first serious commitment to the RF mirrorless line, and I have never looked back. I only recently updated to the all new EOS R1 just in time for my last workshop of the year (the Emperor Penguins – Read the Trip Report). Summing up the EOS R1 is easy – It is an EOS R3 dialled up to 11. With the addition of pre-capture, 40 frames per second RAW shooting, world leading auto focus and an EVF to die for it unsurprisingly gets my vote for camera equipment of the year. I am very much looking forward to shooting with the EOS R1 next year.
My book pick for the year goes to my recently reviewed ‘Munier’ (Listen to the Podcast) by Vincent Munier. This is not the first time Vincent has graced my book of the year list (I believe this is the third time!), and this 2024 addition should be no surprise, as I am a big fan of his work. ‘Munier’ is a masterpiece and deserves a home in every Nature photographer’s library. If you do not yet own this book, you should run to order it. If you only buy one book this year – this should be it.
If I had to sum up 2024 in one word, it would be ‘gratitude.’ I am grateful to have shared my passion for photography with many like-minded individuals. I am likewise grateful for a safe and prosperous year and for the incredible experiences throughout the year. My sincere thanks to all who travelled and participated in one of my trips this year; it was beautiful to have such fantastic shared experiences. It was an incredible year of travel and photography that sometimes left me breathless at the pace and intensity. Don’t forget to check out my twelve favourite photographs for the year HERE.
For those of you who have managed to make it this far and want a glimpse into 2026 and beyond, I have now uploaded most of 2026 and a hint of 2027 to the workshops page of my website at www.jholko.com/workshops. With Russia and the Siberian Tigers still currently shut down indefinitely, I am working on several other large cat projects. I also have a very exciting all new fly-in fly-out Antarctic peninsula expedition for just ten people in early 2027. More to come next year.
Last and certainly not least, I wish all of you a very safe and happy New Year, and may 2025 be one of health, happiness and one of travel, amazing light, and experiences for all of you. See you in the New Year!
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