What a year!
This year was a significant year for me in many ways that I've shared in previous blog posts. The theme of this year is a complete revamp of every facet of my process, and I'm proud of how far I've come. It started when I could accurately articulate why I needed improved equipment after my pro-bono shoot for the Chicago teams at Sin City Classic in 2025 and everything snowballed from there.
That being said, here's my favorite images by each month of 2025!
January
Obviously, my boyfriend had to make an appearance for my favorite images of the year, and this one from the NGFFL tournament stop at the Sin City Classic makes the perfect entry for this list. The soft blue mountains in the background, the motion of the flag pull, the opponents looking on from the sideline.. all of it makes a pretty compelling shot for me. It's giving Heisman!
February
Basketball was a new sport for me in 2025, and pleased with quite a few shots from the album. I loved the collision and motion here (much to the chagrin of my dear friend Moses)
March
Had a ton of fun at the WNFC inaugural year getting a few of the Chicago Winds games. This was another first for me - tackle football - and a bit of an adjustment for me considering how many additional players were on the field in comparison to the 7v7 flag football games that I'm accustomed to. Loved getting this celly of a first down captured on tape.
April
Funny story about this shoot - I completely scrapped my first session because I used the completely wrong lens for this venue. I hated how the photos turned out, and used that to justify purchasing a new lens that was better fit-for-purpose. This is a photo from that reshoot with my new lens that I LOVE. Love the photo too!
May
A defining moment for me in the first half of 2025 was being offered a spot to shoot at the inaugural Women's Elite Rugby season with the Chicago Tempest. I had a great time learning the game and learning the ins and outs of delivering photos QUICKLY (like by halftime of the game quickly!) I was especially proud of this photo from all that I delivered for the organization.
June
This shot from Pride Bowl might be my personal candidate for favorite photo of the year of this set. The perfect placement of the ball right over Broedy's shoulder for the touchdown... the stance of defeat from the defender trailing knowing that it happened... the athleticism... all of it made for an AMAZING picture. I honestly can't believe that I ended up timing this so perfectly.
July
Lots of content from CMSA summer beach volleyball this season, and I particularly liked this shot from July. A slight blur from the motion of the hand and the ball, a moody sky backdrop, lots of components here that I think make this shot work.
August
I really enjoyed he drama of this shot from CMSA Open Sunday Softball, the just barely miss on the tag and the dirt kicked up from where the runner's feet were previously was such a cool moment to get on tape.
September
Another football entry for 2025, but couldn't help myself after this one. This was a really weird lighting day - felt like we had every possible weather event happen in one day - but it worked for this shot with the sun naturally spotlighting the action and motion of this image.
November
There are a few folks that I tend to get a lot of shots of during my football shoots, and Maddie is definitely one of them. Maddie is one of the best athletes in the entire league and stepped up to the plate in the Open Competitive division of CMSA's fall season as QB. The fall colors here and a little bit of added grain in post led to a fun vintage effect here to capture the moment.
December
One event shot made the cut (mostly because I shoot less sports in the winter anyways), but nevertheless loved this shot. I got a starburst filter for my camera and used this shoot at Very That to trial it out and loved the results here.
