Welcome to the New Year. It occurred to me that I hadn’t gotten around to posting anything since before Thanksgiving and was past due on updating on what has been going on. I have been busy personally and work-wise, and then there was this thing we call the Holidays. Through all of it, there was much that has gone on and I’ll try to cover all of it if possible.

Since November, I have been continuously working on my long term project, “A Southern Verse”. Between trying to edit and sequence the larger whole of the project for book form, sending it out for competitions, and continuing trying to get it shown, I’ve continued to have a full plate. For anyone that has worked on sequencing a large project like this, you can understand what I mean when I say that my dining room table has been covered for a good bit of time. I’m slowly coming to a point where I’m content with the edit and sequencing, but I still have some eyes that I want to have a look at it before I commit to putting together a mock-up. Once that is done, it will be another process of sending it out for competitions and getting more ideas on it, all in hopes of getting it published.

Much like most industries, things tend to slow down a little around the holidays, but this year proved to be a little more fast paced than in the past. Thanks to some valuable guidance from multiple people, I’ve been able to spread the project further through competitions and get some more eyes on it nationally and internationally. It is all a process, and even a rejection from competitions or shows is accepted, as it means the work has been seen. I have been fortunate enough to get recognition from the Neutral Density Awards, the Tokyo International Foto Awards, and the Woven Tale Press 2018 Competition.

Along with the recognition from Woven Tale Press, I have been notified that I will be featured in their February, 2019, issue. I will be sure to leave a link for the feature as soon as all is finalized and viewable online. Along with Woven Tale, I was notified that I will be included in Pastiche Magazine later in 2019. Again, a link will be made available for this when it becomes available.

As 2018 came to a close, I also have found myself sending out work and preparing for more travel. While in South America over the holidays, I was notified that I needed to send a piece to Vienna, Austria, which ended up being a little of a learning process in international shipping and timing, but overall turned out well. Along with that, I had work shown in Rome, Italy, and will be traveling to Calgary, Alberta, Canada, for the Exposure Photo Festival in February. While there, I will be participating in my first portfolio review of the year and receiving some helpful insight into my work.

On a side note, as I alluded to in the last paragraph, I just returned from South America and a trip to the Patagonia region of Chile and Argentina. It was a magnificent trip to a part of the world I have always wanted to see. It was by far an experience that I will cherish the rest of my life. If you haven’t already looked at them, I have images up under the “Places” section on the website. Most of these are images that show definite human presence in the region, which is more in tune with my usual work. However, I do have many images of the natural beauty the region has to offer. The insight into the effects of climate change and its effects on the region was both amazing and sad, but it didn’t take away from the stunning majesty of the landscape. I hope that we can at least slow the changes to this region and others, but it was also pleasing to know that not all is lost, yet. If anyone, especially photographers, are interested in knowing more, please contact me through my email address, available under “Contact”. Also, I have contact with one of the guides that we had who is planning a photo based trip in the region for April of 2020. If you are interested in looking into it, let me know and I can get you in contact with him and send you the information on the trip.

All said, the last few months have been highly productive. Along with the usual rejections, I’ve had many positives to lead me into this year. Both professionally and personally there have been wonderful things that have happened and I look forward to another productive and rewarding year. I hope that all continues to go well for both myself, and you, the reader, in another trip around the sun.