This has been an insane year.

I've done so much traveling, meeting, adventuring, experiencing, living, and loving in the past year I don't even know where to begin. I know it's a bit unorthodox to post a personal photo recap for August 2012-August 2013, but I just can't resist. I was browsing through my photo archives today and stumbled across this top image here, the cabin reflecting in a pond, and happened to glance at the date the photo was taken. It was taken August 23rd, 2012. 365 days ago to this very date. That got me thinking about all the amazing times I've had in this past 12 months and how I haven't done a single thing to commemorate those experiences other than the occasional Facebook photo upload that got lost in the ether of the countless whimsical, and single-use posts that I make on a daily basis.

With travels from San Francisco, San Diego, Chicago, Atlanta, Knoxville, Asheville, Morgantown, Charleston and a million other places...I'm presenting just a handful of the personal and private photos that were taken during the 365 days.  There isn't anything especially spectacular about these photos, from an artistic standpoint, mind you. Some shots were taken with professional gear, others with a point and shoot camera. There's even an iPhone snap , and some scanned instant film thrown in.

Some photos include friends, some include strangers, and most, if not all, have stories, memories, or something even as simple as a single thought that gets recalled upon viewing them. And after all, isn't that what a photo is all about?

 It is with great pleasure that I announce that I am relocating!

To my closest friends and family I know this isn't anything new, but to my everyday acquaintances, past clients. potential clients and old friends I know this post is for you! I'll be moving to San Diego in early September 2013 where I hope to continue my personal, and photography careers in a new city, a new state, a new coast, and a new setting.

I decided upon San Diego after visiting the area a few times on vacation and finding it to be one of the most beautiful places I have ever experienced. Though it's true that I am a southern small town guy that loves mountains, off-roading, fishing, and almost every other thing there is to love about small town, southern America, I have decided to make a change and take a chance. I know I'll be a bit out of my element, but I know this is where I want to be.

I'll be moving about 8 miles West of downtown San Diego in the beautiful and semi-small neighborhood of Ocean Beach. OB is honestly one of the coolest communities I've ever been to as it has an artsy, eccentric feel with a population of people that loves dogs and hate chain stores (Seriously, A Subway, a Rite-Aid and a Starbucks are the only chain businesses in the Ocean Beach area, and the rest are all mom and pop shop restaurants, hardware stores, grocery stores, pet stores, etc.) I know I'll feel right at home in this environment and know I'll have the opportunity to make plenty of friends along the way.

I cannot thank everyone enough who has made my time here in Virginia as memorable as it has been. I'm way more attached to this area than I care to admit and I've learned so much in my 5 year time here that I can say with confidence that Virginia is where I truly grew up, in the most philosophical sense of the phrase.

I cannot wait to see what lies ahead of me in San Diego, both in photography and my personal career paths. And here's to hoping that one day those two things might just become one.

I sincerely apologize for the lack of posting the last few weeks, if you can tell from the photos below.. I've kinda got my hands full with a new member of the family. This is Spencer. He's an English Bulldog, the second bulldog to be a member of our family. We traveled all the way up to Marietta, Ohio to pick up this little guy about 3 weeks ago, and if you are connected to me through ANY social networking site, you know that I tend to take a lot of photos of him.

Lebanon, VA

Experimenting with some technique called free lensing. Slightly dangerous. It entails actually removing the lens from the body of the camera and holding it near the camera mount. Manual focus is necessary, but the results can be gorgeous.

The 5D Mark II arrived on Wednesday.Ohmygawsh holy full frame 21 megapixel camera Batman. I think this camera will take my work to a whole 'nother level.

Some of the stand out features for me, personally, are: 21 Megapixel (Had to throw away the 1GB memory cards, and buy two 8GB CF cards, this thing's file sizes eat 1GB for breakfast.) Expandable ISO to 50. (I haz no noises whatsoever!) FULL FRAME! (Is this what 50mm looks like?) Weather sealed.

I finally got a chance to take this thing out on Saturday and see what this thing can do. Below are the results:

I bought a new camera.5D Mark II. Arrives Wednesday.

For a family that has a photographer as a son/brother, we sure do hate having our photos taken. I've never convinced anybody in my family to let me take their photo, outside of the occasional snapshot. So when my sister, Emily, finally gave me the opportunity to have a hour and a half mini-session I was excited to see what we could get. And alas. I totally love it.

After mom saw Emily's photos she was finally convinced maybe I actually do know what I'm doing with a camera and allowed me five minutes to get a shot of her.

Special note to Elizabeth, next time I see you, I'm fully expecting to have you on here as well. :)