Hi ,

I didn't get out a message before Christmas like I usually do, but I hope that you enjoyed, or are still in enjoying your Winter Solstice and end-of-year holiday season. 

Here at the Bailey house, we're laying low and enjoying some downtime after a very busy fall with unexpected home repairs and a bathroom remodel, an we're enoying the 80 inches of snow we've gotten so far this season. After a slow icy start in November, the trails are in great shape now!

When I look back on the past year, two things come to mind. The first thing is that 2023 turned out very differently from how I thought it would. I certainly didn't plan on crashing my bike and tearing my rotator cuff at the end of April. Unfortunately, the effect of that very brief event led to a very long recovery that consumed the rest of the year.

That said, after seven months and 34 sessions, I have officially graduated from PT and am working hard to get back to full strength. In fact, I'm currently training for a 24-hour mountain bike race that I'm looking forward to in February. 

However, despite this significant setback, I still have a lot to be thankful for. By August, I was able to ride bikes again, shoot photos, experiment with some new video equipment, play music and get back to relatively normal life again, which brings me to my second point. 

As challenging as this year was for me, I cannot help but appreciate the incredible level of good fortune that has been bestowed on my by the universe, and I think that pretty much applies to all of us on some level. The simple fact that we can even afford cameras and that we have the time, ability and freedom to explore photography as a hobby or a profession is but one example of how fortunate we all are.

Add to that, the amazing amount of support that I have continued to receive from you guys, my most excellent followers and subscribers throughout the year.

I started 2023 by launching my latest online course, Mastering the Fujifilm Autofocus System, and have been blown away by how many of you have enrolled so far and have found the course to be helpful and inspiring. I also did over 30 personal coaching sessions this year as well, and some people even did numerous sessions. I'm hoping to launch another course in the first half of 2024, so stay tuned for that.

I also reached the milestone of hitting 15,000 subscribers on my YouTube channel! Huge thanks to everyone who has been a part of that. I didn't actually post very many videos in 2023, but I promise to get back on track with more tutorials and adventure videos in the coming year.

Finally, earlier this year, Rocky Nook published the 2nd Edition of my FUJIFILM X SERIES UNLIMITED, which brings the print version of my bestselling eBook up to date with all of the new 5th Generation models, including the X-H2, X-H2S,  X-T5 and X-S20. The book is available from Amazon and other booksellers.

As subscriber, you can purchase the book directly from RockyNook, and use discount code BAILEY40 to save 40% on your purchase. 

I communicated and emailed with many of you during the past year, and I want to say that I really appreciated all of your messages, especially after my surgery. 

I hope that 2023 was an exciting and productive year for you, and I hope that you were able to get out with your camera more times than I did during the past year. I'm still loving my X-T5 that I bought last December; and it's become my number one favorite X Series camera I've ever used. 

Thank you again for your support in 2023. I look forward to continuing on this journey and help you to be a better, more confident photographer as we go forward into the next year. As always, don't ever hesitate to reach out to me if you ever have any questions, or consider signing up for a 1:1 coaching session with me. And feel free to tag me on social media to show me what you've been up to with your camera!

Thanks for reading, take care, and remember just how fortunate we all are in our photography community as you enjoy these last days of 2023.