Ice skaters are reflected in a glass ceiling near Robson Square in downtown Vancouver prior to the start of the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics.

As I prepare to enter my 29th year of life on the planet Earth, I’ve become keenly aware of what has become a shocking, yet accepted, ideal of my daily existence: The older I get, the quicker time goes by. 2010 has been a textbook example of this theorem, with the year zipping past me more rapidly than my mental reflexes had time to react to. While lamenting on this accelerated time warp of life to a colleague at a holiday party last weekend (I could have sworn I saw the Grim Reaper smoking a cigarette against a car while looking at his watch outside that place), I was reassured that a year that seemed fleeting was only that way because I’d been busy and completed a lot of work. It wasn’t until I sat down and begin sifting through my photo shoots from 2010 that I realized that I have indeed done quite a bit this year!

Most notably, the beginning of 2010 landed me in Vancouver as a photographer for my very first Winter Olympics. It goes without saying that the Winter Olympics is an event that draws the best of the best athletes from their respective sports from around the world. I realized once I arrived, however, that I’d be working alongside the best of the best photographers from around the world in a sort of behind-the-scenes Olympics competition. While some first-timers may have been intimidated by this prospect, I used this as motivation to go out each day and do my very best, even if this meant encountering difficulty or inconvenience to get a unique photo.

Most humbling of my entire Winter Olympics experience by far was photographing the many medals ceremonies, where athletes were rewarded for – quite literally – a lifetime of efforts before my lens. I got the chills every time they’d play that music and the medals would be brought onto the stage! Photographing the athletes receiving their medals, and being shoulder to shoulder with their family members overwhelmed with emotion was something I’ll never forget.

While the remainder of 2010 included a few more notable photo shoots (such as my second time documenting the Indianapolis 500, or my first time documenting people trashing themselves while playing mud volleyball), the greater part of this year was spent behind the viewfinder of video cameras. I continued work as director of photography on one of the most challenging independent feature films I’ve shot yet for most of the summer. The challenges I faced there, such as uncooperative weather for days on end, drove myself and the crew I’ve worked with for years the closest to our breaking points I think I’ve experienced thus far. Getting through those challenges together as team, however, made us all stronger and ready to handle the next so-called “challenging” shoot with aplomb.

On the gear front, 2010 marked my first official forays into high definition video, with both a cinema-rig equipped Canon 1D Mark IV as well as a Panasonic HMC-150 being added to my arsenal. I dig whole DSLR revolution and enjoy seeing the beautiful products filmmakers are creating with this emerging technology. These new cameras, however, have reaffirmed one of the first things I learned while studying film at Columbia College Chicago: Content and story are paramount. Nobody really cares what sliding dolly rail gizmo and f1.2 lens you shot that milk jug exploding in 60p with if it’s irrelevant to the story it’s attached to.

In the grand scheme of things, I can’t complain. 2010 was a very successful year in all the professions I call “work”. Whenever people come up to me while I’m on a shoot and ask me if I like my job, I always tell them, “I get paid to play with my toys all day!” They usually smile and accept my reply as being somewhat tongue-in-cheek, but in actuality, I’m 100% serious. As far as I’m concerned, I haven’t worked a day in my life – well – maybe those days on that film shoot this summer when we got caught in a downpour three days in a row, that might have been work. Here’s to an even more prosperous 2011!

(I’ve selected twenty of my favorite photos from 2010 to share with you in this entry. In the caption for each, I’ve shared a bit about how each photo was created and what I like the most about each one.)

This wrestling image caught my eye because the competitor in the choke hold appears to be looking directly at my camera. Griffith’s Collin Slagle (foreground) is held by Merrillville’s Zach Stevens while wrestling in the championship round of the 103 pound weight class during sectionals at Calumet High School, Saturday, January 30, 2010.

While shooting ice dancing in Vancouver, I noticed how glassy the ice became after it was resurfaced between rounds in the competition. I found a low cut-out for TV cameras in the padding surrounding the rink, got my lens as close to the ice as possible, and photographed the reflections of skaters preparing to compete. Taavi Rand (left) and Irina Shtork of Estonia during the figure skating ice dance compulsory dance event at Pacific Coliseum during the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics.

This image is from my first medals ceremony in Vancouver, where I ended up in the “bad” photo position in the pit surrounding the stage. While photographing the medalists on stage, I was startled with screaming and shouting from a group just over my shoulder. I turned around and began photographing the “spectators” as they cheered, only to find they were actually the mother and father of one of the medalists on stage. This is a great example of how simply looking behind you can sometimes yield a great image, and how making the best out of a “bad” photo position sometimes pays off. For the rest of the medals ceremonies, I asked to be in the pit! Sue Celski (center) and Bob Celski, mother and father of mens 1500m speed skater bonze medalist J.R. Celski (USA) (not pictured) cheer during the mens short track speed skating 1500m medals ceremony at BC Place during the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics.

