It may be a bit early for me to judge this already, but looking at the photos for AC this year, it feels like they're better than ever before. Maybe I've finally got a better grasp of photo mechanics, but a lot of times even my test shots are coming out well. It's taking me fewer shots to optimize my settings for each new scenario, and the resulting shots I'm actually quite proud of. They're not perfect of course, I still do some editing, but the amount of editing I've had to do thus far is half as much as I did last year. A lot of photos are even acceptable to post as-shot (if I were so inclined that is, I still take the time to finesse them and make them truly shine whenever possible).

I'm still having difficulties with ultra-bright direct-sunlight shots, and dark nighttime. But at least I finally have a good handle on the middle ground. Just have to grow out from there.