Favorites of 2024

Here are my favorite videos and photos from this past year

Here are a few of the videos I found most meaningful and/or fun to create in 2024. Below that will follow some photos that I felt lucky to have captured. I hope you enjoy!

Dad’s Memorial Video

For this video, I used artificial intelligence to take an old recorded sermon of my Dad’s that I found on YouTube, clone his speech patterns, and then give voice to snippets of printed sermons he saved from his years in ministry. The final video almost felt as if he was giving the eulogy at his own memorial service. You can read more about this project in this previous post.

Akwi Nji for Arts Midwest

I had the privilege of making this video about my friend, the artist Akwi Nji. Akwi is a creative force of whom I am often in awe. Occasionally I get to collaborate with her on projects like Matthew 25’s Storytellers of Cedar Rapids. But for this project, earlier in the year, my only goal was to capture a bit of her spirit and share it with others.

Temples of Siem Reap, Cambodia

It’s not the most sophisticated video, nor does it have very high production value (I had only my phone to record with), but I still had a lot of fun making this video. Well, actually, what was fun was going to Cambodia and exploring these ancient temples, but making the video to share was enjoyable as well!

Some favorite photos from 2024

A scene from Manila, Philippines. This captures a bit of the chaotic building practices one might witness in many places throughout Manila, the most densely populated city in the world.

Masungi Georeserve, in the mountainous countryside outside Manila. This was a beautiful experience toward the end of our trip to the Philippines last winter.

Bald eagles in Cedar Rapids, IA. I love how a big lens can capture views and give you an intimate perspective you'd never be able to see without it.

Just a beautiful day to relax in the park with your family.

I never really get tired of taking pictures of deer.

Doesn’t this picture make you miss your childhood? This is my friends’ son Jack, who wasn’t too excited about joining family pictures, but was happy to pose mid-flip on the trampoline.

Grandmother oak in the Decorah prairie, surrounded by wildflowers.

A few snaps from Cambodia. What a trip!

Toward the end of October, on our way back from Cambodia, we had a short stay in Hawaii and a little time to explore Maui. Hawaii never disappoints.

As I look ahead to some of the crap I know we’ll face in 2025, it’s helpful to have these images to remind me that there is an awful lot in my life that I am thankful for, and that won’t stop even if things in our country take a turn for the worse. Even if we have a fight on our hands, there will always be times of joy, love, and awe. I just wish I could ensure that everyone else had as much to look forward to as I do.

Thanks for taking time to look through this email. I hope 2025 has many moments of beauty and adventure in store for you.

With love and gratitude,

Courtney