The Year 2010 in Review

Wow, here we are December 31st 2010.  Hard to believe we are a full decade into the '00s.  It doesn't seem that long ago we were all worried about Y2K.  Somehow someway we survived and are staring at 2011.  Crazy.

This past year has been a big step for me in the photography world.  I made a small step from it being a hobby to taking on clients.  To say that it has been exciting would be an understatement.  For me this is the beginning of a dream come true. 

It is only fitting that the year started out by meeting new photog friends.  First up was Lamont & Maki Hardy.  I was introduced to them at a friends new year's eve party last year.  Lamont is an avid photog who I have had the pleasure shooting with on several occasions.  You can find his work at www.flickr.com/photos/lamonthardy. 

Along with meeting Lamont I was introduced to Jackie Sutherland.  Jackie is so much fun to shoot with because she is always in a learning mode.  Perhaps its the engineer in her or just the desire to be a better photographer.  What ever the reason she makes us all better because we have to think.  You can find Jackie's work at www.flickr.com/photos/jackiesutherland.

Next up is Holly Baumann.  I was introduced to Holly by my wife.  Holly is an experienced photographer who does outstanding work.  Her blog (hollybaumannphotography.blogspot.com) is well written and I encourage all photographers to give it a read.  For her fantastic photography visit:  www.hollybaumannphotography.com. Holly was gracious enough to allow me to 2nd shoot at the Children's Action Alliance benefit.  The experience from that outing allowed me to land my own event client, AZ Society of Association Executives. 

And as fitting as the year began it ends with me meeting one more photographer.  Through the power of social media (Twitter in this case) I met Mike Olbinski.  Mike specializes in weather and HDR photography.  I was able to meet up with Mike and a few of his photog friends this past week for a photo walk in downtown Phoenix.  It was great getting out and seeing Phoenix on foot with a camera in hand.  I've done a little urban photography but have never really gotten into it.  This past outing has sparked an interest into doing more of it.  When you get a chance stop by Mike's website (www.mikeolbinski.com) and prepare to be amazed by the AZ weather.

To everyone else who has helped me along the way let me say "Thank You".  Most of all I would like to give the biggest "Thanx" to my wonderful wife Carol.  Your never ending patience with me while camera in hand goes beyond what should be expected.  I don't recall "patience with photog husband" being in our vows, but somehow you've honored that and then some.  I'll try to be better but make no promises. :)

Below you will find a few of my favorite pictures from this past year.  I hope you enjoy them as much as I had in making them.  To see more of my work, visit me at www.ChrisFrailey.com.

  

A Rare Treat in AZ

Typically the weather in AZ has two descriptions, hot or nice.  And by hot I mean 115 in August.  And by nice I mean 75 on December 18th.  Occasionally we have rain but it never lasts more than a day.  So you can imagine the surprise and delight when we had fog!  Real genuine hard to drive in fog. 

Granted most of the country would curse at this occurrence.  However I have only seen fog about 3 times in the past 12 years I've lived here.  So this was a treat.  Cool pictures were sure to happen.

Of course as luck would have it, my wife had a presentation to do in northern AZ.  She was out the door at 6:30am which left me with kid duty and taxi service.   Grrr, precious picture taking would have to wait.  Not what I wanted to hear.

After rattling the cages of our two monkeys I prepared the fastest breakfast a dad can, milk & cereal.  With breakfast eaten time to get our 3 year old dressed.  This is always a crap shoot as sometimes he goes with the first pick and sometimes not.  Luck was on my side as my first attempt was met with approval.  The 8 year old was dressed and brushing her teeth. 

Last up was preparing lunches.  I could just envision the sun coming out now and burning off the fog as I spread peanut butter.  Grrr.  Loaded for the day we hit the garage and popped the door open.  Sweet! The sun was buried behind a massive layer of clouds so the fog was able to hang around.  I still had a chance for a few good brackets. 

On the way to my daughter's school we drove past a park that was blanketed with fog.  I could see the shot right there in front of me.  A choice had to be made.  Should I stop for a quick shot or two and risk my daughter being late or continue on and pray there would be enough time to get back.  Priorities. I decided to go on and drop her off on time and then drop my son off as well at his school.  This would allow me to shoot in peace assuming there was something still left to shoot.  

  Upon returning I saw that luck was still with me.  The fog had hung around for me.  It wanted to be photographed.  I could feel it.

Until next time...