2012: Year In Review.
At the end of each year, I like to look back on the work that I’ve done and take some time to think about it all. This digital media whirlwind that us journalists live in can be so fast-paced that, at times, the process of thinking about or reflecting upon one’s work can easily fall by the wayside.
Here’s how the year went, briefly:
It began with graduate school applications, and the good news that I was accepted into some of the finest journalism Master’s programs out there. After much thought, I decided on Boston University, and simultaneously accepted a position on the photography staff of the Boston Red Sox. In March, I moved away from Baltimore for the first time in my life, and settled into Boston. I spent my summer documenting the 100th anniversary of Fenway Park, and followed the Red Sox as I completed my third season working in Major League Baseball. In the middle of the season, I took several weeks off to work in London as a photographer, photo editor, and social media guy at The Championships Wimbledon. After a few days of rest and recuperation in sunny Southern Italy, I came back to the States, and several weeks later, continued my work on the pro tennis circuit, this time as a photographer and photo editor for the US Open Championships in New York City. Upon my return to Boston, coursework at BU began immediately, and I gradually got back into the rhythm of life as a student. In the midst of creating visual and written projects that told the stories of every day people in Boston, I also found myself photographing the President of the United States at a rally in New Hampshire, and photographing the almost President of the United States at his headquarters in Boston on election night. All the while, I was grateful for wonderful freelance opportunities, among them documenting the first Baltimore Orioles playoff appearance since 1997.
On this blog, the numbers continued to rise. Here are the statistics from my yearly blogging report:
“4,329 films were submitted to the 2012 Cannes Film Festival. This blog had 45,000 views in 2012. If each view were a film, this blog would power 10 Film Festivals. In 2012, there were 122 new posts, growing the total archive of this blog to 338 posts. There were 736pictures uploaded, taking up a total of 2 GB. That’s about 2 pictures per day. The busiest day of the year was April 17th with 1,190views. The most popular post that day was Boston Red Sox Photography: Opening Day 2012.. Those page views came from 146 countries around the world. That’s double the amount of page views Billie With An I.E. had in 2011, so I’m very thankful for your readership.
2012 was a wonderful year for me, and given all that’s happened around the world this year, I’m extremely lucky to be able to say that. I love meeting people, and this year brought so many new friends, colleagues, professional contacts, and role models.
It’s also incredible to see how far other people have come this year. We’re at the age where we’re all beginning to do big things, and I can’t wait to see where we are a year from now.
Happy New Year! More to come in 2013.
Photos: Sox Scholars Hospital Tour and Holiday Party.
I’m late on these, but I wanted to get them up because I thought they were pretty interesting. This year’s class of Red Sox Scholars was given a tour of a few departments at Beth Israel Deaconess hospital, including the NICU and the Center for Minimally Invasive Surgery.
It was neat to see some of the things they showed us, including a breathing, blinking, talking manikin used by medical students to learn surgical techniques.
The scholars then had a holiday party with games, like the cookie drop above, which made for some hilarious photos. It was also great to have Olympic gold medal judo fighter, Kayla Harrison, at the party.
Photos: Boston Red Sox sign Shane Victorino.
Here are a few images from Shane Victorino’s first appearance at Fenway Park as a member of the Boston Red Sox.
Is it baseball season yet?
Thoughts: Christopher Weigl.
It’s been a tough, whirlwind past 24 hours for the Boston University community. If you aren’t in Boston or haven’t heard by now, 23-year-old Christopher Weigl, a photojournalism graduate student at BU, was killed in a bicycling accident on his way to class yesterday morning.
Chris was one of the five of us grad students in the BU photojournalism program this year. It’s never easy to hear about loss of life, but when it’s someone from the community you’re a part of every day, it hits close to home.
It’s difficult to find words, and everyone has their own way of coping with things. Chris was a photojournalist, an incredibly talented and hard working one, so personally, I’m finding solace in keeping myself busy doing the work that he loved to do: learning, shooting, editing, interviewing, blogging, thinking about new ideas and ways to change the game.
