2020: Year In Review.


2020 – about that.

When I wrote this yearly recap at the end of 2019, I had a lot of optimism and excitement for the things coming in the new year ahead. Exactly as I planned, the year got off to a great start, but in an instant came to a screeching halt with the onset of the coronavirus pandemic across the entire globe. What resulted for the rest of the year was a surreal time warp of slow-moving chaos, giving us the ultimate test in patience, creativity, resilience, mental capacity, and strength in our relationships. And I had it easy. I am lucky to have made it through with health, livelihood, family, friendships, and art intact. I don’t take any of it for granted, so am taking my usual time before year’s end to reflect on it all.

Above is a gallery of my best work from the roller coaster ride of 2020.

I stumbled my way through my eleventh year as a photographer working in Major League Baseball, and my ninth as the Boston Red Sox team photographer. After a year of big growth personally and as a department in 2019, we reversed course and lost ground this year as a direct result of the pandemic. Access was extremely limited, we reduced the size of our staff, and lost some really fantastic people across the organization who I not only considered coworkers, but friends. We had a tough year on the field, which hardly seemed to matter in comparison to everything else happening across the globe. We played in front of no fans, and the way we operated changed day to day and week to week. I produced the highest quality work I possibly could have under the circumstances, but I have a lot of work to do in 2021 to rebuild our standard of excellence as we return to whatever normal will look like. I am extremely appreciative of the Red Sox organization for valuing photography and content and for supporting us through this challenging year. I am hopeful to see Fenway Park come alive again in 2021.

On the freelance side, business took a hit as it did for most photographers. Still, somehow, it was a busy year, and I’m very grateful for the clients who have worked with me through these difficult times. I am always looking to evolve in this aspect, and among the countless hours of downtime this year, I’ve come to a point of clarity on where I want to go with this side of my career. I’m excited to continue pursuing commercial advertising work, particularly in the sports and lifestyle space, and although it may only be slightly apparent so far in the work above, you will see a shift in the type of imagery I produce and projects I put out in the coming year. This applies for both the still imagery and motion content I am producing.

I’m not someone who does well when there’s nothing going on. Anyone who knows me well knows I have to keep myself busy, so during the height of lockdown, I started a YouTube channel. This is something I’ve always wanted to do but never felt I had the time to actually pull off. It’s been a challenging but also very rewarding project. I’m happy with what I’ve built it into so far, and hope it serves as a resource and helpful point of reference to the photography community. It will be fun to continue to build out the platform and see where it goes in the new year!

Alaina is a hero. She spent the year battling the frontlines of Covid at Massachusetts General Hospital. We are sad to have postponed our wedding until later in 2021, but can’t wait for what’s hopefully a big day to celebrate. One thing is for sure – there’s nobody I would rather quarantine with. This year more than ever, I feel so grateful to have supportive and encouraging people in my life – family, friends, coworkers. Our relationships are more important than ever before.

To you guys, the viewers of this blog and my work, I appreciate your support more than you know. I hope you have a safe, healthy, and prosperous new year!

I am cautiously optimistic for 2021. It will be a challenge, but I love a challenge. The fire is there.

Wedding: Lindsay & Graham – Baltimore, Maryland.

 

New wedding work here! I was thrilled when Graham and Lindsay reached out to me to shoot their wedding in my hometown of Baltimore. I was familiar with the Belvedere as a venue, and knew it would be a beautiful place to shoot during the winter season, and it didn’t disappoint. Every detail of this wedding was stunning from start to finish. A huge thank you to the Peck and Buccola families for having my team and I there to cover this great day.

Here’s a few photos I liked, as well as the highlight video!

2019: Year In Review.

I considered doing a recap of the past decade of work since we’re on to 2020 now, but in the interest of not starting at this computer screen in the Red Sox office for too long, I’ve decided to stick to my normal year in review. With another year of experience etched in, I like to take this chance to look back on how things went and reflect a bit about where they’re going from here. 2019 – it’s one giant blur. Life is moving really fast. Last year I said it was “maybe too busy at times.” This year, that was definitely the case. I’m very appreciative of all the opportunities that have come my way, but as I move into my 30’s, I need to find a way to slow down a bit when it’s needed most. Balance is key.

