2025: The year in six photos

December 28, 2025December 28, 2025 / mikeosbornphoto / 2 Comments

It’s almost time to ring in 2026, so it’s time to look back on the year that’s been.

2025 is sharply defined by photographs for me, which bring back places I’ve visited and moments that have created a lasting impact.

I was lucky enough to travel far and wide again, although the summer was marked by a lull with staycations closer to home.

I hope you enjoy exploring those locations. A Happy New Year to you and may 2026 prove healthy and rewarding.

1) North African island

A winter sunshine holiday to the Tunisian island of Djerba outdid expectations. Rarely content with beachside relaxation, I hired a bike to explore the island’s compelling architecture and landscapes, meeting Tunisians along the way. The holiday grew into a fully-fledged trip.

• Explore stunning Djerba here

2) Seaside sunsets

This summer I turned my regular day trips to England’s north-west coast into little staycations. I was rewarded with blazing, rich sunsets on St Annes Beach in Lancashire and went on a 20km hike along the Fylde Coast. Don’t head home, book a hotel.

• Enjoy more Lancashire summer sun here

3) Purpose-built capital

2025’s long distance adventure took me to the vast Central Asian nation of Kazakhstan. It boasts monumental landscapes but the new capital of Astana impressed me the most with its bold, modern architecture. You just have to look up in this city.

• See the riches of Kazakhstan here

4) Memorable stay by the bay

I turned regular day trips to the Lancashire seaside town of Morecambe into a short break, staying at Art Deco landmark The Midland Hotel. I captured the bay’s legendary dawns and dusks, with a walk to neighbouring Heysham thrown in. This was so much more rewarding than rushing home to Manchester.

• Enjoy more of Morecambe’s marvels here

5) Far flung mountains

Mighty Kazakhstan was followed by a visit to far smaller, rugged Kyrgyzstan in Central Asia. Valleys studded with yurts and a vast lake posing as this landlocked country’s seaside made this a memorable short stay.

• Discover more of Kyrgyzstan here

6) Manchester keeps on growing

The development of Manchester city centre continued at speed in 2025, and I was in the right place to capture it. Square Gardens with its sleek blue towers became a new favourite – a preference likely to change in 2026?

• Explore more of Manchester here

Manchester: November in 15 images

November 23, 2025November 23, 2025 / mikeosbornphoto / Leave a comment

November in the north of England. Is it all cold, miserable and wet weather as the dark nights take hold?

Here in Manchester I spend most days capturing the city’s architectural growth and how weather shifts from one day to the next.

I’m armed with my trusty 12-year-old Fuji or Samsung mobile, now a handy mainstay after a reluctance to use it as a camera.

They produce different results, but my eye often looks upwards and maybe doesn’t see the Manchester that many people expect.

Here’s November through my lens. I’m heading to warmer climes as it draws to a close – more on that next time.

Tap/click first image to see gallery

Mike Osborn on a Manchester photo walk with his Fuji X-E1 camera.

A November photo walk in Manchester with my trusty old Fuji X-E1 camera

Manchester: Autumn inertia

October 19, 2025October 17, 2025 / mikeosbornphoto / 4 Comments

An endless blanket of thick grey cloud. Barely a breath of wind. Nothing moves or changes.

This is the weather we’ve had on repeat in Manchester and much of the UK recently, as a vast autumn anticyclone settled over us.

Sluggish grey skies tend to put a downer on capturing colourful, active photographs.

But it wasn’t all doom and gloom. In my Castlefield neighbourhood, the waterways were so still that reflections were solid and dynamic. Autumn leaves hadn’t been strewn about in the wind.

One morning the gloom descended deeper in the guise of fog, making the local skyscrapers shrouded and eerie.

Do you like the dull calm or prefer your weather to move faster?