2017 has probably been the least structured year of my life. I've always been the type of person that knows exactly what they are doing next and has a plan for everything, but this year it seemed that no matter what decision or plans I made nothing would really go how I expected it to. When life threw me a curve ball in June, I had 0 idea of what to do other than just have fun going to shows, and work on becoming the best photographer I could be. While compiling this post the contrast from the first half to the last of the the year is pretty amazing and I can honestly say I've improved more this year than I have in the past 6-7 years I've been shooting. I'm proud of my progress and can only hope for more in 2018!
January
Marcia
I didn't shoot much in January but I did meet up with Marcia for the first time and did some astrophotography.
Got bored and experimented in photoshop
February
Polyphia at O'Malley's
Went to the "LIT AF" tour and and I was elated that Polyphia had a lighting design for their live show. It was my first time going to a show at O'Malley's and learned there were no photo pit or photo rules so I brought my camera and shot from the crowd. I didn't get many shots, but I wanted to include this because it was the first show I shot in 2017.
Fela Anzola
Made some cool shirts and took a bunch of photos of pretty people wearing them for the online store. It was my first time shooting portraits in a very very long time.
March
Blessthefall at the Culture Room
My friend Rosario was on tour with The Color Morale for a couple weeks, but she was dropping off the tour a little before it came to FL. I was really excited for her to come to FL for the first time and was bummed she wasn't going to be at my date of the tour. She was nice enough to get my a photopass through TCM and I had a ton of fun shooting.
April
As It Is in Boston
I moved to Boston for a field marketing job for a tea company and was really really apprehensive about it because the music/entertainment/creative industry is what I am the most passionate about. I feared losing touch with "the scene" and falling behind while working a "Real job" so I made sure to still try to catch and photograph at least one live show a month. I was able to get a photo pass to shoot Roam and As It Is and had a ton of fun experimenting in and learning new things about Lightroom while editing.
May
Meet me in Montauk
While working for the tea company, I was by myself most days which at first used to drive me crazy at first because I'd think about sad things from 2016 and start listening to Mac Demarco on a loop, but by May I hit a point where I found something really liberating about going out to places by myself. When I was in Long Island on a day off I went to Montauk State Park when it was drizzling and really windy. It was such a fun excursion and I wish I took more photos.
July
June was a mess and I don't have any photos I like from that month. The next month I got to shoot Warped for some cool organizations and was the most excited about this shot.
August
Afterlife at O'Malley's
All my photos from this show weren't the best but during the last 30 seconds of their set I captured this and it's one of my favorite shots I've taken at a show all year.
Blair and Dominic
Crashed my friend Marcia's shoot with her friends Blair and Dominic. This shoot really inspired me to pursue doing more portrait shoots.
September
Paramore at Riot Fest
Underoath at Self Help Festival
In September, I was genuinely bummed about career stuff, I missed touring and was feeling pretty negative about the future. But, In a interesting turn of events I ended up getting to photograph Riot Fest and Self Help Festival, and had my work featured by Underoath on their instagram. At a time when I was feeling very discouraged, it was definitely the boost I needed to keep going.
October
The Devil Wears Prada in Tampa, FL
The Devil Wears Prada in Orlando, FL
Thousand Below in Orlando, FL
I got to photograph three dates of the No Sun / No Moon tour thanks to Silent Planet. At the time I didn't really like any of the photos I look, but looking back, these are definitely my favorite set of live images from 2017.
November
Erika in her bedroom in Brandon, FL.
Circa Survive at The Filmore Miami Beach
Afterlife at Respectable Street
December
Melanie Sanchez
Kami Thomas in Ocala, FL
I only shot portraits this month and didn't end up going to all of the concerts and events I was interested in going to. To be honest, I've felt kind of burnt out and uninspired shooting shows because am not too sure where to go with it next. As of late, conceptualizing and shooting portraits makes me feel very excited and I feel a lot less stuck when I think about "What next?". I hope in the new year I'm able to do more portrait work with people and feel inspired while shooting shows again.
Here's to better photos and more shoots in 2018! :)