This year was a wild one.  I will honestly never forget this summer, it was simply off the charts.  I spent a lot of days on the road and shot over 50,000 images, some of them were even decent.

One of the more notable enterprises I took on this year was accepting the role as staff photographer at MXP.  I shot 7 of the CMRC Pro Nationals and 4 covers for the magazine this summer.  A quick search though my blog will return a lot of awesome stories and photo reports from my time spent on the road with this incredibly talented and committed group of guys.  At the Toronto Motorcycle Show, Charles, Gauldy and I sat down to discuss next season and MXP’s 2012 Photo Annual.   When the guys informed me that they wanted the annual to include 37 of my images, I was beyond stoked.  They added that they wanted one of my photos to grace the cover and asked that I write an intro piece.  I was of course honored.  I wrote my intro piece for the issue on Christmas Eve.  That should give you a pretty good idea about my workload this year.  The article was aptly titled, Lucky 37.

My intro shot and article, Lucky 37. The lucky 37 images I selected for the issue.

My four MXP covers from this season

When I started on this photographic journey over a decade ago, if you would have told me that I would have that sort of presence in a magazine, I wouldn’t have believed it.  Nowadays, I can have magazines with my images sitting on my shelf for weeks or months before I even look at them.   Part of the reason for this is that by the time that image hits the newsstand I have likely looked at it 50-100 times.  The other reason is simply time.   This job is incredibly demanding and I have a 2 year old daughter I still take care of two days a week.   I’m lucky to have 5min to open any book other then Dr Zeus.  To be a successful photographer means working long, long hours and that the business end of things comes first.  It’s a real luxury for me to be able to go shoot something with only my artistic vision in mind.  I’m not complaining, I’m merely getting to the point of how and why this photo annual is important to me.  It’s important because of the recognition and respect it represents.  I feel like the issue was their way of saying thanks and I appreciate it.  This issue is like my very own coffee table book and I will be proud to leave it out for clients and guests to read.

My profile shot of Colton Facciotti on the cover of the 2012 Photo Annual

One of the roles I took on for this issue was to take care of the initial layout of the mag.  From there, Gauldy and Peter would adjust as needed to make it work.  Doing the layout and writing the article was like a trip down memory lane.  At the races, running around like a madman, trying to get the shot, you don’t really see things for what they are.  It was nice to be able to relive it through this process.

I really appreciate MXP giving me so much coverage and input into this issue.  They really gave me a lot of creative freedom and I think it was a break-through year for both parties.  I am very proud of this issue and encourage everyone to grab a copy.  There are some great articles by Gauldy, Travs, and Brett Lee.  For me, it’s definitely a collector’s edition and think you may find so as well.

Thanks for the great year MXP and thanks to all of you reading this blog and the magazine for your support.