A few days ago, Chris was there with the rest of us photo kids in the lab in COM’s basement. He loved the technical aspects of photography, and was working on one of his camera reviews that he was regularly hired to write. As we all shot the breeze, he showed a few of us a website that he had created himself and was working on. It was a new camera and lens review site that he built from scratch and hoped to expand and grow. That’s what I liked best about Chris. He always seemed to be thinking one step ahead of the game, and had an intelligent grasp on the state of journalism now and where it’s going.
I’m amazed and moved by the response and support of the BU community, particularly within the College of Communication. The gathering last night in the COM building was difficult to be at, but was also comforting, and showed that we’re all here for each other and we’ll all get through this together.
I’ve been trying to find just a sliver of something positive to think about, and this is what I’ve come up with. The night before the accident happened I was talking to Chris briefly. He had just come off of a 12-hour editing session to finish his final project for his Multimedia class – a profile on a Unitarian/Universalist co-op in Roxbury, Massachusetts. He told me that he was genuinely happy with himself and proud of the job he did on the piece. It’s small, but that’s a nice thought to latch on to. It’s a reminder of something that I think all of us journalists – or anyone doing any type of work, for that matter – should think about every once in awhile. Take pride in your own work. Feel good about it. Give yourself a pat on the back. Know that the work you’ve done made a difference.
A few things for you to look at:
Here is Chris’s portfolio. It’s a lasting record of the journalism he produced throughout his career.
Here is a memorial website that’s been set up by the Boston University News Service. There, you’ll find ways to look at Chris’s work and sign a guest book.
Here is a multimedia profile on Chris done by Sarah Ganzhorn, a fellow photojournalism grad student, earlier this semester. Watch it, and you’ll get a sense of what type of person Chris was.
Finally, here is the multimedia piece he had just finished.
My thoughts are with Chris’s family and friends. The photo above is one I took several weeks ago during our visit to the newsroom at The Boston Globe. Chris is on the far right, smiling as usual.
Photo: Red Sox visit MSPCA.
A short post here. A photo from a nice visit with the Red Sox to the pet shelter on Wednesday.
Photos: Yulefest Holiday 5K Race.
I was one of the photographers on site for this year’s Yulefest, a holiday themed 5K race in Cambridge. My friends, who have helped out at this race before, assured me that I’d have a good time, and they were absolutely correct.
The crowd was lively and energetic, and costume contests and dance-offs combined with seemingly endless beer on tap made for a highly entertaining afternoon of shooting.
I owe thanks to the random Harvard student I saw standing out on his balcony before the race began, who let me into his dorm room so I could shoot the start from up high (as seen in Photo 5 above). I was in and out of his room quickly and got what I needed in no longer than a minute, so I’m sure he was totally bewildered. I think he had just gotten out of bed. Anyway, it was a nice gesture.
Photos: Holiday Season at Fenway Park.
Here are some pictures from this weekend’s holiday celebrations at Fenway Park.
It made for a few really cold afternoons of work, but a lot of fun nonetheless. It was also neat to explore Fenway in the snow.
23 and Turkey.
On this day last year here in Maryland it was freezing and pouring down rain all day. This year, I got a perfect, sunny fall day to celebrate my birthday. 22 years in the books! Hello 23.
Happy Thanksgiving!
Photos: Spartan Race comes to Fenway Park.
Over the weekend, the very popular Spartan Race came to Boston, and what better venue to host an obstacle race than Fenway Park?
The ballpark has so many nooks and crannies as is, and there were many games this past season where I felt like I was in an obstacle course just walking around.
I shot the second of two days of the race, and had some fun with it. If anything, it was nice to wander comfortably while other people struggled through the course.
Boston Globe Video: Growing up fast in New Hampshire.
I had the great pleasure of contributing on a story for The Boston Globe several weeks ago.
I assisted Darren Durlach, Senior Multimedia Producer at the Globe, and shot some of the b-roll footage that appears in this video. A huge thanks to Darren for having me along.