Day 25: A Sunset Down Under

  

Yup, another photo taken in Australia made the list. I have a load of sunset photos. They're one of my favorite things to capture in time forever. So when we were on the ferry back from Watson's Point and I saw how majestic the scene was, I took out my phone and pressed the capture button 10+ times. I actually didn't know how these looked until I viewed them later because the sun was so bright. 

Out of all the ones I took, this one made it because it has the edge of the ferry for perspective, part of the Sydney skyline, the Harbor Bridge, and the sun setting over the Pacific all in one shot. And it's also shots like this that make me love traveling that much more. In due time it'll happen again. 

Day 24: An All-Star Experience

I love baseball. That's a fact. And I miss it. That's also a fact. Years ago I told myself that if I have opportunities to do incredible things, don't hesitate, just do it. So when I first heard the MLB All-Star game was coming to Cleveland, I knew I was going. And I didn't just buy tickets for that game. I bought them for the whole 3 day package. The tickets were pricey, but it was well worth it. It's an experience I'd gladly pay for again.

Just being able to look at this picture warms my heart. A summer night. A packed Progressive Field. The best in baseball were gathered in the 216. The roar of the crowd. One of the best home run derbys I've ever seen. And a once in a lifetime moment. And I seized it.

Day 23: Smooth Sledding

    PC: Amy Wolfinbarger

For a number of year, our church youth group would go tobogganing at the Chalet in Strongsville, OH. We'd rent the place out and make a morning of it. Even if there wasn't snow on the ground, the chutes had their own ice so you could still soar down.

It was more than just sledding. There were competitions to see who could get to the bottom first, who could make the most rides in the time we had, and who could go the farthest. The latter used to be the most fun as we'd pack the four biggest people we could find and see how far past the end of the chute we could make it. Because you see, the chutes had brake pads as the bottom meant to keep you from going off the chute if possible. Well if you paid attention in Physics class, you'll recall that Force=mass*acceleration or F=ma. And you'll also recall that you had to calculate a bunch of different forces depending on what you were solving for. One of them was friction. And those rubber pads caused a lot of friction. So in order to overcome that friction, a bigger mass meant a bigger force, meant a better chance of overcoming that pesky friction. Our theory worked many times over and we managed to go well off the chutes. In the later years, we seemed to not be able to that anymore. Probably because the Chalet saw it as a liability issue and installed brake pads with a way better friction factor...darn.

I like this photo a lot for a number of reasons. 1) It is a high quality action shot. 2) It portrays in a single frame what that day usually meant to those who went. 3) It's hilarious. 4) Asher (the guy in front of me) and I decided it would be funny to scream like little children in mortal danger, hence our gaping mouths.

Due to timing and a number of other reasons, we haven't done this in awhile. But this photo will always serve as a reminder of those chilly, but fun days.

Day 22: Bros and the NYC Skyline

    PC: Jenny Yu

Yet another photo taken at Sam and Mindy's NYC Wedding in 2016 makes this list. As mentioned before, seeing the NYC skyline for the first time was an exciting moment in my life. So when we saw the wedding venue had a sweet view of it, we knew we had to take this picture. A bunch of finely dressed gents, celebrating our good friend's wedding, with the legendary NYC skyline in the background. There were a slew of pictures taken at this spot, many uncoordinated, some silly, but this one's my favorite.

Day 21: The Reunion

    PC: Maureen Anderson

I was home schooled until the 7th grade. When I moved to Cleveland in 2003, I was put into a public school for the first time. It was a transition I wasn't ready for. But thanks to some very awesome teachers, an outstanding principal, and a cool bunch of kids I became friends with, my last two years in jr. high were pretty fun.

Now I wrote a blog post about this before and I'm pretty sure I used this picture, but that was forever ago. And in case you don't remember, this was our 10 year reunion from graduating to high school. Now I know what you're thinking...who does that? We do! And it was all thanks to the guy in the green shirt in the lower right corner. Matt Simonson. He organized, planned, and set up the whole thing.

