This was 2019
It’s a little late, but here’s my annual blog of my favorite photos from 2019. Bits from weddings, engagement sessions, family sessions, my own kiddos and family and of course, storms.
Hope you enjoy this look back!
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This was 2017
I usually get this blog post out before the end of the year, but aside from two weddings I had to shoot in the last three days of 2017, I took some much needed time off. So January 1st it is! It was a crazy year…the busiest one for me so far in many ways. Mostly on the storm chasing front. I drove more than ever before…35,000 miles during the spring, about 14,000 during the summer. Long days on the road and many, many days away from my family. Two workshops during the summer down in Tucson. It was incredibly rewarding, but the grind was wearing. I welcomed the offseason big time.
Being able to switch gears from storms to portraits I fully believe helps keep me balanced. I photographed 32 weddings and did around 52 other photoshoots. I met some insanely awesome people this year, traveled to cool locations and captured some super fun events.
This blog post is in chronological order. I released four time-lapse films this year which are scattered about in the midst of waaay too many photos below. But I took out so many ones I loved out already, I couldn’t cut anymore. These posts are also just for me personally, to be able to look back and quickly remember what happened in a year.
Highlights for me are of course the four films, but a road trip through Oregon with my buddies early in the year, a trip to California Adventures with the family, adding our pup Winnie to the mix, having Anderson Cooper walk in to a wedding reception, a rainy shoot in Sedona, an Antelope Canyon elopement, the McLean tornado, two plains storm-chasing tours, incredible mammatus and asperitas sunsets, visiting Montana twice, a trip to Holland with Jina, taking Lyla and Eli along for a late June chase in Colorado, haboobs in southwestern AZ, a landspout tornado in downtown Phoenix, lightning at the Grand Canyon (FINALLY), shooting a wedding in a monsoon downpour, photographing a wedding where Lyla was the flower girl, seeing families I love for late year Christmas photos, taking some last images of my late Grandma and finally, seeing an epic rocket launch.
Thank you all so much for your support during the year, it means so much to me! I hope you enjoy this look back at 2017!
This was 2014
It’s tough to sum up a year in a few paragraphs but I’m gonna try! 2014 was amazing. 36 weddings. 47 family sessions. Death Valley. 14,000+ miles of chasing storms in Arizona that resulted in a film of which I’m so very proud. Two trips to the central plains for a total of seven days. Clips from my time-lapse videos showing up in State Farm and Vonage commercials, plus other random productions. So many amazing things took place.
None of those really compare to the biggest event that happened to me last year: I finally quit my day job.
It’s been about two months now and I’ve been grateful for every single moment. It hasn’t been easy of course. Other parts of our lives have also changed and we’re still figuring things out. But at church yesterday I realized exactly how much God has taken care of us…not only in 2014 but already this year. It’s so easy to forget how blessed we are and I’m trying to remember that every day.
Thanks to everyone out there who supports me and shares my work. It means so much to me. My clients, who refer me out…you are the lifeblood of my business. My kids (who appear many times below)…well thanks for being yourselves and letting me capture those moments. And Jina…well you know. None of this is possible without you.
These photographs below sum up my year. I have a very difficult time not including all my clients, so there are a lot of images…but that’s okay. This collection is as much for me as it is for anyone reading this. I’ve done one of these year-in-review posts every year since 2011 and I love to look back at them. The images mostly appear in sequential order, but I’ve also mixed up some of the weddings because I couldn’t pick just one from most of them!
Hope you enjoy! Happy New Year!
R.I.P. Dodo Cheney
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And from my family to yours…have an amazing 2015!
The year 2013 in photographs
I’m not gonna lie…2013 was awesome. I met seriously amazing couples and families. Photographed some gorgeous weddings. Went on sweet little 2-day road trip across AZ with some buddies (#YoloZona). Traveled to Africa and had an experience like none other. Fulfilled a dream of witnessing and photographing a stunning supercell in Texas. The timelapse I shot of it not only went viral, but it ended up being the #1 timelapse on Vimeo for the entire year and even made a brief appearance in Thor 2!
I can’t imagine a year like this ever happening again. I’m incredibly humbled by all of it. I honestly feel like God put me in the right places this year and I have him to thank for anything that came from it.
And while the big stuff is cool…I love all the little moments along the way. The people I met, the kids, the friends, the brides, the grooms…the sunsets, the storms, the lightning…our third child Asher arriving this past September, my beautiful daughter Lyla, our son Eli and of course my wife who celebrated our 15th anniversary with me in 2013.
Below is the story of my year in photos. They are in chronological order. And yeah, there are a lot! Thanks to everyone who made this year one of the best ever.
It all started sky-high at the Whipple Observatory in southern Arizona…
