My Top Pictures of 2024
Since 2013, I have reflected on each year by reviewing all my photos and selecting my top 100 favorites. In 2024, I traveled extensively, particularly from July through September, and again in November, when I departed for Texas on Election Day. I visited 13 states this year, with the biggest stretch being five states in eleven days. The travels involved marching arts opportunities, work and general photography. I continued with my weekly photography challenges with the Ricky Tims critique group, finishing out my tenth straight year – 520 weekly challenges without missing a single one.
This blog post will give an overview of my year of photography with a focus on my top 100 photos. I reviewed about 231,400 photos from the year to identify the best ones to tell the story of my year.
Equipment
I continued with the Sony mirrorless system. I picked up a few new lenses including the Sony 300mm f/2.8 GM and Sony 85mm f/1.4 GMii. At the very end of the year I bought the new "mark ii" version of the Sony A1. I also bought a 15-30 lens for my full spectrum Canon R. I wanted a lens slightly wider than the kit lens that originally came with the camera.
Top 100 by the numbers
By Camera - Most of the photos were taken with the Sony A1. A dozen photos (some infrared) were taken with my Sony AIV which was converted to full spectrum and seven photos were taken with the Sony A7RV. One infrared photo was taken with the Nikon Z5 and used in a composite with another photo. Two photos were taken with my cell phone and used in composites with other photos.
By Lens - 20 lenses were used for the top 100. The Sony 24-70mm f/2.8 GMii lens accounted for the most photos (18), followed closely by the Sony 70-200mm f/2.8 GMii and the Sony 300mm f/2.8 GM, each with 15 photos. No other lenses were in double digits. A few of the photos used teleconverters with the 70-200, both the 1.4 and 2x converters bringing the total count for the 70-200 to 36.
By Location - 36 locations are represented in the top 100. The location with the most (21) and only location in double digits was Indianapolis where I photographed the Drum Corps International championships.
Activity - 24 Indoor Guard/Drumline, 37 Drum Corps, 22 Marching Band, 1 of the solar eclipse, 5 from my Midwest trip, and 5 at Longwood Gardens. The rest were general photography.
Indoor Guard, Drumline, Dance and Twirlers
From mid-January through the first weekend in May, the regular weekend shows provided many opportunities to experience incredible performances. I had the pleasure of photographing championship events for Mid-Atlantic Percussion Society (MAPS), Mid-Atlantic Indoor Network (MAIN) and Tournament Indoor Association (TIA). I also covered three regionals for Winter Guard International (WGI) for the first time. The indoor season is the longest part of my year and includes a lot of variety and opportunities for individuals to really show their talents. More than 60% of my photos for the year are from the indoor season.
Arlington Guard had one of my favorite shows this season. I had the pleasure of seeing them four times - in prelims and finals at two WGI Regionals. Their performance, titled 'Lizzie,' explored the complex story of Lizzie Borden, focusing on her tumultuous family relationships, her trial, and the scrutiny surrounding the infamous 1892 crime. The black costumes and show design worked really well in black and white as I shot the finals at the Bethlehem show. The group was undefeated in the 2024 season, winning Scholastic A Guard at WGI finals. The show ends with a large balance scale in the center of the floor. The scale serves as a visual representation of the courtroom trial and the broader theme of justice in Lizzie Borden's story. The scale may tip or remain balanced, leaving the audience to interpret the unresolved questions of Lizzie's guilt or innocence. The show ends with the Lizzie character holding an axe on one side of the scale with all the members on the other side. The scale tips toward her.
My favorite drumline show this season was Spring-Ford. I was invited to their early season Friends and Family show where I was truly amazed at how much of the show they already had down. I didn't go to Dayton for WGI championships but I watched each of their performances online including the final run that won Scholastic A. I created this intricate composite as a way to honor their achievement, sharing the photo to my Facebook page. Someone took the photo and submitted it to WGI who showed it on the jumbotron later in the weekend.
South Dakota
My eleven day trip across the Midwest centered around two days driving across South Dakota. I left Mankato MN on Wednesday morning and drove to Sioux Falls, where I stopped at Falls Park for lunch and some photos. My next stop was the Dignity statue in Chamberlain. Next stop was Badlands National Park for a quick drive through the main route with some stops for photos. I reached the famous Wall Drug in time for dinner. I continued the drive to the Black Hills and realized I'd have time to stop at Mount Rushmore before settling in for the night. I spent the next day driving the three scenic loops at Custer State Park and went to Rapid City to meet a friend for dinner. The following morning, I left for Wyoming.
