Each year on Christmas day I’ve published a letter that I originally received year ago from a reader who was concerned about how the events of 9/11 would have on her personal photography that I think is just as meaningful today. My response to that reader has grown into what I like to think of as my “Dear Patricia” letter and it’s shared with you today in the hope of drawing some hope maybe inspiration on how to approach your own photography during 2025

“Christmas is the spirit of giving without a thought of getting. It is happiness because we see joy in people. It is forgetting self and finding time for others. It is discarding the meaningless and stressing the true values.”— Thomas S. Monson

Fisheye, I can hear some of you asking. You probably won’t use that lens much either! I don’t agree. First of all, I love shooting wide-angle lenses. One of the first lenses I did back in the day when I bought a brand-new Nikon F2 was a 16mm f/2.8 lens.

My Sunday series about making outdoor portraits continues today with a portrait of Anna Lieb, who I photographed for a first time at a group model shoot in Phoenix. Arizona. I was lucky enough to photograph this amazingly beautiful model a second time at another group shoot a year later where this image was made.

Today is the first day of winter and is the Winter Solstice. Here in the Northern Hemisphere the Earth will be tilted as far away from the sun as it will be all year. It’s also the shortest day — and longest night — of the year.