Looking back, this year was incredibly rewarding for me. Of my 21 years, this was certainly one of the best. Here’s to another.

Read on for my favorite images of the year, in chronological order.

Working for the Ohio athletic department has pushed me to find new perspectives to cover the same events day after day. I made this image standing on the inner ring of the catwalks at the Convocation Center, with my camera strapped to the railing. My hands still sweat every time I remember making it.

I always go out of my way to try and document the relationships our athletes have with one another. Here, Symone Lyles encourages her teammates before their January 15th game.

Some of my favorite images have been made by mistake. When taking this picture of coach John Groce, one of my strobes failed to fire, giving him a dramatic backlight.

Other times, a lot of things go right. When working with remote cameras, a long chain of connections has to work perfectly.

Capturing the perfect moment of celebration is one the hardest skills in photography. I’m still trying.

At the end of swimming season, the pool was transformed for the MAC tournament. Normally a quiet venue, the roar was deafening as Ohio’s swimmers won race after race, taking home the championship.

In search of a new angle, I found peaceful moments from a window into the pool in the aquatic center basement.

One of my favorite assignments of the year was the Arnold Classic. The miniature Olympics (of sorts) opened my eyes to several sports I had never photographed before.

As part of my project on music in Athens, I photographed the Ohio wind symphony at Memorial Auditorium.

Perhaps by accident, Bob Wren Stadium was built so that pitchers have to throw straight into the sun during games early in the year. Either way, it makes us photographers happy.

Over spring break, I traveled with my parents to Texas for my sister Leah’s wedding.

I am always looking for moments, even when shooting portraits. This image of my parents is one of my favorites.

Some of my best images never make it to publication. This was one of them.

Continuing my music documentary project, I covered a couple country concerts at the Aud.

For another part of the project, I followed the 110 drum line as they toured the uptown bars on a spring weekend.

Back at the baseball diamond, a menacing wave of storm clouds inspired me to shoot from the ground with a wide-angle. The game didn’t even make it past the first inning.

After making this frame of Ohio’s loss in the MAC championship game, I knew it wasn’t what the athletic department wanted. However, the Post ran it six columns.

Finishing up my music project, I documented the first concert in the Convocation Center in over a decade.

A call from The Seattle Times had me headed west for the summer. I made this frame (as a passenger) on the final turn before crossing the Columbia River Gorge.

Working for The Times opened my eyes to ideas I had never experienced before. My adventure into the Rainbow Family gathering demonstrated to me how rich human culture can be.

My new experiences in Seattle also included a few new sports. In this case, WNBA.

Covering Major League Baseball was one of my favorite parts of the summer. The access was excellent, especially for the pros.

In a city known for its cloudy and rainy days, I was always on the hunt for beautiful light. I found some of my favorite light at the Capitol Hill Block Party.

I found similar light a week later at the Torchlight parade, in front of the Experience Music Project.

One of my projects for the summer was a story on detective Kizzier. I worked on the story with editor Fred Nelson, who guided me the whole way through.

A new travel section in the paper meant that I got to go on an adventure to Leavenworth, Cashmere, and Wenatchee to shoot a handful assignments on various destinations in the area.

Even when shooting features, I often take an approach similar to shooting sports.  Especially when it’s peak action in a match of bicycle pie jousting.

My last assignment was a fun feature hunt at a local pool where dogs were allowed to swim before the water was drained for maintenance.

On my way drive back to Ohio, I was stopped in traffic behind a car accident when a brush fire broke out along the highway.  This was the first time I was ever in the right place for spot news.

Just a day after arriving back in Ohio, I flew out to New Mexico to cover the first football game of the season against New Mexico State.

Flying back home after football games, I have seen the sun rise above the clouds dozens of times. On the way back from New Mexico I captured one of the best.

Back in Athens, I went to work covering the Marching 110. Here, I played with a slow shutter speed to blur the snare line’s sticks.

Later that same day, I made this detail shot in the last moments of sunset before the drummers led the band onto the field.

One of my favorite parts of working with the 110 is my relationship with the members. I was able to make this image because one of the drummers told me exactly when the whole band was going to leap into the air.

The week before the Marshall game, I received a cryptic message to have my studio lights ready to go when I was done with class. When I showed up at the visitor’s locker room at Peden Stadium, I had just a few minutes to photograph our new black jerseys, which were unveiled later that week.

Wrapping up my shooting classes at OU, I shot this feature at the Hocking Co. Fair as part of a one-day assignment for class.

At the Marshall game, fallen team mate Marcellis Williamson was commemorated. As his family walked onto the field to be recognized, the entire team took a knee in his honor.

After an overwhelming 44-7 victory, the ‘Cats had reason to celebrate.

My second project for my shooting class took me to the family-owned Meadowview Tree Farm outside Nelsonville, Ohio.

Steve Stone is the last of his siblings to work on the farm. His grandparents first settled on the land over 100 years ago.

In the middle of the busiest quarter of my college career, I took a week off to head to Jeffersonville, NY for the Eddie Adams Workshop. The four-day experience was nothing short of life-changing.

My favorite image from the workshop came at bonfire after a long day of speakers.

A week later, I drove up to Cleveland to shoot a wedding and cover my first NFL game.

The image above ran 6-columns as the sports lead in The Seattle Times the next day.

My last shooting project for class took me to a graveyard outside Nelsonville.

Taking a break from my usual routine of shooting with long glass, I went out to a high school football game with just a 35mm around my neck.

