About a month ago, I had the idea to venture into food photography :D I love shooting music but I thought trying my skills in a new area would be fun and hopefully bring clients. So far I've gotten great feedback and I'm excited to see where things go. I've come to enjoy shooting and editing food as well - it's a new kind of detail I like bringing out in my photos. Anyways below are some shots I really like and looking forward on what's to come.

Went on the Dupont Underground tour yesterday and it was pretty cool, most of the tour was in the dark but there were some moments of pretty lights and art that I snapped.

It's hard to put yesterday into words but I really felt a sense of overwhelming hope. I knew the numbers would be large for the Women's March in Washington but seeing it in person yesterday and hearing about the the hundreds of thousands in other locations around the world gave me so much pride. 8 years ago I went to Barack Obama's inauguration and I will never forget the energy and feeling of that historic moment. Yesterday I felt a lot of those similar emotions seeing women of my race and countless others not backing down to our new administration. There is power in numbers and it was beautiful to see so many faces and creatives marching together. Despite the large crowds, over flooded metro and streets, people were kind and respectful to each other. Not one arrest was made in DC and the message was sent. There is so much more to do but if day one is any indication of what we can do, I'm very hopeful. 

I have a lot of mixed feelings about things that happened in 2016 but it has by far been my biggest growth year in photography so far. I hit a lot of goals and pushed myself out of uncertainty to try new things. I also met a lot of great photographers who I learned so much from (shout out to The Photo Ladies). Next year I want to push myself more, do way more portraits (let me know if you want your picture taken :D) cover a huge festival (stress and all lol) and develop stronger relationships with bands. All of these are attainable goals and I look forward to them. So to look back, here are my favorite 16 photos of 2016, hard to narrow down but here they are:

While my good camera was getting repaired a few weeks ago, I got approved to photograph Chvrches' last show of their tour cycle in DC. I was so stoked but a little apprehensive because I had to shoot with my first camera that night. It had been a while since I used that camera but there was no way I was going to pass up on Chvrches. The night of the show I was pretty much the only photographer in the pit (can't remember the last time that's happened). Their lighting was gorgeous and I used my sigma art lens and 50mm 1.4. And it really is the truth that the lens is what makes great pics over camera body. It was an awesome surprise to see how well the pics came out. I always preferred investing in a good lens over a new camera body and that night solidified it for me. PS my D7100 is back and all fixed, ready for more shows!

So for the past month, I've been snapping different areas in the city for some Halloween-esque photos (insert pumpkin emoji). I've been trying new things with shooting so I enjoyed taking these. I may or may not have slammed on my breaks while driving and hopped out of my Jeep to take a few of these lol. My favorite shot was of the Exorcist stairs in Georgetown. 

Shot my last festival of the year on Saturday! I was pretty excited for the All Things Go fest, the last big fest I shot was Warped in July and wanted more. While the acts were great along with the location - IT RAINED FOR HOURS. I brought a rain cover for my camera in preparation but water still got to my camera and right after I finished shooting Bishop Briggs, my camera started glitching and all I could think about was getting it dry and saving it. So sadly I only have shots from the first half of the festival. I was really blown this happened but I'm glad I at least got to see and photograph Bishop Briggs - I was looking forward to her set the most. Anyways below are my snaps from the day. And fingers crossed I get my camera working again soon. 

Social media is the damn best. A few weeks ago the Washington Spirit tweeted that media applications were open for their first home playoff game. I love watching the US women play along with NWSL games and until I saw that tweet, I had never really thought about applying to photograph a game. But everything worked out and Friday night I was on the field watching and snapping some of my favorite players, Ali Krieger, Crystal Dunn and Christen Press. And the Spirit won to top it all off! Championship in Houston is next week (anyone want to fly me out to shoot it? lol). Pics from the night below.

Last Friday I shot my first EDM show with Flume at 930 Club. I like listening to EDM every now and then and always wanted to capture some cool lighting.