This year came out of nowhere and gave every single one of us a wake-up. Our “way of life” can be completely changed in less than a month’s time. Most things came to a grinding halt. Some never started up again. We’ve persevered and hopefully we’ve become stronger because of it.
I’m extremely glad for my photography, this year above any in memory. It has reinforced my purpose and provided an excuse to push through this interesting year. Every leap year I do a picture a day project (one a day for 366). That gave me something to focus on throughout the worst of things. As with every picture a day project, I love how it pushes me outside of my comfort zone. This year I did more portraiture and concentrated more on visual movement through the images. I hope that their emotion comes through.
Here I submit my fifty favorites from the year, with a bonus, since it is leap year. I hope that you enjoy them as much as I enjoyed capturing them! Here’s to an exciting yet safe 2021!
Every year I look back through the images that I created and try to narrow down my favorites to a reasonable number. This year was as difficult as a picture-a-day year with over 500 new pieces being created. The largest section was from my trip with fellow photographers Derek Dibrell, Dan Thompson, and Rich Moore to Death Valley. I had the opportunity to photograph an abandoned prison, fire spinners, and took another road trip to New England to chase Autumn leaves. It has been an incredible year to grow my skills and body of work. I hope that you enjoy seeing what my lens has captured in 2018!
IcebreakerA Gaggle On IceNavigating The River Of IceT TimeSplashThe Wolf Of SteeltownToday’s Gonna Be GreatFlightGnarled On The Cracked EarthGone SailingGrand In The Shadow Of The SkySerpentine ShadowsDesert TransitionsWhere The Water Stopped FlowingOn A Rock Travelling The CosmosSalt Flat To Mountain TopDesert CurvesLight At The Heart Of The PinnaclesA Landscape Littered With PinnaclesSunset Over The PinnaclesApril (Snow) ShowersLovedA Bag Of Attack FloofAssateague ZenWatching Over The City At DawnCucumber MistQuite The Big HouseNew Phone, Who Dis?Choices In Cell Block DBustling CrossingGooses & BoomsMeet In The LightFall On MeRiver City Under Pastel CloudsIsolated ShowersHeart BrokenA Vibrant StaircaseThe Sky’s Fire At DawnBursts Of Color In The Liquid MirrorSoft Light In The SchoolhouseAfter The Fall At The Covered BridgeThe Falls With A Burst Of AutumnInto The BlueThe Roll Of Low CloudsA Turn Towards FallCozy Cove Behind The FallsA Moment For The FallenPlaying With FireApproach With FlamesCharlie The Wee Snowman
Pittsburgh is a notorious location for disappointing weather during astronomical events. There have been so many lunar eclipses, super moons, and meteor showers unwatchable due to some last minute weather. This one was no different. What did happen is that Pittsburgh redeemed itself with an incredible sunrise as a consolation prize for getting out of bed so early. Here’s how it went down:
Got to bed later than I wanted to: Boo
Got out of bed at my first alarm: Yay!
Made it to the city in plenty of time to get a spot to shoot the Blue Blood Moon: Yay!
Bonus – with coffee: Double Yay!
20 minutes before the start of the eclipse, clouds roll in: Boo, Pittsburgh. Big Boo.
Stand out in the cold chatting with Dan Thompson: Always a pleasure
Concede that the eclipse is a bust: Boo
Decide to get Better-Maid Donuts: BIG YAY.
Come outside to see the gorgeous sky: NO TIME FOR YAY MUST GET TO OVERLOOK NOW!!!
Arrive in time to capture a gorgeous sunrise: Aw, yeah.
Bang my shin hopping back over the fence: D’oh! (Also, Boo)
Chat in the lot with Tim, a local photog, about film days and our shared love of the craft: Awesome.
On the set of Pittsburgh Today Live with Heather Abraham
What a week it has been! Aside from the incredible weather that we’ve had in Pittsburgh and all of the unique capture opportunities that’s presented, I was asked mid-week if I would be interested in appearing on a well respected Pittsburgh morning show, Pittsburgh Today Live, on Friday morning. I was surprised, to say the least! Even with the short notice, I couldn’t pass up this wonderful opportunity. I accepted, passed along my info, and prepared to be “on the television”.
