My 2024 Year in Review
Whew! 2024 was busy!
Let’s just jump in first with THE GOOD.
THEATER AND MUSICAL PHOTOGRAPHY
I shot 6 shows in 2024:
James & The Giant Peach Jr.
Spongebob Squarepants
Last Pirates of the Vast Golden Treasure (2nd time I’ve shot this show now!)
13 Junior
Macbeth
Sweeny Todd High School Edition
Probably the most difficult show to shoot was Macbeth - it was in the smaller “black box” area of the Kuss Theater called The Turner Studio. The actors and I were nearly on top of each other, and I was on their level versus them being slightly elevated on stage. Nothing I haven’t handled before, but shows like this always bring challenges. In the end I was still happy with the output from the show, and most importanly, so was the director, cast, and crew.
My favorite show to show to shoot was Sweeney Todd. I think that’s because I just love the musical, and it didn’t hurt that the cast, crew, lighting, and fog machine were spectacular. While the lighting and fog were challenging at times, the final images from the show were amazing and I think some of my best work.
All in all a fairly busy year once again with one of my favorite genres of photography. Some of my favorites from the year are below. Click on the first image to open in a lightbox and scroll through.
WILDLIFE PHOTOGRAPHY
12 new species for me this year, with some amazing encounters at Magee Marsh, Spring Valley Wetlands, and Indian Lake. This year marked my first time getting some great shots of a rare encounter with a Snowy Owl that was a bit off track from her normal habitat near the Arctic Circle. I focused more this year on quality over quantity, being very picky about the images I took and processed. I feel like this year I hit a new plateau with my bird photography.
Some of my favorite bird/wildlife photos from the year are below. Click on the first image to open in a lightbox and scroll through.
GALLERY SHOWS
I had artwork in 7 shows this year, including a focused show in May at Sinclair College featuring 12 large works from my Light at the Edge project.
Light at the Edge prints at the Triangle Gallery in Sinclair College. Dayton, Ohio May 2024
7 shows is a LOT for me, and I think for 2025 I need to pull back on that aspect a bit. I’m going to continue to apply for future solo shows featuring the Light at the Edge series, but don’t have any plans to enter any group shows in 2025.
FILM PHOTOGRAPHY
I shot 240 rolls of film in 2024, processing all of them myself at home. Not my biggest year compared to the 260 that I shot in 2022, but still a lot. I think I often do some of my best personal work on film, and that’s because I tend to be more meditative about it when I am out with only 12-36 shots on a roll to work with.
Sometimes I get a chuckle at “influencers” on YouTube when they post their end of the year wrap-ups and they’ve shot something like 75 rolls, claiming how big their year was. Not trying to sound negative here at all, but I bet back in the day when that’s all there was, my grandmother shot that many rolls in a year. :) I mean, if you’re going to brag about something, make it more about the work. That’s all.
Some of my favorite film photos from the year are below. Click on the first image to open in a lightbox and scroll through.
BLOGPOSTS
For 2024 I made the commitment to publish an average of 3 posts per month, and I did just that! 36 entries for 2024, an all-time high for me. Can I do better for 2025? That may be a tough ask.
FRUGAL FILM PROJECT
I stuck with it for an entire year, and learned a lot about EZ400 film, the Nikon F80 camera, and myself. More info and a recap of my 2024 FFP can be found HERE.
Now for THE BAD.
WORKSHOPS
Once again, my plans to put on a workshop or two just fell flat. Part of that was due to a long-time friendship ending that would have been my partner in the workshops. And part of that was just how busy I was with my 9-5 job and other things. I’m close to giving up on that goal for the future, at least for now.
NO NEW CAMERAS AND FILM FOR 2024
FAIL. This was a big FAIL.
OK, let me give myself some grace here. I did get rid of more cameras that I purchased in 2024 - I sold 9, had one STOLEN, and 2 died that I cannibalized for parts for other film cameras. But I purchased 7 new-to-me or new cameras. So I guess that’s a net -5 cameras for 2024? Let me have that small victory and don’t make fun of me.
I did sell about 200 rolls of film this year that I was never going to use, but then proceeded to buy another 75 or so of “new” or different stocks I wanted to try, including some more HP5 and Ektar that are my daily user films. Don’t judge me.
That’s enough for now. Stay tuned for another post about what 2025 has in store.
What were your plans for 2024? How did you do?
As always, thanks for reading.
And here’s to a great 2025!
Jeremy