Looking back at 2016

If there was a way to sum up 2016, it was the year that nothing went quite as planned. The year started out with a shakeup as a book I was contracted to write on the Nikon D500 was canceled due to changes at the publishers parent company. Many of the editors and marketing people I had worked with on other books were suddenly out of work. I was fortunate to have another book project in the works with a new publisher and after a rather rocky writing process, my first Rocky Nook book was published this year. The book is part of a new series, The Enthusiasts Guides, which I believe is going to fill a gap in the photography book market. My fist book for this series is called The Enthusiast’s Guide to Multi-Shot Techniques: 49 Photographic Principles You Need to Know and is available now from all the places you buy books. (Here is the Amazon page) I have also finished the primary writing on a second Enthusiasts Guide to be published later this year and I hope to finish that up this month.

2016 was the year that I planned on photographing more shows than I did in 2015 but ended up photographing fewer shows. I am not sure what 2017 will bring on that front. I still love the rush I get from capturing the live music performances and as the house photographer for the Valley View Casino Center and the Laughlin Event Center I covered some of the biggest names on tour last year, from Justin Bieber to Dolly Parton and had a great time doing it. Some of the highlights rom 2016 took place at smaller venues when I got to photograph the Gen Axe show at Humphreys or my friends Steel Pulse in Orange County and at the Belly Up in Solana Beach. I actually got to photograph Steel Pulse on three different occasions in 2016 and each show was great.

Back in 2009, I got the opportunity to present at Photoshop World for the first time. The subject matter was Concert Photography (no real surprise) and since then I have presented at 11 more Photoshop World Conferences since then. The range of subjects that I have had the fortune to talk about includes the subjects I am most passionate about, including Pet photography, concert photography, Photoshop tricks to get the most from night and low light images, night and low light photography, the Nikon Creative Lighting System, and I even got to do some classes on composition and exposure. More than that, Photoshop World has given me the opportunity to meet many of my photographic heroes and become friends with people from around the world. Photoshop World had become more than just talking about photography and Photoshop it had become a chance catch up with friends I don’t see that often and 2016 was no different. Getting to spend some time with Glyn, Dave, Joe, Frank, Moose, Scott, Dustin, Tim, Ted, Scott (a different Scott) Mike, V, Rob, Jesus, Sharon, and Kalebra was great, Getting to meet Kaylee, Sam, and the Hybrid chaps was just a bonus. The 2016 Photoshop world was really enjoyable time except that I had to leave a day early to get to San Diego for Comic Con (more on Comic Con a little later). At the 2016 Photoshop World I got to see my buddy Dave Clayton present for the first time and he killed it. Dave is a very talented designer with a serious passion for InDesign and for teaching InDesign to others. It came across in his expo talk and while I will not be at Photoshop in 2017, I am really happy to say that Dave will be there. If you re a photographer who wants to learn a little about how InDesign can help you, I suggest you check out his classes at Photoshop World and on Kelby One. The other new person who blew my mind at Photoshop World in 2016 was the creative force known as Dog Breath Photography. Kalyee and her partner Sam are really talented photographers but more than that, they are enthusiastic presenters with a ton of great advice when comes to photographing dogs. If you make it to Photoshop World in 2017, check out her classes. Even if you don’t photograph dogs, just seeing her images projected really big is worth the class time, and you will learn something.

For a more detailed look at Photoshop World, you can check out my post Here. And while I will not be in Orlando for Photoshop World 2017, I am still teaching locally at Nelsons Camera Store. Email me for info on upcoming classes.

As i mentioned earlier, I had to get out of Vegas early to get back to San Diego and the madness that is the San Diego Comic Con International. This year I spent the majority of my time in the main expo hall and specifically in the 20th Century Fox booth where I worked on photographing the casts of the Fox and FX tv shows doing signings for the fans. I love the energy and sheer craziness that is the Comic Con and have become quite good at getting those large group shots of the cast in the middle of the chaos.

You can see the rest of my Comic Con 2016 coverage Here. it was a crazy time with both Photoshop World and Comic Con on the same week.

2016 was the year that I really tried to increase the amount of content I put out on Instagram. I posted a combination of concert photography, dog photos, and photos from my new books. It was pretty evident that the concert photos get the most views, (with Justin Bieber getting the most likes) but it was great to see that the images taken for my night and low light book got some serious likes as well.