It’s that time of the year where I begin reflecting on what went well and what went wrong in 2024. Rather than focusing on the latter, I’ll be sharing the positives in photography which had so many trials and tribulations.
Compared to last year, I’m proud of my works and some of the content I was able to create. I’ve finally done more portrait sessions, which remains my main focus for my business. I’ve also got back into more volleyball matches, especially in Everett after not doing so a year ago. Of course, I found my spark back in racing that had been long gone towards the end of the year.
Unlike previous years, I won’t be doing separate lists of my favorite images because it was a tough year on the motorsports front where I had to close a certain chapter in May. When it came down to it, I didn’t felt like focusing on a motorsports exclusive list because I didn’t do enough races for my liking to warrant one.
Instead, we’re back to blending racing and non-racing ventures under a single list this year and probably beyond.
If you like to check out my favorite works over the years, I’ll have it underneath once finishing this blog!
Without further ado, here’s my 25 favorite photos I’ve taken this year!
25) Flavor Upon Flavor
It’s always a good time to get ice cold drinks on a hot summer afternoon in the Pacific Northwest. No matter the time of day or season, United Coffee Company provides such service with various flavors and type of drinks across the board in Snohomish County.
24) An Anacortes Welcome
After a year absence, I was happy to shoot phots of Bier Near the Pier in Anacortes again. It’s a different atmosphere with a smile being a common theme. Very straightforward shot that really didn’t require much explanation besides visually highlighting the festival vibes.
23) Beer, Burgers and Laughs
In one of my final projects of 2024, I was happy to provide my services to Ounces in Seattle. Only this time, doing a crossover promotion with Burbs Burgers. Little improvisation was had with these two gentlemen who not only enjoyed good beer, but solid food. Add some humorous banter and you get some laughs like this image which was a nice capture. For the record, the game in the background was a re-air, not the night of the ACC Championship Game. I can’t wait for college football to be done because I’ve hated the 2024 season so much!
22) Creating Family Memories
Sundaes Outside is one of several events hosted by Golden Bricks Events, a group of people I value tremendously for their events and opportunity to grow as a visual artist. What I like about this image is the joy the family had of seeing a horse up close. It reminded me of simpler times when I saw new things for the first time, especially a white horse. I did however pose with a horse as a kid which and have such photo in my office room next to my diplomas.
21) We Celebrate in Pink
What I love about volleyball photography is key points creating intense celebrations because the sport is quintessential teamwork across the board. As evident from Everett Trojans’ Morgan Armitage (left) and Taylor Holland (right) in October as the team defeated the Olympic Rangers 3-0 on Dig Pink Night which explains the alternate attire.
20) A Bigger Purpose in Racing
Days before the NASCAR Mexico Series hosted a race at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, a few drivers from the series participated in the Speediatrics Fun Day Festival near the Coliseum. In this image, drivers Andrik Dimayuga and Eloy Sebastian Lopez had a fun time playing games, including here where they’re throwing glow rings onto spring rubbers to tie-in with the racing theme. It was a fun evening away from the madness and capturing moments of drivers in a non-competitive role.
19) Red Fits for Saturday
This year’s Refuge Outdoor Festival was one for the memory books, but not in the way you’re thinking. With storms surrounding Carnation, few stuck around for Silent Disco Night. But it allowed certain moments to unfold with one person having fun in a different way. I decided to do a silhouette shot accompanied with the red lighting that gave me strong Steve Blackman vibes from his titantron nearly 25 years ago. Except the visuals of Blackman doing his thing was in monochrome and way less violent compared to my image. It’s a cool visual that I’d like to do more on in the future. Even better no less!
18) Final Stage Madness
A Hendrick Motorsports-sized restart with William Byron taking command of the field as he was going for his first NASCAR Cup Series championship. I didn’t think much of the image at the time, but I really liked how it focused on Byron, but also the idea of him surrounded by teammates Kyle Larson (5) and Chase Elliott (9), but also the three other title contenders Joey Logano (22), Ryan Blaney (12), and Tyler Reddick (45, far back and nearly off frame) with Christopher Bell (20) playing spoiler. While Byron didn’t win the title, it was a nice restart image I’m happy to have captured.
17) Smile: Volleyball Edition
Here’s a tip: If you’re going to watch Smile 2, don’t do it the night before working a basketball game like I did! Okay? Naomi Scott was marvelous in the film by the way! As far as this image, this was taken before the action resumed, but I really like how Everett CC’s Maya Gaudia (11) was smiling so sinisterly. Locked in personified if you ask me and after seeing the film, it felt right naming the title of this entry as such!