I wish I had more time to explore Badlands National Park but I had to squeeze the visit in between two drum corps shows that were two days and 780 miles apart.
035-The BadlandsMy drive across South Dakota included a quick drive through Badlands National Park.
Driving around the Black Hills of South Dakota, views of Mount Rushmore seem to pop up out of nowhere. This is an infrared 850nm image taken from a distance. If you zoom in you can see the parking structure and where the viewing pavilion is located.
The Crazy Horse Memorial was created to honor Native American heritage and to counter the white faces of Mount Rushmore. In 1939, Lakota Chief Henry Standing Bear invited Polish-American sculptor Korczak Ziolkowski to carve the memorial. The memorial is still under construction. If you look closely you can see construction vehicles, fencing and even a few workers on the outstretched hand. By 2037, the hand, arm, shoulder, hairline, and the top of the horse's head are expected to be completed. There is no timeline for full completion.
After my time in South Dakota, I drove to Cheyenne WY for a drum corps show and continued on to Fort Collins CO. Before heading home, I spent a day in Rocky Mountain National Park.
Drum Corps
The summer drum corps season provides opportunities to travel. The big trip this year was an eleven day sprint that included five shows, five states, two national parks, one national memorial, a private memorial, one state park and two employee visits. The whirlwind trip started in Milwaukee and ended in Denver. The rest of the summer I tried to focus on the Open Class corps as much as possible, along with the shows in the Philadelphia area.
Drum Corps International (DCI) championships week was busier than usual. Besides the normal events, the Crossmen 50th Anniversary corps practiced in Lucas Oil Stadium on Wednesday. I spent a few hours photographing them while they rehearsed. The new All Age class championships occurred on Saturday morning. Friday's semifinals provided an opportunity to shoot from the field (Thursday I was in the first row of the stands) and there were a few shots I was determined to get. One was the final battle scene from the Troopers show as the hero defeats the devil. This was a tough shot to get because the action was staged far back, the characters were moving and the corps was moving as well.
My favorite musical moment from one of my favorite shows of the season remained elusive from a photography viewpoint. I found this challenging to capture due to other performers, sideline restrictions, my location on the sideline and all the other factors that go into getting an action shot. Finally, all of the pieces came together at my last opportunity at DCI Semifinals. This is a beautiful moment in the show Mynd by Phantom Regiment. The beauty and power of that sound was something to behold.
The DCI Open Class championships happened earlier in the week in Marion IN. I often shoot the finals in black and white in order to get a different perspective on the shows. I set my camera to black and white so that I'm viewing the show as if it were a black and white movie. River City Rhythm, whose show was called Mine!, went on about 8:40pm so it was dark enough for the headlamps to make an impact. With their coal miner costumes, I thought they looked great in black and white.
The addition of the DCI All Age Class meant that the drum corps season ended the second Saturday in August rather than continuing through Labor Day. Other than 2020 and 2021 when Drum Corps Associates canceled their championships or held them virtually by video, I haven't been home for Labor Day weekend in decades.
Photography Summit
For the fourth year in a row, Ricky Tims hosted a photography summit in La Veta CO. Ricky runs the weekly challenge group I've participated in for the past ten years. The group includes people from all over the world. Unlike previous years, this year's summit included a virtual option. My wife Donna joined the challenge group ("first year") this year (I'm in the critique group for people who have completed the first year) so we decided to spend the week in New Hope PA for the summit and dial in remotely. I taught a Q&A session about Lightroom. The online format was probably not the best platform for that presentation since it required more interactivity.
This was our first time staying in New Hope. I've driven past it plenty on my way to New Jersey but we thought this quirky little town along the Delaware River would be a great place to spend a few days taking pictures. Even though it was just the beginning of October, Fall colors were popping up along the river. The quaint town offered many photo opportunities and we were able to complete all of the challenges for the week. But one of the best things was having a hotel right by the river where it was easy to catch some early morning sunrise photos.
Marching Band
Unlike last year, weather did not pose any issues this season. One or two shows in September had some light rain but largely the weekends were rain free in the Northeast. Great for marching band, not so much for water levels. I had a great time taking wide low angle photos this season. I really try to elevate the subject of my photos and getting low really does that. The wide-angle lens creates a perspective that makes the performer appear larger than life. This is especially fun at places like MetLife Stadium where I can use the background to create a sense of context.
