I hope this past year had some great moments for you and your loved ones. As per tradition, I’m thrilled to share some photographic highlights from 2024. To mix things up a bit, I didn’t strictly adhere to the literal definition of “ten photographs.” Please enjoy.
Fellow Northwestern alum April Wright has a gift for documenting essential elements of American entertainment. From drive-in theaters to movie palaces (those elegant venues replaced by multiplexes in the 1970s), she lovingly captures subjects from a bygone era. In January, we filmed Dominic Cangelosi, the legendary owner of Glendale’s Moonlight Rollerway, for her new film about roller skating. It’s always a joy collaborating with April—we first connected through the Northwestern Entertainment Alliance (NUEA) in 2007 and made our first short together fourteen years ago.
While searching for a workaround to share an image from a classified motion capture shoot in March, I discovered this tutorial. I lack the patience (and frankly the interest) to dive deep into AI tools, but the results were too wild not to share: FISH MAN and ARMY CADET. The director wanted the handheld camera movement to feel authentic despite everything being digitally rendered. The VFX team meticulously tracked every movement of my ARRI Alexa 35 and matched focal length changes in real time on the Angénieux EZ1 zoom.
In the most pivotal scene, the cameraperson jumps out of a plane with the actor. To better bridge digital and physical worlds, I suggested rigging me into the stunt harness to capture something truly authentic. After a few hours in that suspension suit, I have even more respect for stunt performers.
Whenever Paul B. Cummings and Matt Marenyi call, I know we’re going to have a great time. While we only worked together once in 2024, it was for promo on one of the year’s biggest films: Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes. I’m really proud of how it turned out.
Thanks to Jordi Matsumoto and his production company, Marching Penguin, I spent three days on stage shooting two campaigns for Metro by T-Mobile. I wrote about both experiences in detail—the first directed by Jordi, and the second helmed by Tom Morris, one of the busiest directors in advertising. If they look familiar, it’s because they were everywhere this fall.
I once wished for a recurring job—something consistent but not overwhelming, with a great team. I might be jinxing it, but for the past two and a half years, we’ve gathered regularly at Disney’s Grand Central Creative Campus to do just that. After countless hours together, we’ve learned to keep things fun. At one point, while looking for notes from my longtime collaborator Mark Rinehart, I noticed someone had “replaced” our affable writer/producer Nathan Redfern with a stuffed animal.
Shooting at the Happiest Place on Earth came with a cost—sleep. The climax of the Disney docuseries Create Your World took place in front of Cinderella’s Castle, which meant a 2AM wake-up to clear security by 3:10AM. The exhaustion fades, but the result lives on YouTube. I captured the image on the left of my C-camera operator Max Schmige and host Riley Van Cleve, while our stills photographer Jiro Schneider grabbed the one on the right of me.
To showcase Vizcom’s AI tools, filmmaker Reza Bird created a commercial illustrating how designers can bring ideas into the real world. The teal chair you see here was designed using Vizcom itself. They’ve become a fantastic collaborator this year, and hopefully beyond. I especially love the launch video we created.
When Gordon Garreau asked if I was available on Halloween, I told him I’d likely show up in costume. Did it matter that it was a one-day shoot with a mostly new crew? Not at all. To my surprise, only the sound mixer and I fully committed. If you’re not enjoying the job, what’s the point? Hopefully the team had as much fun as I did. I’m looking forward to more opportunities on the volume in 2025.
Given the trajectory of AI, this felt like an appropriate inclusion. Steve Talkowski used a photo of me as a reference to generate DP-inspired robots using Vizcom. It’s both surreal and fascinating to see how artists integrate real-world references into AI workflows.
It’s hard to see the evolution from the original source image, so I highlighted two favorites alongside it. I’m not sure why my knees are bent like that—it looks like I’m about to do deadlifts.
I love photography, and if we’ve worked together, you know I’m always grabbing stills. I recently picked up a Fuji GFX 50S II with a few new lenses. This portrait from our final Vizcom shoot of the year with designer Scott Robertson pairs beautifully with a hazed environment and the Mamiya 645 80mm T1.9. I’m excited to share that episode of Design Decoded soon.
Beyond a great professional year, I wanted to include one personal highlight: witnessing my second total solar eclipse. Iris and I joined family in Dallas to experience it together—an unforgettable moment. The next major opportunity is projected for August 2, 2027 in Luxor, Egypt. I’ll meet you there.
Before signing off, one more update: I released a new lineup of genre-specific cinematography reels, including documentary and music video cuts for the first time.
To continue down memory lane, here are links to the eleven previous yearly recaps: 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013. What’s your favorite shot of the bunch?