2010 - Year in Review

Blogging is tough. It's been 7 months since my last blog entry, so one thing I've learned is that I am not a writer. I'm a father, a husband, an IT professional and a photography supergeek, among other things...but not really a writer. That being said, I still like to try and exercise what little writing skills I have every so often, and wrapping up this year w/ a blog post seems to be a perfect opportunity.

It's been fantastic year. One of the best years of my life for sure. Jenn and I were blessed with our third child, Christian, I weigh 15 pounds less than I did 365 days ago (that number was 30 back in July, but I sort of fell off the wagon a bit :), I had the privilege of photographing the 2010 Race for Fetal Hope 5K, and I shot a photograph of a Space Shuttle launch that went viral across the internet, around the world and back, was published in a major magazine, and is now adorning the walls of space agencies throughout Europe and the US, as well as many homes around the world.


I have many things to be thankful for, and many people to thank. Here is just a small list of people who helped make this a fantastic year for me:

Brian Barquilla, Jerry Bonnell, Mike Buresh, John Gaughan, Keith Garrett, Ian Garrett, Sue Gunter, Michael Klesius, Mitch Nahley, Mark Pettus, Eric Rousseau, Caroline Sheehan, Rob Simmons, Jim Snyder, Thomas Von Deak, Georgi Wick and mostly, thank you to my beautiful wife Jenn, and my kids, Abbie, Nicholas and Christian for supporting me throughout the year.



I also want to thank my sister, Michele, who is mostly responsible for me shooting the Space Shuttle Endeavor photo. Quick story: Michele and her family live in the same neighborhood as me, and she decided she wanted to come and watch the shuttle launch with me from the top of the Palm Valley Bridge. So we set up a plan to text each other at 4:00 am early Feb 7 morning and I would go pick her up to go view/photograph the launch, which was scheduled for 4:39 am. We were on the bridge, tripod/camera ready, when the launch was scrubbed due to weather at 4:30 am and rescheduled for the next morning at 4:14 am. That night we had a Superbowl party at my house, and of course we had a few drinks and stayed up late. As Michele was leaving she asked, "Do you still wanna go tomorrow?" and I said, "Of course, I will be ready!". Well 3:30 am came quickly, and Michele sent me a text that I slept right through...then another text, then another text etc...finally she sent enough texts to wake me up and I had to rush to go get her and get to the bridge. We got there with a few minutes to spare...just enough time to take a couple test shots and watch/photograph the launch. There was only one other person on the bridge that night. So, thank you Michele for making that photo possible!

It's gonna be tough to top this year, but I will try. Resolutions for 2011: Continue to grow as a husband/father. Continue to grow as a photographer. Blog more. Lose those 15 pounds I gained back (and maybe some more :)

I hope you all have a Happy New Year and a fantastic 2011! God Bless.



Jimmy