The marching band season ended for me in Texas. I flew to DFW on Election Day. The next evening I had a show at AT&T Stadium followed by an all day event at AT&T on Thursday. My final show was in Austin. The rest of my time in Texas was spent visiting clients and employees. Many of the Texas shows are a prelims/finals format, so I get to see a lot of the groups twice. Given the size of some of these bands, the multiple viewings provide an opportunity to catch action that was missed the first time. Usually I'll position myself on the opposite side of the field and make different lens choices.
At the Austin show, John M. Harlan High School opened with a solo dancer. As there was another performer kneeling behind the action, I decided to get creative with the photo by separating the subject and removing the distractions from the background, then applying a repeating transformation technique.
095-Quad JumpA step transform repetition Photoshop edit of a color guard move by John M. Harlan HS.
Storytelling
I had the opportunity to create several fun composites and attach fabricated stories to them. Early in the year, we had a challenge using the lyrics of Sound of Silence. I wanted to turn my hallway into a tenement hall. Instead of painting graffiti on the walls, I pulled a photo into Photoshop and "painted" my scene.
The story: It took a lot of work but I turned my bedroom hallway into a tenement hall. Let's just say, my wife wasn't too pleased. I might have to spend the weekend painting instead of photographing a color guard show.
About the composite: Speaking of color guard, I wanted to make use of the Steel Spirit of Coatesville color guard show which used the Disturbed cover of the song for their show in 2017 which had a strong message on not being silent about racial injustice. The "I will" "not" and "be silent" words were taken from the flags used for the end of their show.
One challenge was "Story Time" where we had to attach a story to an image. The story could be true or made up. I went for a made up story, which I think some people in my group thought was true, even though it seemed pretty far fetched. The story was that a group wanted to celebrate the marching arts in Texas and paid me $10,000 for photos from AT&T Stadium which they installed all around DFW Airport. To get the base photo, I used my cell phone taking pictures around the airport. I then merged in some of my photos from the AT&T shows. I made six of these and two are in my top 100 gallery. They were so much fun.
Self Portrait
Every year we are given a self portrait challenge, usually toward the end of the year. We're supposed to highlight something about ourselves, not just a head shot or something abstract like the back of our hand. Over the years I've incorporated my photography and my musical instruments into my self portraits. This year I decided to pick up on my DFW story and imagine Sony wanted to do an ad for their 300mm GM lens with me as the spokesperson.
Year Word
My year word for 2024 was Moments. I thought that would fit well with my photography, which is all about capturing moments. But honestly, I didn't think much about the word and, at times, I couldn't remember what word I had chosen. Usually we have a challenge mid-way through the year to revisit our year word but that didn't happen. Hopefully whatever I choose as my year word for 2025 will have more impact.
The Top 100
So, those are some of the photos I took this year and a bit about this year's photography journey. You can see all of them in the Top 100 gallery. Here is a quick thumbnail view of the bunch.
Favorite Photo
Our final photography challenge for the year was to pick our Favorite Photo. I narrowed the top 100 down to 14 candidates. Unlike past years, I really didn't know all along which photo I was going to pick. I went through the candidates with Donna until I had just one. This is the bass guitar player for Brick Township Marching Band. A photo of him was in my 2023 top 100 as well. He is an exceptionally expressive musician. The photo was taken at the TOB Championships in Hershey with the Sony 400mm f/2.8 GM lens, requiring a very tight crop.
2025?
As of now, I have no plans for any big trips, so it is unlikely I'll make it to Hawaii which is the last state I have to visit. I will continue with my marching arts photography. This year I will be the official photographer for five Winter Guard International (WGI) regionals. I will be at the Corning NY, Holland PA and Bethlehem PA guard regionals. I'll also be at the percussion regionals in Dartmouth MA and Toms River NJ. There is a chance that I'll mix things up a bit with the drum corps season and catch a few shows in California or maybe other places I haven't been to in a while. I am continuing with the Ricky Tims Critique Group for year number 11. This year Donna will be in the same group with me, so hopefully we'll have some photo outings together. The weekly photo challenges are a way of life now and motivate me to explore other kinds of photography and new locations.