Ryan Watkins Ryan Watkins

Hayley Family Portrait

I’ve been working with model Hayley from Hayley’s Wild of Modeling for years. I had a great time getting photograph her and Daries as well as getting to meet there son for the first time!

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Aaron and Kim Wedding

I had a great time getting to photograph Aaron and Kim’s wedding in July. I first photographed Aaron when he was performing with Sprout and Orange several years ago. It was really cool seeing his several musician friends preform during the reception. I couldn’t have asked for a friendly couple to photograph.

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Jaycees Day Headshots

I had a great time getting to hang out with fellow Jaycees during Jaycees Day in Lansing and photograph several headshots.

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Viva Rex at the Clare Irish Festival

I had a great time getting to photograph fellow Great Lakes Bay Jaycees, Vogie and Harrison’s band Viva Rex when they played at the Clare Irish Festival this year.

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JCI Michigan Year End Conference

I had a great time getting to photograph the JCI Michigan Year End Conference at The Graduate in East Lansing, Michigan. Huge thanks to my friend Jerry for letting me stay at his apartment while photographing the conference. Before the conference we got to tour the MSU Swine Teaching Research Center. I’ve been a member of the Jaycees since 2018 and am serving on the State Board as District A Director in 2025. During the conference I was awarded a Presidential Medallion. It was great getting to hang out with fellow Jaycees and seeing so many friends win awards for their hard work during 2024! I look forward to getting to serve with fellow Jaycees around the state during 2025!

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Stephanie Headshots and Portraits

I had a great time getting photograph headshots and portraits of fellow Jaycee Stephanie in Battle Creek! Getting to play with her dog and see her sword and dagger collection where especially fun.

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Devin and Allison Wedding

I had a great time photographing Devin and Allison’s wedding at the Back Orchard Barn in Freeland. I was also super thankful to Bobbie Jo Call from the Muskegon Jaycees for second shooting the wedding with me last minute.

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Ryan Watkins Ryan Watkins

2024 Year End Review

2024 Year End Review

At the end of each year I like to write a short recap and share some of my favorite images of the year. 

2024 has been one of the most chaotic years of my life.

Back in 2017 I created a facebook group titled the Michigan Photography Network which grew to over 9000 members. I was the sole admin and moderator of the group until early 2024. I added several new moderators to help take on the workload. After disputes between moderators led to them threatening to sue each other I decided to step down as an admin and leave the group. 

I was thankful to be able to serve as a photographer for Royal Family Kids camp club for the 2023/2024 school year and during July camp. Sadly due to other commitments I wasn’t able to serve as photographer during the 2024/2025 club, which I’ve greatly missed. 

This was my fourth year serving as a deacon at Christ Covenant Church OPC in Midland, Michigan. This was a difficult year for us as a church due to two deaths in the congregation.

Some of the highlights of 2024, have been serving with the Jaycees. I was able to help with events put on by the Ludington, Mt Pleasant, Great Lakes Bay, Livonia, Clare, and Allegan chapters. I was elected as the 2025 JCI Michigan District A Director and won the Membership Award of Excellence. I served as president of the Clare Jaycees who won the Programing Award of Excellence during their last year as a chapter before they sadly ended up having to fold. I am now a member of the Great Lakes Bay Jaycees. 

Due to the lack of income I've had over the last two years through my photography business, I’ve hoped to transition to a different job for my main source of income. This transition has been far more rickety than I’d hoped. I took Meat Cutter training courses in 2023 through the Michigan State Extension Program but haven’t been able to find employment in that field. I was hired by USPS but wasn’t able to take the job due to the schedule conflicting with the weddings I already had booked. I worked briefly as a Youth Specialist for Eagle Village but quit after getting assaulted multiple times, including getting punched in the face so hard my nose remains slightly crooked. I finished the year working as a Temporary Bookseller at Barnes and Noble which I’ve greatly enjoyed. I hope to find full time employment in 2025 and only do photography as a side job going forward. 

Outside of work and other organizations I’m part of, I was able to complete my goal of reading over 100 books this year. I started the year on the carnivore diet and got down to the lightest weight I’d been in the years, until I started stress eating and fell off my diet and exercise routine. I also ended up totaling my Chevy Malibu, when I got in two car accidents on the same day. Thankfully insurance covered it and I was able to purchase a 2011 Subaru Forester from a friend. 

Here are some of my favorite images from 2024. 

2024 Michigan Hawking Club Field Meet

JCI Michigan 100 Year Celebration and Conference featuring comic Anthony Grupido

Model Hayley from Hayley’s Wild for Modeling

Livonia Jaycees 7th Annual Murder Mystery Dinner featuring The Murder Mystery Company who has been featured on Shark Tank

Tiffany from Moon Child Modeling

Andrew and Lillian Engagement Session

Jason and Katie Engagement Session

Mt Pleasant Jaycees’ Mt Pleasant Craft Beer Festival

Derrick and Melissa Wedding

Michael and Chelsea Wedding

Wedding Candids

Michael and Kara Wedding

Jordan and Nassim Wedding

Wedding Details

Model Chelsea Olsen

Mario Senior Portrait

Rick and Allison Engagement Session

Buck on Drummond Island

Model Michelle Korte

Alex, Rachel, and Potato i.e. the dog

Andrew and Lillian Wedding

Tiffany from Moon Child Modeling

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Tiffany Halloween Shoot

I’ve been working with Tiffany from Moonchild Modeling since 2019. For this shoot Tiffany brought a variety of Halloween themed props, smoke bombs, and some sheer fabrics we used for this shoot in Mt Pleasant. It was great getting to work with Tiffany again!

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Andrew and Lillian Wedding

I had a great time getting to photograph Andrew and Lillian’s wedding at the Edmore Market Place. They were the second wedding I’ve photographed this year to play music from The Legend of Zelda while walking down the isle. They also included a track from Final Fantasy as well.

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Medford Family Portrait

I had a great time getting to do this fun fall family portrait for the Medford family. I’ve been close friends with them for years which made this shoot super fun.

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Michelle Korte

I was very happy to hear about Michelle Korte moving back to Michigan so we would be able to shoot together again. For this shoot with Michelle we originally had hoped to do a Laundromat shoot but it was too busy to shoot in. We improvised and went on to shoot in the alley’s in downtown Bay City.

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Buck

After photographing the 2024 JCI MI Fall Conference I got to spend the next day in Drummond Island with my friend and model, Melissa. The deer who frequently hang out in her backyard are so calm and docile they will come and eat potatoes out of Melissa’s hand. I joke about her being the real life snow white with how the animals act around her. Here are a few photos of a buck which came to Melissa’s back yard for potatoes. A fawn and two does also where in the backyard with the buck.

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