Some favorite moments from 2008

Early publicity photo for the movie Twilight.

President-elect Barack Obama during an interview on the campaign trail in Albany, Ore.

Clayton Foltyn takes a tumble off "White Magic" in the Championship Round at the Portland Invitational Professional Bull Riders event at Rose Garden arena.

The ring doctor checks a cut on the head of Mark Miller during his bout agianst Mike Pierce at Sportfight XXIV at Rose Garden Arena in Portland. The fight was eventually stopped and Pierce was awarded the win by TKO.

Backstage at Phantom of the Opera at Keller Auditorium in Portland, Ore.

Bruce Springsteen and The E-Street Band playing to a near sold out crowd at Rose Garden arena in Portland, Ore.

Dave Grohl and The Foo Fighters on stage at the Rose Garden in Portland.

A crowd of frenzied Weezer fans packs Memorial Coliseum in Portland, Ore.

James Hetfield and Metallica play in the round to a sold-out crowd of hungry metal fans at Rose Garden arena in Portland, Ore.

Nikki Sixx and Vince Neil playing with Motley Crue at the Rose Garden in Portland.

Katie Ryan - Professional Kid.

Chris, Katie, and Anna wish you an abundance of joy and prosperity in 2009! Thanks to everyone for everything that helped us to make 2008 a fantastic year.

Merrill

A couple weeks ago I did a shoot for Playboy Magazine, which I'll post more on later. Assisting me was my good friend, and fellow photog, Jeff Hinds. Musician Chris Merrill helped out as a lighting stand-in, below are some shots of Chris.

Etown

Etown is a weekly radio show taped in front of a live audience and broadcast on National Public Radio stations. "Music. Ideas. Community." is Etown's motto. Each week they seek out and recognize communities that are setting examples with their efforts to connect people through positive ideals. On November 24, 2008 they recorded their program in Portland at the Newmark Theater and I was hired to document the show. Featured guests were Griffin House, Darrell Scott, and Sarah McLachlan. The show aires January 21-27, 2009.

Mangia Pizza

Mangia Pizza at 1937 NW 23rd Place (503-222-2667) opened a few months ago in a location that historically has struggled to support a thriving restuarant. Owned and operated by May Starr and Russ Hubbard, of the very successful Industrial Cafe just up the street, Mangia should settle in to be a neighborhood favorite in no time. Click for Willamette Week review.

Metal Magic

Metallica in the round at Rose Garden arena. After decades of hammering fans with what has become the standard against which all other metal is measured, Metallica has honed their stage show to near perfection. Lasers replaced the eye candy that would've been satisfied by pyrotechnics, which worked well, and the center-of-the-arena stage allowed the guys to make a connection with the audience that was electric. I wasn't terribly moved by their new stuff, but the show in general was absolutely impressive.

Bears In The Air!

A couple weeks ago a fellow photog buddy and I shot this wacky event at a Portland Winter Hawks hockey game where fans bring thousands of Teddy Bears and other stuffed animals and upon the Hawks scoring their first goal they hurl them onto the ice. Over 7000 fans tossed a reported 22,392 bears onto the ice, which were later donated to charity. The Hawks lost that night to the Seattle Thunderbirds, 3-1.