Above is a gallery of my favorite images and favorite memories from 2019. Click on any individual photo to enlarge it. I’ve also included some of my favorite video pieces from the year. 

I completed my tenth year as a photographer working in Major League Baseball, and my eight as a Boston Red Sox team photographer. The role provided new challenges but also great experiences this year, which once again made the year very rewarding professionally. As a photography staff, we grew in scope and size, and I’m proud that we were able to develop some top young photography talent who are now out in the world producing incredible work. Our creative service team pushed and pushed and pushed, somehow finding ways to recreate baseball in fresh and exciting ways each week. Access, ingenuity, and cohesiveness in style are at an all time high here at the Sox, and I’m very proud of our group for making it happen. It was a down year on the field for us, but we look forwarding to rebounding in a big way in 2020. 

On the freelance side of my career, business continued to grow. I’m constantly looking for ways to evolve the type of work I do and the clients I do work for, so I look forward to continuing that challenge in the coming year. It’s been an absolute grind on top of my full-time Red Sox schedule, but at this stage in my life, I’m game for it. I hope to shift toward more commercial, brand based work in the coming year, and to partner up with products and people that I’m truly passionate about. As always, I’m very grateful for the opportunities and trust presented to me by my clients. 

I kept the video work going, too, although perhaps not as much this year as the past few years. I need to make sure I stay on top of that side of the work. It was fun to get back to Centre Court to produce video content for the Championships Wimbledon after five years away from the tournament. The video editing and producing never comes as naturally to me as photography, but I want to continue to push and up the production value within my stuff next year.

Aside from a wild night on a party bus for the big 3-0, I asked the love of my life Alaina to marry me in October and she said “Yes!” We’re in full planning mode for our wedding in January of 2021 in Pittsburgh, and I couldn’t be more excited. I just feel very lucky to have supportive and encouraging people in my life – my family, friends, and colleagues. Thank you to all of you. 

And to the viewers of this blog and my work, a heartfelt thank you as always for following along all year! Happy New Year!

We’ve got eyes on 2020. 

2019 Boston Red Sox Top Shots: Homestand 12.

Here is a montage of the top photos, timelapses, video clips and parallax images from the Boston Red sox photography staff over the twelfth home stand of the 2019 season. The video clips were shot by both Red Sox Productions and NESN.

2019 Boston Red Sox Top Shots: Homestand 11.

Here is a montage of the top photos, timelapses, video clips and parallax images from the Boston Red sox photography staff over the eleventh home stand of the 2019 season. The video clips were shot by both Red Sox Productions and NESN.

2019 Boston Red Sox Top Shots – Homestand 10.

Here is a montage of the top photos, timelapses, video clips and parallax images from the Boston Red sox photography staff over the ninth home stand of the 2019 season. The video clips were shot by both Red Sox Productions and NESN.

2019 Boston Red Sox Top Shots – Homestand 9.

Here is a montage of the top photos, timelapses, video clips and parallax images from the Boston Red sox photography staff over the ninth home stand of the 2019 season. The video clips were shot by both Red Sox Productions and NESN.

2019 Boston Red Sox Top Shots – Homestand 8.

Here is a montage of the top photos, timelapses, video clips and parallax images from the Boston Red sox photography staff over the eighth home stand of the 2019 season. The video clips were shot by both Red Sox Productions and NESN.

2019 Boston Red Sox Top Shots – Homestand 7.

Here is a montage of the top photos, timelapses, video clips and parallax images from the Boston Red sox photography staff over the seventh home stand of the 2019 season. The video clips were shot by both Red Sox Productions and NESN.

Wedding Video: Rachel & Eddie – Easton, Maryland.

I’m excited to share some new wedding video work! Rachel and Eddie got married a few weeks ago down on the beautiful shores of Maryland, and had me there to shoot their day on video.

Thanks so much to Rachel and Eddie for having me back home to shoot this wonderful wedding!