A parting shot from 2009…

Unlike anything I’ve ever really shot before, I decided this would be a good closer for the year – suitable because its a promise to myself and all who read this blog: expect things you’ve never seen before… from me, at least.

And… things I have yet to see in my lifetime.

Its so hard to remember the beginning of the year without going back into my photo archives and watching the year go by. Its rather all-inclusive, honestly. Three hundred seventy-nine (379) separate folders in the 2009 archive… meaning 379 different shoots. I don’t count that as a braggadocios claim, only something that I can look back on and see that I have something to show for the year.

And what a crazy year it has been!

I’ve met quite a few personalities, some famous or infamous (like the band Owl City here)…

…but mostly people from all walks of life.

The Murfreesboro Daily News Journal took my summer. From the spot news to the features…

…it taught me what it meant to be a working member of the press and to make deadlines and – on occasion – even file photos from the field before the paper went to bed. It made for a spectacular summer. One of the best ever, by far.

And this past fall was quite a blur…

…pun intended.

But in the end, its really about all these moments. These moments where I showed up to somewhere and was invited into a person’s domain and allowed all the access that I needed to get my job done. And as for a job, it is truly the greatest profession in the world.

Thus ends another year, and with all that work – all those frozen moments of time – I wonder how much time I will have captured if I added up all the exposures for all the photos I’ve taken this entire year… I wonder if it would even add up to a single day’s worth of time.

Nevertheless, years from now I can look back at 379 separate occasions in which I was sent somewhere with my camera to record a moment in time. And now I will never be able to forget.

So, just in preview of 2010: There will be a number of substantial, life-changing things that will be going on… more so than ever before. Lots of projects – both personal and professional. In 2010, I’ll be taking the student part out of the equation and entering the ranks of the working photojournalist.

We’ll see! But for that, stay tuned…

-Noah D.