This past year has been an interesting and trying year for me, not just in photography but life.

Unlike 2012, where nearly every day was spent taking photos, jumping from assignment to assignment, this year my photographic life went in bursts of excitement. I started my year in Washington, D.C. for my second time there and I'm confident I'll go back some day, hopefully soon. I traveled to Egypt and back to Wisconsin, freelanced for local Wisconsin papers and international publications. I had the honor of being selected to the 26th Eddie Adams Workshop and because of that, working for the first time for Reuters this past month. 

Much of my fall was dominated by school work, the various ways life can get in the way, and a lot of management work at a newspaper. Without the chance to intern at a newspaper this summer, my work may seem like a whirlwind tour of a variety of places and experiences, but that was truly my year. 

So forget whatever sadness I might feel not having an internship that gave me a chance to grind hard day in and day out; this year has been a blessing of feeling like I've grown by leaps and bounds and the knowledge I'm moving forward.

So here it is, my year in pictures. On to 2014.

I grew up two blocks from Lambeau Field in Green Bay, Wis, frequently watching the Packers play from our family's seats in Section 117, Row 8. The cult of the Packers is so strong that there is a 30-year waiting period to get season tickets. For some time I've hoped to photograph at Lambeau Field, but I didn't think it would be quite like this.

A few months ago I had the honor of attending the Eddie Adams Workshop, an amazing experience and a great chance to meet a lot of new friends and colleagues. My team leader, Adrees Latif, offered me a chance to string for Reuters so I've had that in the back of my mind for a while.

I returned home from grad school this past week. I was watching the news and knew that the incoming winter storms would be big news so I pitched to Adrees the idea of photographing the volunteers who dig out the stadium prior to the upcoming game on Sunday. With a little work we made it happen.

According to the head of facility operations, today was only the second time in his memory (over 25 years) that the Packers called for volunteers two days in a row. 

The team had approximately 515 people Friday and 600 on Saturday, each shoveling or de-icing the stadium bowl and grounds for $10 an hour, and boy was it icy. The system is ingenious, with long slides running from top to bottom of most of the stadium, with workers shoveling sections, snow rushing on to the field to be picked up by tractors that then dump it in trucks to be hauled off site.

Out of the people that I talked to at Lambeau on Saturday there was a very wide cross section of people out shoveling. The wages were nothing to scoff at, especially when shoveling can take from four to five hours plus another hour and a half of de-icing. I met a family from DePere that was making some extra money for their college-aged daughter's Christmas. I also a man that walked an hour to get here and another that drove 45 minutes. According to the Packers representatives I spoke to, its not unusual for people visiting family from other states to come shovel. In fact, for many people this is one of the only chances they'll have to see the inside of Lambeau themselves.

Up above the main bowl, other workers went to the very top, shoveling snow over the railing and into the entryway for smaller tractors to pick up and eventually dump out of the bowl into the parking lot. A lot of my time was spent dodging snow from these people who tended to like to goof around a bit.

As they started to clean up and I started to freeze up, I got my final pictures, the final frame which resulted in a photo for Reuters' Images of the Day.

I have to credit Adrees' help in the edit which resulted in my first 12 photos on the wire for Reuters and a top picture for Reuters on Saturday.  I'm appreciative of the opportunity and look forward to hopefully more work for Reuters in the near future.

I love media circuses. Just like in DC where you're shoulder to shoulder with some great photographers and just trying to make a frame that's different, sometimes news happens in Columbia that draws everyone out of the woodwork. I fielded calls today from the New York Daily News, talked to a cameraman from "48 Hours", saw every other news station under the sun, and worked with two other photographers from our own paper to try to cover a single story.

 It was one of the biggest news events in recent history, as Ryan Ferguson was being released from prison today. Ferguson had previously been convicted of murder based in part off two different testimonies that were later recanted and for totally different reasons, 8 years later the conviction was vacated and he was released.

I went out to support our two shooters and try to turn a photo around fast for our web-first mentality, letting the other photographers work the heck out of it. What it turned into was a three-ring media circus and I was just along for the ride, waiting for that one moment where Ryan Ferguson would finally show his face and step out of prison a free man. In a later blog I'll share my thoughts about working on a news event where everything is in flux, what went wrong, and how we tried to fix it. For now, here are some photos from the day.

Bill Ferguson arrives at the Boone County Courthouse where rumor had it his son, Ryan, was going to arrive to be released from prison after spending 8 years serving a sentence for murder before the charge was overturned on November 5. 

Bill Ferguson fields questions from the media as he walks towards the steps of the Boone County Courthouse. When asked why courthouse officials had no knowledge of the release of Ryan Ferguson from their facility, Bill Ferguson wasn't surprise, remarking that he or his family's legal team didn't quite understand what was going on either. Ryan Ferguson had spent most of the last 8 years in prison in Jefferson City but apparently needed to be transferred prior to being released.

At another impromptu press conference Bill Ferguson speaks outside of the Boone County Jail. At the courthouse, the family and legal team were told that Ryan Ferguson would be transferred from Jefferson City to the Boone County Jail, but Bill Ferguson said that the warden had no interest in taking Ryan. "There are no charges against him," said Bill Ferguson. The warden apparently did not want Ferguson at his facility because of that fact.

The parents of Ryan Ferguson, Bill and Leslie Ferguson, look through the door of the Boone County Jail at the waiting media who hoped to cover the moment Ryan was released from jail. Dozens of TV, newspaper, and other media had traveled from Jefferson City, where Ryan was originally held, to Columbia where they traced a path across the city hoping to see Ryan for the first time as a free man.

Members of the media vie for position at one of the exits to the Boone County Jail.

After opening the door for his girlfriend, Myka Cain, left, Ryan Ferguson opens the door for his mother, Leslie, as they arrive at the Tiger Hotel in downtown Columbia, Mo. for a press conference celebrating Ryan's freedom after 8 years in prison.

Ryan Ferguson reacts as he looks up the stairs to the lobby of the Tiger Hotel to see members of the media awaiting his arrival.

Trying to pass through a sea of reporters, Ryan Ferguson fields a few questions on his way to a press conference at the Tiger Hotel. "How does it feel?" was the common question. "A lot different than I did two hours ago," Ferguson responded.

Ryan Ferguson, left, takes a moment and reacts to the large number of media and supporters in attendance at a press conference regarding his release from prison. Both Ryan and his father Bill, right, would speak at the press conference before leaving together with the rest of his family and his lawyer. "We're either going to Dairy Queen or to ring the bell at the courthouse," said Kathleen Zellner, the family's lawyer. Later that night, "Free Ryan Ferguson" a Facebook group in support of Ryan changed its name to "Freed Ryan Ferguson" and posted a picture of Ryan with a beer and a steak at a restaurant.