2024: The Year to Remember

2024 was a year that came with a new surprise every month, including many firsts, including my first NASCAR Race, a twelve week road trip, and the US Open Tennis Championships.

After graduating with my Masters’ Degree from Syracuse University this past May, I went onto an adventure into my first year as a freelance photographer, and the journey took me across the United States, from Lake Tahoe, California to New York City and Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.

I give a special thanks to every friend, professor, photographer, editor, professor, and colleague who supported me this past 2024.

Here are some major milestones that defined my year.

A Summer of Golf

The summer was unlike any other. From May to August I covered the following tournaments:
American Century Championship
Barracuda Championship
Ross Intercollegiate
Wyndham Championship
LIV Golf Greenbrier
Simmons Bank Open for the Snedeker Foundation

At the 2024 US Open, I served as an Editorial Team Embed for the Official US Open Photo team. During the fourteen days in Flushing, New York, I acted as a liaison between the photo and editorial teams, creating galleries and pitching innovative ideas to feature the photography team’s work throughout every match up in the tennis tournament.

Highlight: Capturing The Power Of Tennis

One of my favorite galleries I created during the tournament was “Capturing The Power of Tennis,” where we feature an image that matches each theme of the 2024 US Open.

View the gallery here: Capturing the Power of Tennis

In EA Sports College Football 25, several of my images were used for the home screen if the user sets their favorite team to Coastal Carolina.

After the Big South Women’s Basketball Championship, I collaborated with the conference and Presbyterian College to host a impromptu studio shoot celebrating the new champions.

This year saw the coverage of eight NCAA Championships, including the highly prolific Women’s Final Four in Cleveland, and several championships across all three divisions in the Carolinas

The year was full of many firsts, including photographing my first….

Solar Eclipse
NASCAR race (ARCA Series at Bristol)
Anatasia and Steve Jones-Laguna’s Wedding
Bishop Ordination
Major League Soccer Match (Charlotte FC v Portland Timbers)
Outdoor Hockey Game (Charlotte Checkers v Rochester Americans)

Highlight: Jac Caglianone and the Florida Gators win the
Men’s College World Series Super Regional against the Clemson Tigers

“Capturing Gold” is the official capstone to my college career. I served as the Photography Lead during the Lake Placid 2023 FISU World University Games, where I developed a workflow solution that was easy for photography students to understand while gaining professional experience covering a games similar to the Winter Olympics.

The thesis project, called “Capturing Gold” spanned across Upstate New York, where the team of 18 covered over 85 sporting events in 11 days.

The photography team consisted of 18 members from Syracuse University which included faculty, graduate and undergraduate students from the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications.

I worked with university faculty to develop and teach a guide for students on how to cover an event from pregame preparation, to game action, and post-processing.