16) Eye of the Champion
Now this is a stare of a man who pulled an ass whooping on folks! Nobody amounted a true fight on Ty Majeski all night in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Championship Race at Phoenix Raceway and he was rewarded with a win and a championship. Once he got out of his No. 98 ThorSport Racing Ford F-150, I captured Majeski as if he saw me with his lunch money before further celebrating his title. Like Apollo Creed told Rocky Balboa in Rocky III, “Eye of the Tiger” and Majeski certainly did had it in him.
15) Flexing Hard on the Enemies
On the final night of NASCAR’s experiment of racing in the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, Denny Hamlin added another Busch Light Clash win into his arsenal of accomplishments. With Kyle Busch (8) and Ryan Blaney (12) feeling defeated, Hamlin’s burnout symbolized flexing hard to the competition. As the old saying goes, Hamlin certainly “stunned dem” field in SoCal.
14) The Joy of Double Dutch
It must’ve been since middle school that I’ve last tried jump roping in any capacity. I was semi-decent back in the day, but what I saw at Sundaes Outside, there’s no way I could last 30 seconds. Double Dutch was the last notable activity I focused shooting in the event and while there weren’t many shots that stood out, there’s always one that’ll salvage it and this image was rather simple. Smiles all-around and capturing the motions and again, there’s no way I could last a lengthy amount of time trying to jump rope at 30 years old. Just no way!
13) Golden Hour Deluxe
Golden hour paint scheme, golden hour setting. Jimmie Johnson’s Phoenix themed Carvana paint scheme was definitely one of the best ones from NASCAR Championship Weekend. So you can imagine when the No. 84 Legacy Motor Club Toyota hit the track as the sun was setting, it was going to be a simple task in what to capture during Friday’s practice session. I wasn’t disappointed with this image because the frame was ideal and he was all by himself exiting the “Dogleg.”
12) The Battle of Supercross
Loosely titled from the tentative name of Paul Thomas Anderson’s upcoming 2025 film The Battle of Baktan Cross, two riders certainly turned their battle into a show. In front of a passionate crowd at Lumen Field in Seattle, Chase Sexton (1) was trying to fend off a hard charging Cooper Webb (2) in the closing minutes of the 450SX main. This battle was fun to watch and certainly fun to capture as Webb really put on a master performance to ultimately pass Sexton and win the main event. Notice Webb tearing off a visor sheet mid-air? Fierce multitasking at its finest.
11) It’s Firehawk’s World
One caption sums up this image, we’re simply living in Firehawk’s world! As Scott Dixon was celebrating with his No. 9 Chip Ganassi Racing crew at Long Beach, I noticed Firehawk having a fun moment with two children with PNC Bank lanyards. Firehawk threw some confetti on the kids because sometimes in racing or any sport with a mascot, it’s about creating everlasting memories and this was no exception.
10) Unideal Night for Dancing
Storms are never fun to be around! It’s a life risk in my eyes, even if it gave me a chance to shoot photos of such storm that severely altered Saturday night’s activities of this year’s Refuge Outdoor Festival. Knowing I won’t go outside out of fear, I stayed at the barn and just tried capturing storm shots and personally, this was the shot with a person not in focus looking at the madness. Despite my tent, clothes and other sleeping valuables were drenched (thank goodness it was warm and sunny the next morning), my equipment wasn’t damaged at all. It made this image even enjoyable to look back upon.
9) High Quality Performance
As mentioned in my No. 12 entry, Cooper Webb (2) ended up winning the Seattle 450SX main over Chase Sexton (1). After an intense duel between the two, a simple congratulatory handshake made the battle even more memorable than it already was and little did I knew, there was more moments that unfolded after this image. All-around strong photo here.
8) Time of Reflection
Since 2019, I’ve been selective in which race I like to start off the season. All of them have been beach centric states (California and Florida) with Southern California being the epicenter of kicking off another year of racing coverage over the last three years, including this one back in late January. Before the Busch Light Clash in Los Angeles, I decided to choose Newport Beach as my golden hour sunrise spot. Despite finding litter, including a beer bottle, I really liked the spot and its setting. With this image, there’s a lot of stories being told with the single person walking around the beach being among the subjects. Going to beaches at sunrise provides tranquility and a tale to be told because it truly means racing season is here. With NASCAR no longer hosting a race in LA, it does leave me few options if I want to keep this tradition alive, but I’ll find a race event near a beach and witness a nice sunrise before the madness begins in 2025. All in the name of personal traditions.
