Well, 2016 offered some of the best moments of my career. Not only to have had the opportunity to witness and document great events, as I showed in my last blog post, 'Favorite Photos of 2016, but to have met so many people along the way that I wouldn't have otherwise. As great as a photo can be, developing relationships with all members of various teams and organizations is really what makes showing up every night to a game so much fun. When you arrive three hours early to an assignment it's those people, like Sam the security guard, who put a smile on your face well before the game starts.

Every home and away Pittsburgh Steelers game, including the roller coaster playoff in Cincinnatti. Every home and away playoff Pittsburgh Penguins game, including their Stanley Cup win in San Jose. I had the opportunity to make some pictures at the U.S. Open at Oakmont along with various Pittsburgh-area teams and colleges as well. But probably one of my favorite aspects was having a large audience to showcase my weekly picture stories to. All good things must come to an end, however, so I'm no longer a full-time staff photographer.

It was definitely an awesome experience and there's certainly nothing better for improving your work than shooting consistently every single day. But there's no worse feeling than losing touch with friends and those you love because your work has consumed you. At the end of the day, a room full of friends will always mean more to me than a room full of photographs. And I think my soccer team appreciates my return as we are now, once again, PSL league champions!

So here I am hopping back into the freelance world in Pittsburgh. I plan to continue publishing a regularly scheduled picture story here to my blog very soon and I just finished updating my website thanks to Joel Hawksley over at Solofolio. Feel free to have a look and let me know what yinz guys think.

I love this town and its people so much. So editors, if you'd like to hire me to make some images n'at, I'd be honored to work with you. I may even send you a Primanti's sandwich!

Thanks for taking the time to allow me to update you on my journey in photojournalism,

--Jared Wickerham 740-243-1208 (cell) jared@wickphotography.com