2015 Year in Review

         2015 was a comeback year for me. I had been shooting professionally for one whole year at this time last year. My work had been published in ThisWeek News several times and had many features and editorials on the front page of many of the community newspapers in the Columbus, Ohio Area. I even had an internship with the Columbus Crew and shot for them. I had even began shooting the Columbus Blue Jackets and writing for The Pro Hockey News  I had big plans for 2015. Then one day it happened. One afternoon I came home from substitute teaching at Grove City High School. What was surprising was seeing my wife Tara on the steps of our front door. What was she doing there? She was home early. Something was wrong.
        "Brent," she said. "You need to sit down."
        "Whats going on hun?" I replied.
        "Someone broke into our house and stole all of your photo equipment." she said "It's all gone."
        I dashed into the house, and went where I kept all of my equipment. Gone; All of my bodies and lenses, gone, my computer, gone, and the drive with ALL of my photos gone. Everything was gone. I was devastated. I thought There goes my photo career. I'd better get started in ending something else. Thank God I had insurance, and thank god I had a supportive wife and who helped me and encouraged me to never give up and rebuild my business from the ground back up. I had lost some key clients and opportunities to meet new ones so this was going to be a challenge.
        With the insurance to go through, and replacing my equipment, I was back in business. I shot everything I could and did a lot of free work since I had nothing new to show new clients, and my website was out of date. Thankfully, ThisWeek News had mercy on me and gave me a lot of paying shoots. The most important thing was that I was back doing the thing that I am most passionate about.
         The comeback was on the GO!!! There were a HUGE bunch of firsts. I was back shooting Columbus Crew SC and Major League Soccer. Crew SC made the MLS Cup this year and I got to shoot that. Unfortunately, Crew SC fell 2-1 to the Portland Timbers. For the first time, I shot a Major League Baseball game between the Detroit Tigers and the Boston Red Sox. I shot my first Ohio State Football Game and first Ohio State Women's Basketball game. Still, the BIGGEST thing for me was that I got to go to Houston, Texas to shoot the World Weightlifting Championships. To my surprise, an Estonian newspaper bought a couple of photos.
          I also began shooting portraiture for fitness and fashion. One of the most fun shoots I had been on was around Halloween. I went up to meet Betsy Shuttleworth and her troupe of contortionists. Shuttleworth is one of the best contortion trainers in the world and she lives right outside of Pittsburgh. How she teaches those girls to bend over backwards is amazing to me.
          This coming year, I have been hired to travel the country and shoot Dance and Cheerleading competitions. I also plan to shoot Senior Photos as well as Family Lifestyle Portraits. I will also be shooting Buckeye Football as well as various news events around Columbus.
          If there is anything I learned this year, it was to never give up on your dreams. We all have setbacks. This world can give you a beat down to the point where you are ready to give up. Never do that. Never allow yourself to give up. Never quit. Thank you to my parents, David and Shirley for helping me through this year and never giving up on me. Thank you to my beautiful wife, Tara, who believed in me when I didn't even believe in myself. Finally Thank you to my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ who made all of this possible.