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I’ve debated how I wanted to do my yearly wrap up post, month by month, major events, or just with photos. But I think a mixture of all will work, especially since 2009 was a busy year for me. Also, this will be a bit link-heavy.

I started 2009 off not with a roar, not even with a murmur, but more like a whimper. 2008 ended in a fashion I wouldn’t dare wish upon others and to be honest I thought I was gonna struggle for most of 2009 trying to deal with the demons of yore.

But, to start things off, I went on a deployment to the lovely Arab state of Qatar, which lasted 4 months. And in those four months, I came to grip with a lot of things, although I hung onto something longer than I wanted (Not healthy for everyone involved). It was what I needed though. Being away from everything you know, it helps you put things into perspective. I was surrounded by a great group of people, including a buddy of mine from tech school who left Ramstein about a year before the deployment. Of course, probably the biggest thing to come out of the deployment the laid the foundation pretty much for the rest of the year, was me buying my new camera, and strobe equipment. Needless to say, the first four months of 2009 were busy for me, work, home, wherever I was, I was not sitting idly by.

After May, things began to slow down a bit. From May to June, I took my usual month exodus back to the states. It was a nice little recharge. Flying first class to New Orleans, where I spent half of the month with family and my bayou friends. I bought more camera equipment, and gave my old camera to my Dad so he could get out of the house more. It was also the first time since I first went back after I joined the Air Force in November of 2005 where I noticed the strides of improvement following that bitch Katrina. The Louisiana portion, it was good for me. It was one of those rare times that the old man and I connected and shared something. It was… inspiring.
The other portion was spent in my other lovely hometown of Kansas City and Topeka. This was important for me, because I thought that I wanted to come back, start my studio in Kansas City; and reconnect with a lot of my friends. The latter part, I did, went to a Royals game with some of my best friends. Did a lot of driving, looking for potential homes/studio spaces, reconnected with a lot of people, and I also did a lot of thinking. My immediate plan was to move back to Kansas City as soon as my enlistment was up, move my studio business, and be on my merry way. However, as I spent more time driving around, looking at homes/studio spaces, I just kept getting this uncomfortable vibe. I wanted to come home, but I realized that the timing wasn’t right for me.
The time spent with my friends though, that was the best part of the experience. Even if I couldn’t find a place, the times I spent with friends was great. The coffee, the roaming around, the Baseball game, remembering all the lost memories.

Of course, that had to come to end. The rest of 2009 was spent in good ole Germany. Half of that was spent at my old shop, and my new shop. The stresses from work, while I hated them, helped me with my photography. I have made it no secret that I’m not a real fan of what I do, the people I do work with are awesome and is a major reason I’ll probably stay doing what I do in the Air Force. However, the biggest part of my work related part of my year, was me making rank. My second time testing for Staff Sergeant, and I made it by… Oh I dunno, some points. This lead me to Airman Leadership School in the later part of the year, where I met a lot of new friends. Learning a new plane (C130J-30), learning a new rank (E5), it was and is a bit overwhelming. For now though, I’m gonna enjoy my Senior Airman status.

The theme throughout the year though, was me getting better at my passion. I spent around 4400 dollars this year on new equipment, I bought two books, new software, and following (what I view as) the best photographers on Twitter, one of which I already highlighted in a blog entry. I’m reading about techniques, and I’m finding my way and where I want to go. I already have a good idea of where I want to be, and it’s got me pretty interested in where I want to go. I have money saved up, in 2010 I plan on buying my first full frame DSLR, a Nikon D700. I also plan on getting another AlienBee’s strobe, this time a B800 and a few accessories for it. I also plan on getting a new 27in iMac to help me edit my photos. I already have my “portfolio” site up, and I hope to do more with it next year.

What will 2010 see? Well, my first PCS. Possibly my first year (since 2005) where I didn’t take my usual month off. I don’t know where my photography will take me. I have a rough idea where I’ll be, where I’ll go and what I’ll do. But, we’ll see. My blogs will be busy, Flickr and definitely my Twitter feed. So it’s gonna be well documented.

Let’s go.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, December 23rd, 2009 at 1:48 AM and is filed under Featured, Personal. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.