This photo embodies the fond memories I have of that night. Our former teachers and principal showed up. People came from out of state to be here. People I never thought I'd see again appeared and we picked up right where we left off. An evening where I knew not what to expect turned into a memorable one. I'll let the photo do the rest of the talking.

Day 20: Symbol of Freedom

I'm proud of this photo. Because it has many meanings to me. The American Bald Eagle has been my favorite animal long before I pledged my allegiance to the football team in Philadelphia. So when I had an opportunity to photograph one in the wild, it was anything but easy.

As mentioned previously, my family goes to Wisconsin every other year. Out in the farm country, you tend to see a lot of wildlife you don't see in the city. Well one sunny afternoon, me and my brother Nathaniel were fishing from a paddle boat in the middle of the lake right next to my Aunt's house. As we were trying to hook some largemouth bass, we looked up and saw three of these beautiful creatures soaring overhead. I watched as they perched in the trees that lined the shore. I told Nathaniel that we had to stop chasing the bass for a moment so I could get a photo.

We paddled the boat ever so slowly, to the point where we lodged it in a sea of lily pads. The great bird held a pose and didn't budge. I zoomed in my shot and pressed the button. I was so thrilled I managed to pull that off because seconds later, the eagle moved to a different part of the tree before taking flight again.

But the story doesn't end there. A day or so later, while fishing from the paddle boat again, I lost my balance standing up and went head first into the lake...with my camera in my pocket. Being a complete noob I tried to turn it on. Yeah that didn't work. I thought it was shot. I let it dry out (didn't know about the rice trick then) and it did eventually turn on, but the memory card showed no data. I was crushed.

About a week after we got home, being the tinkerer that I am, I played with the camera again, hoping for a miracle. As I turned it on, I did not see the blue screen of "No data." Suddenly, all those photos I thought were gone forever came flooding back, including this one. I started hollering so loud, you'd think I won the lottery. This picture was proof of triumph for me and I still see it as one of my best "in the moment" shots. National Geographic ain't got nutin' on me!

Day 19: Notorious D.I.G.

    PC: Grace Wang

As much as I love watching sports, I love, love, love to play them. Beach volleyball is a secret passion of mine. There's something about being out in the summer sun, getting a little sandy, and going airborne for a monster spike that feels so satisfying.

Grace Wang (dead center) was living in Cleveland at the time (this was 2015) and got the urge to play organized beach volleyball. She knew I'd be down so once she reached out, she didn't have to ask twice. Now a few of us on the team had actually played on competitive squads before and the rest of us who hadn't, had some sort of raw talent. So even though we didn't know the competition, we felt pretty good.

We were pretty dominant in our run and maybe only lost two sets if I recall correctly. But we did it with a different team nearly every week. We had players who were listed on our squad but were limited as to when they played. Sometimes we were even short a person and called upon someone's most available friend.

We made the upper end of the playoffs, but our first playoff set was incredibly rocky. We only had five people and no matter how hard we tried, we couldn't get a sixth. So we played those games a man down. Our first game wasn't a blowout, but we still suffered a crushing defeat and were staring elimination in the face. We weren't going to let the season end like this, so we rallied hard and dominated the second game. I think the other team had underestimated us and now knew that even one short, we were trouble.

The third and final game was very close and both teams fought tooth and nail. But like David verses Goliath, we pulled out the W and were on to the next round. Going into it, we knew we were going to be facing teams who could be considered borderline professional. And the team we faced were pretty darn near close.

We had a full squad going against them, but simply put, we got smoked. We did fight as if our lives depended on it, but we were no match for an ace server, a very unselfish setter, and a team full of high flying spikers.

Was I disappointed? Duh. But that weekly league, with these wonderful people, was one of the big highlights of my summer. And if I ever forgot everything else from the summer of 2015, this photo will serve as a reminder of what a blast it was.