7) Nostalgia Blur in SoCal
Nostalgia is an adrenaline rush in motorsports as Tim de Silva was piloting a classic CART machine around the famous streets of Long Beach in April. Even on a cloudy Saturday afternoon, de Silva provided amazing flashbacks to the days Scott Pruett drove the No. 20 Patrick Racing Lola T9500 to success in 1995. As time goes by, memory can be a blur but with a car like de Silva was driving, there’s some sense of sharp reflection coming back.
6) Peak of Outdoors
I have tendencies of trying to get these kind of shots on sunny afternoons and see how it’ll unfold. Fairly easy, but requires time to get the right light and visual to justify the vibrant look. Especially, when you have other outdoor activities to concentrate in order to fulfil my tasks for Golden Bricks Events. I so happened to find the right spot of the trees to get the sunlight to my liking and was one of my more favorable images of 2024 that I had no doubt it was making my cut which I’m glad it did.
5) Monochrome Smile in the Desert
I’ve known Heather as far back as 2018 during the then-known NASCAR K&N West Series and remained fairly connected since. So when it came down to doing a project in Arizona, she was someone I wanted to collaborate and glad we were able to do so in November. We decided to do the shoot at Papago Park, an area we’ve never been to before and just as golden hour was kicking into high gear, I captured this side shot of Heather. A monochrome look worked so well and it turned out so wonderful. It was fairly chilly and windy that evening in Arizona as noted by her hair, but that didn’t stop us.
4) El Fuego en Febrero
Fire is powerful, especially when it involves cars and happened to get the ideal shot. Daniel Suarez was navigating around the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum during NASCAR Mexico Series practice in February where his Chevrolet puffed out a huge fireball from his right exhaust pipe. Convenient heat is necessary during winter, even in Southern California. Suarez went on to win the race later that day as all race activities were moved to a single-day instead of two due to severe flood warnings likely preventing the event from happening otherwise.
3) Driver & Broadcast Connection
Racing is one thing, but friendships are everlasting in the eyes of Parker Kligerman (left) and Myatt Snider (right). Prior to NASCAR Xfinity Series qualifying at Phoenix Raceway, Kligerman was already in-race gear when Snider, who wasn’t racing in Arizona, came by to wish him the best of luck one last time. Phoenix marked Kligerman’s final race as a full-time racer as he’ll be concentrating in other ventures, including broadcasting on a regular basis.
2) Motions Is An Evergreen Feeling
After failing to do a candid portrait shoot in 2023, there was no way I was going to let that happen ever again. Fast forward to late spring, I collaborated with Alyssa, who was featured in my No. 25 ranked photo at the very beginning of this list, on a simple session in Bothell. The weather added a small challenge as it was during a small window where it wasn’t going to rain that Friday when we did this shoot. As we were getting close to the final set of shots, my creativity expanded and wanted to do a pose image of Alyssa next to a large tree where it highlights some of her tattoos. I really, really loved this image because there was a side of her that was captivating to capture which made for a strong image to be ranked this high on my list.
1) Pure Agony of Defeat
Everything about this image screams cinema, but in a rather sad tone as defending AMA Supercross champion Chase Sexton saw his winning aspirations and title defense wane after a gut-punching runner-up finish at Lumen Field in Seattle. Even if a podium helps tremendously in the big picture, losing can bring the lowest of lows as Sexton knew he had won the race, but couldn’t hold off race winner Cooper Webb nor gain enough ground on championship leader Jett Lawrence. In a time like losing, Sexton hung his head very low, wanting nobody near him in a time of agony as the title defense became insurmountable with a few rounds remaining. This image was a no-brainer as far as which image was my favorite from 2024 and honestly, it’s one of my favorite shots I’ve ever taken in the seven years I’ve covered motorsports.
Another year is about to go into the record books and I really hope you enjoyed some of my favorite shots of 2024.
There’s only a few more posts I’ll be publishing this year and it’s my personal favorite annual tradition. That being my annual top-100 songs of the year which will come out in two weeks, and I’ll also be sharing the 100 songs I liked a lot during high school (2009-2013).
You definitely don’t want miss both of those rankings!
In case you’re wondering, I’ll get around doing a 2017 ranking. It won’t come out this year because it’ll require a lot of reflection to put that list together.
For now, here’s every music ranking I’ve done over the years on this site!
Hope you stick around and give those a look when published. If interested in having my photography services, check out my main photography page.
My main focus is currently at Washington State with emphasis in Snohomish and King County areas. If you’re interested in acquiring my service, feel free to reach out and let’s discuss about a possible session between now and March 2025.
Services I’m currently providing this winter consists of the following:
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