Waking up two hours early to mount this remote camera at the Richmond Olympic Oval also payed off. Canada fans celebrate during the mens speed skating team pursuit finals between Canada and USA in the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics at the Richmond Olympic Oval.

Coming away with an image from a graduation shoot that is NOT of someone at a podium or being handed a diploma is always a plus in my book. Weizhuo Zhao (second from right) of China throws his mortarboard into the air with fellow graduates following Purdue University Calumet’s commencement ceremonies at the Star Plaza Theater in Merrillville, Ind., Sunday, May 16, 2010. Zhao earned his master’s degree in mechanical engineering.

Photographing my first violent auto racing crash during the last lap of the Indianapolis 500 left me trembling. IndyCar Series drivers avoid the car of Mike Conway (center) after Conway crashed into the catch fence during the Indianapolis 500 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

A vacation to Florida in early June gave me some much needed rest and relaxation. Beach goers wade in The Gulf of Mexico at Indian Rocks Beach, Florida, Friday, June 18, 2010.

This photo, also from my Florida vacation, was one I’d envisioned when I arrived at our condo and saw this pier jutting into the water down on the beach – it only took me six days to capture what I had in mind!

The end of June landed me back at Michael Jackson’s childhood home in Gary, Indiana, covering the one year anniversary of his death. Henry Colquitt of Chicago, Ill., consoles his daughter Jackie Colquitt, 13, outside the late pop singer Michael Jackson’s childhood home at 2300 Jackson St. in Gary, Ind., Friday, June 25, 2010.

I’d envisioned this point-of-view of an aerobatic plane since I began flying with and documenting these teams over four years ago. New technology like the Go Pro Hero camera finally made this image possible. AeroShell Aerobatic Team pilot Steve Gustafson of Tallulah, La., flies a World War II era AT-6 Texan aircraft in a formation over Lake Michigan near Marquette Park Beach in Gary, Ind., during the Gary South Shore Air Show, Saturday, July 10, 2010.

I love how aerial perspectives of everyday life can turn the mundane and ordinary into interesting, graphic patterns. Spectators line Marquette Park Beach in Gary, Ind., during the Gary South Shore Air Show, Sunday, July 11, 2010.

With aircraft performing over the beach at sunset, I knew it was only a matter of time before I’d capture this image. I exposed my 400mm mounted camera body for the sun (160 ISO 1/250th @ f11) and waited until an aircraft swooped down low enough to be in the frame at the same time. An Extra 300S with the Firebirds team performs over Marquette Beach in Gary, Ind., during the Gary South Shore Air Show, Friday, July 9, 2010.

How do you make a tackle look intimidating in a football portrait? Monster lighting and a low angle seemed to work here. “Shu” was a great sport, posing for me for quite a while as I hand-held a Vivitar 285 flash just under his facemask. I had to try over and over again to light his face through the face mask, and not have any shadows fall across his eyes. Gary Roosevelt High School varsity football defensive and left tackle James Shumaker, 17, a senior, at the school’s football field in Gary, Ind., Tuesday, August 10, 2010.

I was extremely fortunate in 2010 to photograph the first exciting finish in the history of the sport of cross country (yes, I’m dripping with sarcasm). I’ve never seen racers in cross country make contact with each other, so this finish was certainly a surprise. Merrillville senior Jacob Caddick (left) makes contact with Perry Meridian senior Kameron Casey near the finish line during the boys varsity race at the 43rd Annual Highland Cross Country Invite held at Highland High School in Highland, Ind., Saturday, September 25, 2010. Caddick finished in fifth place with a time of 16:18, while Casey was disqualified at the finish line over the incident.

My first day at a drag race this October in Bakersfield, California, landed me my first drag racing crash image. It also landed me an image of my friend’s camera (above, between the wheels) about to be destroyed. Nostalgia top fuel dragster driver John Weaver crashes during qualifying for the California Hot Rod Reunion at the Auto Club Famoso Raceway.

Birds take flight near the race track in Bakersfield.

In October, while attending the LDI lighting trade show in Las Vegas, I took some time as I’ve done in years’ past to wander around the show floor with my camera to capture some of the interesting, often accidental light pockets that fall between booths on the show floor.

While cruising through Whiting, Indiana, after celebrating Christmas, I was awestruck with the foreboding clouds rolling in toward Chicago over the frozen surface of Lake Michigan. Lake effect snow clouds move in over downtown Chicago as seen from Whihala Beach in Whiting, Ind., early Sunday, December 26, 2010.