It just doesn’t feel like the end of December until every media outlet has put out their lists of important things that transpired in the last year. I suppose I’m adding to the noise.
This year I took roughly 40,000 photos (that’s how many I imported at least). Compared to most professional photojournalists, I shoot on the (very) light side. I’ve heard some photo editors say I shoot like I’m using film, but that’s another matter. The most important number is the “keepers” number. How many “keepers” did I have? I’d say I’m pretty happy with about 40 photos I took this year, of which I would maybe consider 3 or 4 to go into my portfolio.
In some ways, that’s a depressing number—3 photos out of 40,000. Makes me sound pretty bad.
Looking back over my archives I had a mix of feelings—my singles and sports coverage definitely improved, but the lack of stories is something I really noticed. I always pride myself on my storytelling. As a student, that is something I always focused on, and I really tried to hone that skill at my internships. Putting together a group of images around a single topic is what I enjoy most; the quickhitter singles get boring after a while with no context to tie them together. I think my best story was pig wrestling, but that is still just an event, not an in-depth project.
But here’s to another year.
Another year of hopefully meeting more people like Ralph Sternberg:
Another year of finding the quiet moments at busy events:
Another year of capturing excitement:
And defeat:
Another year of wandering aimlessly through forests and back country roads, with no objective in mind other than capturing what’s around me:
And another year of remembering that even when I’m frustrated with myself or my work or not being able to work on what I want, that I have a pretty cool job. As my landlord put it when he found out I was a photographer, “You just take pictures? That’s the easiest job the world!” On some days, it definitely feels like it.
Thanks for reading and supporting my blog this year everyone! Hope you enjoy what you see. If you would like to see my complete gallery of my photos of the year, click here.
Lukas Keapproth 