(my grasp of wordpress is still limited…lost revisions and the like. hopefully this will work now)

Like a bunch of you, I felt 2008 sucked. I’ve been trying to pinpoint why for a few weeks now.

Got Fired! (right before the holiday season)
Unemployed for part of the year
Moved across the country
Left a bunch of my friends behind
Friendships were/are tested
Fatigued from a seven year election news cycle
Scared by an Economy
Turning 30! next year

Some things that sucked indeed.

On the bright side…

I made it to 2008.
Fucked around for six months in San Diego
Visited San Francisco
Messed with everyone’s head.
Took a cross country road trip
Working with my best friend
Close to my family again
Close to Chicago again
Like Milwaukee
Work for a great company
The best revenge is living well
Played basketball 4 – 5 days a week for six months
Took about 10,000 photos

I took less photos towards the end of the year, but still felt I had a productive run.  These are some of my favorite photos from the year, from earliest to latest.

This is San Diego at dusk.  It’s January. Can you tell?  I can’t. I hate you San Diego.

Georgia Aquarium. I have been to Atlanta a handful of times.  It is jokingly referred to by Jacent and Michelle as “where kallao’s ex girlfriends live” I have never lived there. The women I dated did not live there when I was in a relationship with them. I have no real reason for posting this photo other than I wanted to tell you that story  because I find it so unusual. This could potentially mean my ex-wife will be from there as well. I visited in January of 2008 and yes, saw all of them.

I took a lot of portraits, but I had the most fun with Keely. I think she’s so extremely bright and witty it’s a crime she’s not in entertainment. Now that I’ve said this, she will point to this constantly as an arguement as to why she should be an entertainer. I apologize in advance. She’s also sassy and it worked to our advantage in the photoshoot. MJ did a nice job as usual as the assistant. I was rusty from portraits, but there were a few that came out well. I think this is one of those.

Annika (sp?) was out of control. I had a string of three child portrait sessions in five months. For someone who has no interest in child rearing, I spent a lot of time taking photos of kids.  Balboa Park is usually pretty good for this stuff. Jen, the mother, was awesome and these photos worked out well. MJ assisted, as usual.

This is my favorite photo I took last year. This is Darwin. Darwin is jumping off a swing (while wearing a cape) at sunset. Away we go.

I tried to take phots for disconnected salon, but they mostly sucked.  I liked this treatment though. As you can tell, I only own a fisheye lens and a 50mm prime. I rigged a few interesting strobe bounces to make it work.

Taking portraits of an amazing photographer? That’ll get you nervous. I remember seeing this location when I visited my friend Jen’s new condo downtown. I knew it was paydirt. It was also extremely warm. So we were all sweaty. MJ assisted on this photoshoot and I couldn’t have gotten half of the shots without her and Natalie’s expertise. I’d call it a group effort.  There are cool photos from outside, but this makes me happy about finding an interesting shot and making it work. Plus the experience gained me a friend, someone whose guidance extended photography.

Garett Stenson is brilliant. He is one of the finest people in this country. (This is finer than you or I are). I find the way his mind, along with that of his best friend Benjamin Diggles,  one of the most fascinating things I’ve ever encountered.  They’re also genuinely good people, which only makes them more…annoying. Evilbackwards is their home. They formerly made the finest wallets known to man. This is a picture of Garett, while at the offices of DB Clay. I’d wanted to take photos of their operation for a while. When I took a trip to Portland, I did just that. Graham, one of their friends is an amazing photographer (they are all talented, it’s depressing) and had taken dozens, if not hundreds of great photos of Garett. I took the opportunity to try something different. Garett works hard. Extremely hard. I wanted to show the wear his work had taken on him. He is young but if you look closely, you can see his maturity and experience.

I still love New Orleans. When I knew I was moving to Milwaukee, it was an easy route to get there. Drive though Tucson, Austin, New Orleans and St Louis.  It was a longer drive but well worth it. I enjoyed going with my friend Lara as opposed to driving by myself.  It was a chance to be a foodie, indulge in hotel snobbery and see all sorts of amazing things.  Easily the most fun I had all year. I think I had just stuffed myself silly with doughnuts.

St Louis at sunset. The arch does all the work here.

Trent Reznor. Nine Inch Nails at Lollapolooza. I took photos of my favorite band in my hometown from the side of the stage. I am very lucky. Remind me of that I complain about something, kay?

Brittany is gorgeous. She also knows me better than pretty much anyone short of my family. This fact scares the hell out of me. Tommie, who I rave about, assisted and we came up with some good shots. I think I could do better under different circumstances.  But don’t we all say that? I’d be hard pressed to have a better photo than this one, though. Stunning. Surprisingly, I’d never taken photos of her before…one would be forgiven if they confused her for the oft-shot Jillian. I think Brittany’s grandfather did too once, so no bigs.

This is my clock tower friend. It’s the biggest in the world and only three blocks from me. It makes me happy. This photo isn’t spectacular but I like the lines. I’m tired of writing as you can tell.