2013

2014 is here. It's wild to think about the past year and the different places I've been, moments I've witnessed, and the people I've met. One of my favorite parts about working for a newspaper is the variety of situations I get myself into on a daily basis. This year is especially unique. I tagged along with FGCU's basketball team on their Cinderella story like journey through the NCAA tournament and was also let into the lives of fun loving retirees who made actually look forward to life as a senior. On the opposite end of the spectrum I was with the people of Moore, Oklahoma who lost their homes in a devastating tornado. In my own area, I met great people from all over who graciously let me in their lives, some for long periods and some for just a short period of time. It still amazes me that people let me into their lives and with a camera for that matter. I love it.

It took me awhile to figure out what pictures to include in this post and what I felt about this past year. My work is separated month to month and when I looked through each folder of photographs from this year, I had a variety of feelings.

"Damn, I'm glad I saw that and shot it that way."

and

"Eh, that's alright."

and

"Woof, that's not me. C'mon!"

After the variety of feelings, I knew what I wanted to do for my work this next year. I don't want to just "tell the story" or "get the job done" or whatever boring quote you can think of. This next year, I'm going to push myself to push the boundaries within myself. There will be successes and failures. I might get a talkin to from my editors but that's fine. Playing it safe only gets you so far and when I fall into a funk of producing forgettable photos that just tell the story, I'm not growing or making myself a happier photographer. Let's face it, when Scott's a happier photographer, he's an all around happier guy.

Anyway, here's to digging ourselves out of creative funks and making pictures that make people say, "Wow!"

Below, are the photographs I made that were special to me. Like many of my blog posts, there's probably too many in here. Deal with it (kidding, but not really).

Thanks to everyone who has helped me in the past year, given me edits, made me laugh, and made me smile.

Let's do this 2014.