Happy Sunday! Can you believe it? With about two weeks left in 2025, we are technically hurtling toward 2026. As an annual tradition, the Lens-Artists team is giving us one last chance to get some honorable mentions into the challenge. Here’s mine, I hope you enjoy.

Just like people making New Year resolutions to go to the gym, I made a New Year in 2025 to take more street photography with my phone. And you know what? That did not last, although I did take more photos with my phone in 2025, the street photography never stuck. I found I had a tough time composing my photos, especially when I was often either short on time or I was holding my breakfast and coffee in one hand and had nowhere to set it down.

Anyway, I took this photo while waiting for the light to green so I could cross the street to get my coffee. It’s one of the things I like about going to the office. The cityscapes of downtown is always a nice change of scenery from the view of my neighbor from across the street.

I’m not sure about anyone else who are frequent visitor to Asia but I love the trees in Asia. They look strange, cool, and well-manicured, as if someone go periodically and make sure these trees are looking presentable.

Perhaps my observation has something to do with me coming from a region of the world where the common trees are either spruce or aspens. If I take you to the nearby mountains, all you will see is either aspens with its white-washed trunks or green spruce trees, which would probably give you a Christmas vibe.

This photo was taken in a park in Taiwan. I spotted this group of trees with its twisted and ridiculously straight trunks and knew I needed a picture.

My last photo is one I took on my recent road trip in November and before you ask, no, this is not Antelope Canyon. This is Peek-a-boo canyon near Kanab, Utah. It is said to be a similar but less crowded version of Antelope Canyon.

I went to Antelope Canyon in the summer of 2019. I signed up for a photography tour package, where I was allowed to carry a tripod.

Compared to the Peek-a-boo canyon, if I have to choose, I choose Peek-a-boo. It’s less crowded and I think it’s a bigger canyon. Though I will warn that it’s only accessible by ATVs, 4-by-4, and if you want, a 7-mile hike. My aunt and I had a personal tour guide and arrived by ATV. If I go again, I would definitely need to pick a better time of the day. I went during the latter part of the afternoon when the sun is low in the sky, so my shutter speeds weren’t great. A lot of the times, I couldn’t go faster than 1/5 of a second, even with 400 ISO. I think I even had to bump it up to 1600 ISO as we were approaching the end of the canyon. But yes, I would definitely visit again.