Year in Review: The Highs, Lows, and What’s Next

Hello everyone,

Can you believe 2024 has come to an end already, it feels just like yesterday that we were welcoming this year with open arms hopeful for another great year. What a year it’s been, this year has left me very exhausted for sure. I would like to apologize I haven’t been as consistent as I would like to be with this blogs. I do enjoy writing and I still have been but i’ll get into why I been away in a bit. First, I want to give a special thanks to everyone that has followed my Instagram I hit 1k followers this year something which I never really thought possible but it happen and I am very thankful for everyone that has shown me support. Also, a big thanks to those Instagram pages that have share my work, @igdc, @dcchasers, @dc_eyes, @popville, @visitalx, @visitfairfax, @only.in.virginia, @visitusa365, @view.dc, @capitalphotographycenter, and @reagan_airport go and give them a follow they share and support photographers in the DMV area. I been very fortunate this year to have had several of my photos feature in there pages. This year I had many goals which I wasn’t able to fully complete but i’m so happy with the process i’ve made in my photography. At the end of last year I was doing a lot of bird and wildlife photography which helped me so much in my journey and I am so glad that I chose to go that route. Doing bird and wildlife photography is probably the hardest genre I’ve attempted in my journey so far. When I started I thought I was good with my camera but capturing birds is specially hard mostly because of the short window you get sometimes to get your shot. Birds don’t make the best models they are extremely unpredictable and they specially are terrified of us. You need to know what your doing with your camera so you can make the necessary changes in matter of seconds. I still struggle I make rookie mistakes as I call them but that’s the fun part of the journey. I became so precise with my settings that when I started my urban/street photography I had to tell myself to slow down. Bird photography helped me find myself, I began to understand what I like and what to look for and created a style that’s unique to me. I always been fascinated with films I love cinematic shots and I been working on applying that to my photography but I also love art so I have also focus on showing color and making my picture resemble paintings. All the exploration around my area has made me open my eyes to the beauty around me. I feel like nowadays we are always busy and on the run that we forget to slow down and admire the outdoors. I have seen some beautiful sunrises this year and many beautiful sunsets as well. One thing that i’ve noticed is that no matter the time of the day there’s always something to see and admire this world we live in is truly beautiful.

Aa many of you may know I have multiple sclerosis a condition that really kicks me down sometimes. This year is been the best I have felt since being diagnosed but another issue appeared. I have started to noticed that my infusion are getting much tougher to deal with. The process begins early in the mornings I get up usually around 7am and I start getting my stuff ready I usually grab my iPad, earphones and snacks. I grab my iPad to watch something or work on editing depending on what I need to get done or if I just want to distract myself sitting in that chair for hours is the worse. My earphones is so I can tune out the conversation I like to be in my own thoughts while sitting there as I am usually with a lot of cancer patients and is heartbreaking to hear some of there conversations sometimes. I bring snacks in case I need to boost my sugar level as I get very weak and dizzy. I get to the infusion center at about 8:15 and by 8:30 they start giving me the first medications. Is when I get to the steroid that I have started to noticed how much of a toll this medications are doing to me. I quickly start getting dizzy and salivating is such an odd feeling that started late last year. Not quite sure why it happens but is starting to get to me. By 9am they are usually verifying my info I have to get verified by 2 nurses and sometimes a head nurse as well as they want to ensure they are giving the right medication to the right patient. I truly appreciate this process as I am very careful with my medications. This was just one of my hurdles this year another issue that came up was an issue with my knee that has been present throughout the year. Earlier this year I was going up some stairs and as I was going out I felt a tug on my knee cap. I went to my primary care doctor because it got really bad to the point were I couldn’t put to much weight on it. He told me I had a torn MCL and possibly tendonitis as well. I started wearing a knee brace and after 2 moths it felt like I was ok I started doing my regular activities until one day earlier in September I started to notices bending the knee was hurting me like before. I started making sure to take care of it but as soon as I could , my knee issue got worse it got to a point were my knee was buckling a horrible pain that has really hindering me. It hasn’t improved either my knee got swollen and my hamstring was really tugging at me as well. They ended up doing test and after an MRI they found I had a tear in my kneecap. They also told me I am showing early signs of arthritis and they referred me to physical therapy which I start at the beginning of 2025. This upcoming year I am hoping this pain gets better so I can keep on exploring.

So what’s on my list for 2025? what am I planning? well for one this year I want to complete a full guide to Great Falls. In this guide I will use my photography to show you and guide you through the different trails of Great Falls some hidden gems and the best times to visit. This is to help anyone planning to visit Northern Virginia and help you experience this wonderful park. I’ve had the pleasure to explore the majority of this park and I absolutely love it. I hope to get a new camera this year I want to keep improving the quality of my photos most of the photos you see from me now are taken from a $700 camera. Is a great camera don’t get me wrong but I am struggling in low light situations so I want to get a full frame camera to improve this issue I am running in to. I am planning to start doing videos as well and continue to explore my photography. I still feel like an amateur and probably will never feel like a pro as I always say I want to keep learning. I want to keep writing this blogs and striving to continue my story telling I have a lot of ideas and I want to keep exploring my writing through this blog. I truly enjoy writing and I hope you like reading them I want to keep it personal as I want you to see me as me the photographer behind this page. I hope for more success from here on and I hope my son keeps keeping me company in my journeys he has been learning with me and is getter better. I hope you all have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!