My year, last year, was heavily rooted in nature, from new life and wild hobbies to holidays and my nature photography. It was a year to grow and expand my horizons, to experiment and continue to enjoy and capture the magic of the natural world around us. Some of my many highlights include getting up to watch the sun rise over Devon, hiking through Herefordshire, and producing my very first mass produced calendar.
It is typical on my adventures to have a camera in tow or at least a phone or camera trap, and so every year I now use the 12 Days of Christmas to look back on 12 moments of the year in photos. I never know what photos I will end up selecting of so many, but to me they are all snapshots of nature’s hidden beauty, and allow me to bring a splash of colour to people’s homes during the tough winter months.
Here are my latest 12 Days of Laura’s Wild Photos all in one place!
The 12 Days
Day 1 – On Christmas Day, I shared a photo taken during the January snows of 2025. I love the skeletal trees providing a backdrop for young sheep grazing on a blanket of glistening snow.
Day 2 – In my nature photography, I love playing with the use of light and shape to capture a moment of wild magic. Here this wild anemone, nestled in the undergrowth of a spring woodland, is a moment of new growth, warmth and hidden beauty.
Day 3 – I love an adventure, from exploring close to home and holidaying in the UK to enjoying the wilds of another continent. This stonechat comes from one of my 2025 adventures, when I took a break in beautiful North Devon with my urban buddy Emma Rogan (check out Rural vs Urban).
Day 4 – I will always be a farmer’s daughter at heart, and from this place I get hours of enjoyment sat in fields capturing the characters and antics of cows and calves. You never know what will happen or who will be the star, and here is a young suckler calf called Orchid, on a grey but lush green day during April 2025.
Day 5 – Another part of my life alongside photography is bird ringing, where birds are safely caught and ringed with a metal ring to allow all sorts of data to be collected about their populations. Here’s one of my favourite birds caught in 2025, a very smartly marked lesser redpoll.
Day 6 – The first true herald of spring days to come, snowdrops are iconic, bursting forth at the start of the new year and bringing hope to all. There’s something magic about seeing their opalescent heads nodding in a cool breeze after the darkest weeks of winter.
Day 7 – I am known for loving capturing a beautiful sunset, but that does not mean that I am not a fan of a fiery sunrise, the start is just a bit more painful for me! Here is the stunning beginning of a day on a North Devon estuary, with wind turbines and morning swimmer adding to the magic.
Day 8 – Like these gorgeous wild poppies, my 2025 was a year of growth with this blog having its best year yet, many adventures being embarked on, and the start of my nature photography business flourishing. I am so so thankful to everyone’s support, so watch this space!
Day 9 – Another of my wild hobbies is camera trapping, where I use a trail camera to unobtrusively observe the unseen lives of our common British wildlife. A firm favourite of mine is the fox, with their tough cubs giving hours of pleasure to watch. Here is just one of many of the photos taken last year yet to be shared with you all!
Day 10 – Last year I printed and mass sold my very first nature calendar, and I was overwhelmed by the response. This photo featured in the calendar was of a simple meadow brown butterfly in a wild meadow in Herefordshire, but gives us an up close view of these often overlooked minibeasts. ‘Dull brown’ can also be captivating!
Day 11 – As I neared the end of my 12 Days of Laura’s Wild Photos for 2025, I kept things simple with this dragonfly. Another interesting creature, dragonflies are a game to capture, super fast and often changing their course quickly as they hunt over water. It is a moment to breathe when they finally fall to rest for a short time!
Day 12 – There is something magical about a dandelion clock. I believe it is the childlike wonder they invoke for most people, and here, in warm spring sunlight, this dandelion even has seeds beginning to parachute from its main head, floating on the wind to a new place of rest.
Laura's Wild World 