I have a few sets of photos from 2014 to share, and I figured I’d share them all in a single post rather than multiple tiny posts. While home in Dallas for the holidays my family took a short road trip to Tyler, Texas to visit the Caldwell Zoo. This was my first time visiting the zoo in a number of years. As you can see, I enjoyed photographing the birds. The excellent background-subject separation of the Canon 70-200mm f/4L really made these shots standout.

Back in Dallas, I did another shoot for my cousins Brittney and Preston. You might recall that I also provided photography for their engagement and wedding. This was a fun shoot that offered the opportunity to explore a small portion of downtown Dallas around the DMA and Fairmont Dallas. It feels so strange to play tourist in a city I still consider home.

On the way back from a trip to Arkansas—to shoot the capitol in Little Rock, of course—Michelle and I picked up some sparklers. One of my favorite shots of my oldest niece, Emma, is of her with her very first sparkler. I didn’t want to necessarily recreate this photo; but, I did want to recreate the fun of that moment…and play with long exposures. We had a blast making different shapes, letters, and numbers. My sister-in-law, Tes, came up with the idea to make a “2015” composite to ring in the new year.

That is mostly it for 2014. I mentioned Arkansas capitol photos. Lookout for a separate post about those along with photos from Maine and New Hampshire!