Every year brings new opportunities, and with those opportunities come new photographs. This year, in addition to my usual wedding and portrait business, I traveled to both Kyrgyzstan and Ethiopia. Both places were eye candy for a photographer, and both places I'd recommend for someone who wants to get unique and stunning photos.

Everyone's idea of what a makes a good photo is different. Some want to follow all the rules of composition, some love good lighting. Some people like a photo for the memories they bring back. The photos I've chosen are a combination of all of these. I know this is a subjective thing, so you might feel differently about some of these. But of all the ten of thousands of photographs I've taken this year, these are 22 of my favorites. There were many more that almost made the list, but you have to stop somewhere. Please enjoy, and let me know what you think. Blessings on the coming year.

I always enjoy when I can put some creativity into the work I'm doing. This goes doubly for portraits. So often, people tell me they don't want any of their wrinkles to show up in the picture, and I understand that. But often that also removes the character and personality from the portrait. So when Mike, who's an author, came along and told me he wanted a dark and moody shot for the bio page on his new book, I was excited.

This portrait was taken with a two light setup. One was to the camera right with a large reflector and diffusor, and the second one was to camera left and behind the subject to illuminate the smoke (yes, there was a smoke machine), and to separate the subject from the background. 

I then processed the image in Adobe Lightroom, bringing down the colors selectively. I think it came out well.

To say that the weather was a concern for Kristen and Jason's wedding on Hilton Head was an understatement. Eight months before their wedding, a hurricane hit Hilton Head and downed several hundred thousand trees. These trees were then piled at their original venue. Consequently, their original venue had no choice but to cancel on them. Plan two was to have their wedding at Sea Pines, on the south end of Hilton Head.

I had a conversation with the bride a few days before the wedding, who was watching the wether report for her wedding day with great concern. I tried to reassure her that of the 350 or so weddings I've done, only about three have ever been just completely rained out. Then the day of the wedding came, and it was absolutely pouring. Was I worried about it? No. You see, I've seen enough days like this to know that the pictures are still going to turn out beautiful. Rainy days give beautiful, even lighting. There are always sheltered places to shoot. And eventually, it's going to stop raining, and when that happens, the sky is going to be dramatic. All of that happened. Even though they ended up needing to have the ceremony indoors rather than on the 18th green, their couples pictures turned out awesome. Here are just of few of their pictures, finishing with a shot with the receding storm in the background.

Wollwerth Imagery

As someone who leans toward photojournalism when it comes to wedding photography, I tend to focus more on anticipation of moments between people and capturing expressions. This can sometimes cause me to be a bit weak when it comes to detail shots. This was not the case though for Page and John's wedding recently at Palmetto Bluff near Hilton Head, South Carolina. This wedding truly was about the details, and they were all in place. From the ruins decorated in flowers to the antique china to the gospel choir, everything was thought out thoroughly. It made for a truly dramatic day full of eye candy for the bride, the groom, the guests, and especially me. Here are some details and moments of the day.