I was asked to provide some of my favorite images of Pittsburgh, a few wedding shots that used the city as a background, and if I had any, images of me photographing in “extreme situations”. Apparently, the info that I “go to extremes” to get some of my shots was passed along to the producer. (Thanks, Nate!) I pulled together some of my recent favorites, got a few shots from my fellow Photogs Derek Dibrell, Dan Thompson, and Kevin Crivelli that supported the above claim.
Friday morning came and as I drove into the KDKA studio I admit to being a bit nervous. I exited the Ft. Pitt Tunnel to see thick fog right on the river. My immediate thought was if I could grab a few shots before I had to go on. The struggle to fight that urge was absolutely real. I made the right decision and headed into the studio. I met the producer, Jill, and went over what the host, Heather Abraham, and I would chat about. I also got to meet two other guests appearing with me, Linda and Rich of North Hills Genealogists. Talking with them calmed my nerves tremendously. (Thanks to both of you for that!) When the tech came to walk me onto the set, I took a deep breath and reminded myself to “just talk about what you know.. what you love about photography”.
The set was amazing. It was several setups (couches, an an anchor desk, and two stools in front of a video wall), surrounded by cameras on remotely operated armatures that moved with instructions from the booth. I was directed to sit on one of the stools wile the previous segment wrapped up. I watched a camera disengage from shooting the couch area and move over to aim at me. Thought of the Terminator franchise popped into my head. Once the previous segment ended, Heather came over and introduced herself and we chatted for a minute or so while they were in commercial. We received the countdown to return from commercial and then I was on live television.
It was a wonderful experience and I’m immensely grateful for all of the support that friends and family have shown, humbled by the whole opportunity, and driven to continue on this path that I’ve chosen! Thanks everyone for your wonderful comments and congratulations!
I’m a sucker for seeing the details of the small things in life. These thistles were all on the same plant and I figured that they would look great if isolated from the busy background with a shallow depth of field.
What a beautiful late winter day this was. I had spent most of it editing in a darkened room and needed to get out. I went to a local park for the intention of climbing a tree to get my shot of the day, but this scene presented itself less than 2 minutes after I started walking the trail. The subtle curve of the well worn path and the starkness of all of the bare trees was an easy choice for my composition. I switched to my 70-200 and shot wide open for the first shot. It was too much, so I stopped down to the “sweet spot” of the lens, f/8 for this image.
While scouting a location for a future shot, I saw this scene across the Allegheny. I scrambled to find a good angle to frame it up before the light disappeared. I’m sure that the motorists on the 10th st. bypass were somewhat concerned to see a gentleman in a peacoat crouched down and photographing through a break in a fence. It is an amusing by-product of my process to sometimes entertain and concern others.
Well, it is a leap year again. The last one found me doing a picture a day project. It was successful in a variety of ways for me. It got me to try something a little different every day, go to a lot of places, and stay disciplined to shoot, edit, and post an image every singe day of 2012. The rules were simple. I had to shoot a single frame image (no multiple frame images, panoramas, etc) between 12:01am and 11:59pm, edit it (without modifying the image beyond simple color correction and my usual set of filters), and post it that day. It started off easy, but became challenging at times to come up with something fresh and fun every day.
Well, it is a leap year again, so why not give it another go? I’m fresh out of a dry spell and revving my (photographic) engine to make this happen to the best of my abilities. I’m going to try to keep up with posting to four locations:
I’m already 21 days in without missing one. I have to catch the blog up to speed, but from here on out, I’ll do my best to keep all of the above listed locations up to date.
I’m hoping that it will be an exciting journey, and I’ve yet to have a boring one!
I’m a little late to this party, but I’d still like to share my 25 favorites from 2015. It was a slow year for creativity. The store I shared in Downtown Pittsburgh sapped a lot of my free time for the last third of the year, but I’m still happy with a lot of the work I made. Have a look and see if any of your favorites are in there as well!
