Top 10 photos of 2021
The year was a crazy time of transition for me, as I transitioned from a decade in newspapers into freelance photography. By the end of the year, I started my own business — From the Hart Pictures — and began my journey into wedding photography and engagement sessions. You’ll find my favorite images span from sporting events to landscape and portraits as I explored the independent world of photography. Here are my 10 favorite images from 2021:
My favorite image from this engagement session at Cathedral Park in Portland, Oregon. Julie and Ryan lay on a picnic blanket next to the Willamette River. This picnic blanket comes in handy during all my sessions, both engagement and senior portrait shoots.
Kalama quarterback Jackson Esary evades a final tackle as a sea of Onalaska defenders lay in his wake. I have photographed a lot of the whole Esary family over the years, but this photo particularly stands out. It reminds me of a painting depicting a great warrior emerging from a battlefield of slain soldiers.
This photo, printed on metal, now decorates one of the walls of our bedroom. It’s possibly my favorite photo of my dog and wife together. I love the joy and love they show in this black-and-white image.
Volleyball is not a sport I get to photograph a lot of, and it definitely provides its challenges. Photographing from a high vantage point is always useful to avoid cluttered backgrounds, and I always liked the intensity and focus the athlete shows in this particular frame.
Again, a photo where the focused eyes tell the entire story. This image taken at an arts festival in Vancouver, Wash., still sticks out to me. Between the man’s style, the decorated banjo and those intense eyes, it’s a fun portrait to look at.
This photo is definitely a mood. It was a rainy day and this woman lured these goats out to be hand fed.
I love the colors and vibes of the image.
While this is just a storytelling image to depict the wetness of a track and field event, I am always drawn to the man in the background. His grin as he rings the bell in the rain shows how much he enjoys the gig.
This Camas wrestling meet is believed to be the first outdoors wrestling event in Washington state history. Administrators scrambled to get wrestlers matches while meeting Covid-19 regulations and the solution was an outdoors event at Doc Harris Stadium in Camas. Let me tell you, the mats were scorching!
One of my favorite experiences as a photographer was going up in a Cessna to photograph Mount St. Helens shortly before an anniversary of the 1980 eruption. Seeing a mountain I had grown up next to from a different angle was incredibly inspirational.
This was really my first attempt at silhouettes, and I like how the sun sticks to the tip of this vaulter’s pole like he’s carrying a magical staff or wand.
