It’s always nice to look through my work at the end of any given year. It gives perspective to the journey I’ve taken professionally as a shooter. Sometimes it’s hard to take a step back during the year to see the big picture of my body of work. Selecting my favorite images for the inevitable “pictures of the year” features in the paper and online are always a humbling yet satisfying experience. It is humbling to see my weaknesses and areas of improvement and satisfying to see where I started and where I ended in my growth (hopefully) as a photojournalist. Below are my 15 favorite moments of 2013. Thanks for looking, and I wish everyone a great New Year.
Year in Review
2012 Pictures of the Year
It’s already 2013, but here’s one final parting glance with 12 of my favorite frames of 2012. It was an eventful year as I moved back to my home state of Indiana after a year working in Wyoming. The biggest story I covered was Notre Dame’s undefeated season. I had the opportunity to photograph all but two of their 12 wins this season. On Friday, I will be heading down to Miami to photograph the BCS National Championship Game between Notre Dame and Alabama. The first two years of my professional career have been rewarding, and I’m looking forward to what 2013 has to offer.
Personal Work in 2012
One of my goals for 2012 was to push myself to think visually in non-work environments. I wanted to do this to keep my vision sharp and fresh. The daily grind at a newspaper can sometimes become a wall that is hard to break through, leaving you feeling as though you work at some sort of building-mug-producing picture factory. I experienced this before and was determined to increase my personal and self-assigned work in 2012 to stay creative and continue to find a sense of fulfillment in my work. My subjects ranged from lighthearted things such as family, friends, vacations and my girlfriend to more serious assignments such as the NATO Summit protests in Chicago. The results of this goal turned out to be some of, if not my best pictures of the year.
2011 Pictures of the Year
For the most part, 2011 was a pretty good year for me. I got my first staff photographer gig, survived a Wyoming winter, shot a rodeo, dressed like a cowboy for two weeks straight and got the opportunity to work on a long-term picture story. Can’t wait to see what 2012 has in store for me. I put together a complete “2011 Year in Pictures” gallery that includes 100 shots in chronological order. But if you don’t feel like spending 30 minutes looking at photos, here are my 10 favorite frames from this year:
2011 Year in Sports Pictures
One thing that I noticed in my sports pictures this year in comparison to years past was how tight I shot everything. Through college and my internships, I usually shot sports with a 300 mm lens on a full-frame camera, and now I’m shooting sports with a 400 mm lens on a crop-body camera. For example, the second image below is not cropped. Equipment along with the fact that our paper encourages us to shoot large faces contributed to the change in my sports pictures. Here are my 10 favorite sports pictures from this year: