New camera, new lenses, new city, and new subjects.

I was excited and nervous, to say the least. Most of the athletes I would be filming over the next four days were individuals I had never met before, let alone worked with.

For the first time, I was working with a camera that I could shoot photos and record high quality video, and I intended to do as much of both as I possibly could.

Over the course of the weekend, I loaded up 6 (yes, 6) 64 gigabyte memory cards full of amazing lifts and memories. After each session, I would walk the cold streets of Milwaukee in search of even more wonderful things for my little black box to capture.

This weekend was amazing not only for the amazing shots, but for each individual I had the pleasure of meeting and working with.

The NMU team, while fierce, was so welcoming and camera-friendly. It was amazing to watch them refine each motion just moments before they were to be judged on the competition platform - to see their focus and capture those seconds were their breaths were so shallow that they not have existed at all.

These hours spent watching the snatch and clean and jerk - they were some of the best hours of my life. I can not thank the NMU team enough for allowing me to be the one to capture each second.