2024 captured through photos

Photography has always been one of the nation’s most popular hobbies, but now just about everyone carries a camera in the palm of their hand in the form of a smart phone.

So, in an era where we document everything on our phones, I thought it would be good to pull back the curtain and explain how we select our photographs that we feel best represent this past year and best reflect the work we are most proud of.

First, a call goes out to our staff in late November to start thinking about their favorite pictures. As they work through our electronic library, the photographers mark their favorites that then are collected in a queue for the photo editors to look at.

Generally speaking, we’re looking for photographs that have a number of qualities, such as beautiful light and gorgeous composition. Maybe it’s a unique angle, like Deseret News photojournalist Jeffrey D. Allred’s leadoff photo from high above of a teenager doing backflip into a swimming pool or Allred’s photo using a GoPro camera to capture a pair of pilots as they fligh high above the Salt Lake Valley in a biplane.

Sometimes it just the historical nature of the news event, like the 100th birthday celebration for President Russell M. Nelson of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints or Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy addressing a crowd in Salt Lake.

But often, it’s the images themselves that make us say “wow.” The kind of photos that make you, as a photographer, wish you had taken.

And the emotional moments we capture as photojournalists for the Deseret News in and around our community are what really set our talented team of photographers apart.

From a woman safe with her dog following a house fire in Syracuse, to a giddy Donny Osmond fan meeting her celebrity for the first time at a VIP event in Las Vegas, down to a young girl simply enjoying watermelon with the joy all over her face at Green River’s Melon Days, those moments evoke real life emotions that can lift us all up.

Sometimes our assignments take us into situations or places that our readers don’t get to experience in person.

Photojournalist Laura Seitz spent months documenting the community on the west side of Salt Lake City and for many, that’s not a part of town many go to unless they live there. Seitz gained the trust of that community to bring into focus the challenges they face.

While working on a Colorado River project for several months, photojournalist Kristin Murphy took a rafting trip down the mighty river and the ferocious Cataract Canyon, bringing the river’s rage and beauty front and center to our readers.

While telling the story about Payson High School’s efforts to bring “Footloose” actor Kevin Bacon to their prom, photojournalist Scott Winterton captured a tender moment of a couple walking the promenade. Winterton found the right place to capture that romantic moment in the spotlight.

And finally, our newest photojournalist Isaac Hale along with our intern, Brice Tucker, both answered the call to action on a summer evening when a fast moving wildfire on Ensign Peak threatened the hillside houses below in Salt Lake City. Hale’s experience and knowledge of where to be and what long lens to use paid off with his dramatic shot of the firefighting air tanker flying low over the neighborhood.

So with all of that, enjoy the favorite images of 2024.