Of all the things I will miss about working for the Marching 110, I will miss the access the most. This frame from practice is a perfect example.

For the second time in the season, the ‘Cats wore their black jerseys for the Temple game, this time with matching black helmets as well.

My favorite event of the year with the 110 was their performance at the beautiful Ohio Theatre in Columbus, Ohio.

My final adventure of the year was the football team’s trip to Boise, Idaho for the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl.

All in all, I couldn’t ask for a better way to end my time covering the football team for the athletic department. With ten wins in the season and a first-ever bowl win, this year’s team made its mark on Bobcat history.

As I head toward graduation this spring, I can only hope that 2012 will take me on new, exciting adventures. It’s time to keep chasing the light.

For the past three and a half years working at the athletic department, I have documented many historical moments. This fall, the football team took center stage, winning nine games in the regular season. As my last assignment photographing the team, I covered their 24-23 win over Utah State in the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl at Bronco Stadium in Boise, Idaho.

My day started as most football game days begin, by covering the Marching 110′s pre-game performances. The band participated in a “battle of the bands” with the Aggie marching band. Let’s just say it wasn’t much of a fight.

For my pre-game coverage of the team, I wanted to focus on the blue turf, also known as “SmurfTurf.”

By exposing properly, I was able to capture the blue light reflected by the turf.

Before kick-off, I headed up to the top of the press box to shoot the flyover. Unfortunately, the planes flew too high over the stadium to make a good image. As I was about to head back down to the field, I saw the color guard walking through a patch of light on the field, and made a quick frame.

I then made the fastest pressbox-to-field run I’ve ever done, and got down to turf just in time to catch the captains taking the field.

By the time kickoff came around, almost all of the direct sunlight had left the field, except for a few small pockets. I positioned myself for these last remaining slivers, and waited for the moments to happen.

Once the sun set, I followed the action more traditionally.

On this run by Dallas Brown, one of the referees threw his hat to the ground, as a player stepped out of bounds. I was lucky enough to catch the hat in my frame.

The final two minutes of the game were the most nerve-racking moments of my time shooting the Bobcats. At first, LaVon Brazill’s catch was ruled a touchdown, only to be called down inside the one yard line.

After the play was called back, quarterback Tyler Tettleton ran the ball into the endzone for the tying touchdown.

From there, it was up to kicker Matt Weller to seal the deal. With his kick, the Bobcats won 24-23, their first lead of the game.

The next half an hour was a blur of pandemonium.

Back in the locker room, Ohio University president Roderick McDavis congratulated the team.

For coach Solich, it was his fiftieth win at Ohio. As I followed him out of the locker room, I caught him turning his head in one of the doorways.

I wanted to find an image that would convey the significance of the win in his career, and surprisingly, it came at the press conference after the game. The lighting for the TV cameras was balanced with the stadium towers, allowing me to frame them together.

For the players, the win was overwhelming, especially for the seniors. While Solich was speaking at the conference, I caught this moment of Noah Keller taking in the win.

As my last time covering a football game for the university, I couldn’t ask for a better way to go out. With the win over the Aggies, the Bobcats captured their first bowl game in program history.

I spent the days leading up to this year’s Famous Idaho Potato Bowl documenting the Bobcats’ time in Boise.

After arriving in town, the team’s first event was a charity bowling game against the Utah State Aggies, their opponents for the bowl game. While the players were having fun, coach Solich began doing interviews with the local media.

The next morning, the team went go-carting at Fast Lane, where groups of ten raced against the clock.

That afternoon, the team had their first practice.

Due to the field being painted with logos for the game, the Bobcats had to practice indoors.

After practice, a few of the players took part in the official bowl week press conference. While those pictures are pretty boring, there was a funny moment before the conference started; after realizing that the trophy was blocking a camera’s view of coach Solich, the bowl officials attempted to move the bowl of styrofoam potatoes, dropp them on the floor in front of everyone watching.

That night, the team went to the Humanitarian awards banquet. At the end, the offensive lines from both teams competed in a trivia competition, and were given special hats to wear while the played.

My next day started bright and early, covering the Marching 110′s morning practice at the stadium. The band sent about 80 members on the trip.

The temperature had dropped to 20 degrees overnight, leaving the blue “SmurfTurf” coated in frost.

That afternoon, the team took their turn to walk-thru plays at the stadium.

The day ended with a trip to Saint Alphonsus Hospital, where the players talked with patients and handed out Ohio gear.

Probably my favorite moment of the day came when Gage Frederickson, a twelve year old, compared the his hand to Eric Herman’s, and offensive lineman.

Sunrise, PHL

For the past two weeks or so, I’ve covered about 6000 miles from Athens to Boise, Denver, Philadelphia, Syracuse, Kent, Cincinnati, and back. Here are a few memories.

Leaving Athens

Landing at BOI

Fun in Boise

Downtown Sightseeing

110, Oregon Trail

Urban Hunter, Boise

Landing in Denver

Leaving Philadelphia

Syracuse, NY

Cody & Grandma, Eagle Bay, NY

Old Forge, NY

Lowville, NY

Thendara, NY

First Snow, Eagle Bay, NY

Riverside, Cincinnati

Mt. Adams, Cincinnati

Birthdays, Cincinnati

Home, Athens

I woke this morning to the devastating news that Mariners outfielder Greg Halman was murdered in the Netherlands last night. Just a couple months ago, I photographed him warming up from the inside first base photo position at Safeco Field.

Life is too short.