Our best photos of the year

A student paints in an art class taught by Gary Chapman, professor of painting and drawing in the Department of Art and Art History, in spring 2021.

"Making photos of people creating art is one of the most calming things for me — time and the rest of the world disappear. Visiting this painting class early in 2021 made me hopeful because it was one of the first times for me to be present for an in-person class during the pandemic." — Andrea Mabry, university photographer

A view of the Campus Green from the top of the Hill Student Center in September 2021.

"This is absolutely my favorite view of the Campus Green. It’s truly amazing how much this campus has changed over the years." — Steve Wood, university photographer

UAB student Mollie was photographed at downtown restaurant Trattoria Zaza as part of a student recruitment campaign.

"When the weather was warmer, the photo team spent a good time working on a recruitment campaign with students as the models. This is Mollie, and we photographed her at Trattoria Zaza downtown. They had just remodeled the interior and the afternoon light made a perfect spotlight on Mollie as she sat the window booth. I wanted to get the exposure right so viewers could appreciate the triangle of light on Mollie, while balancing the contrast with the light fixture." — Lexi Coon, university photographer

UAB students spent time together at Railroad Park in November 2021.

"This railroad park photo makes me remember being in college. That special time of day when you get out of class and go meet your friends and lay in the grass together." — Andrea Mabry

UAB Football players run onto the new Protective Stadium field during the first home game of the season vs. Liberty University Oct. 2.

"This is one of my favorite photos from the first game at the new Protective Life Stadium. It shows the happiness and excitement that, not just the players, but all of UAB and the city of Birmingham was feeling." — Steve Wood

The UAB Mini Park in fall 2021.

"It was an exceptionally beautiful fall on campus this year. The colors were awesome and the timing of the changing colors was in perfect unison. These trees in the Mini Park were not only showing their beautiful fall colors, but their Blazer spirit, too." — Steve Wood

UAB Football players huddled on the new Protective Stadium field before the first home game vs. Liberty University Oct. 2.

"UAB Football had just walked off the bus and onto the new Protective Stadium field for a huddle, and I stood on the outskirts of it. I could only see what was in my line of vision — which, given that I am a good bit smaller than the average college football player, meant I was catching glimpses between shoulders as people shifted a bit. But I quickly photographed this student athlete during the huddle - I love the composition of the image and the intensity of his gaze. It all came together to embody that pre-game energy." — Lexi Coon

Drummers from the Marching Blazers played a beat during a UAB Football game at the new Protective Stadium.

"Robert Capa is a famous war photographer who's quoted saying, 'If your photos aren't good enough, you aren't close enough.' He didn't mean zoom in, but rather to be closer to your subject. So for the first football game of the season I spent a good bit of time in the stands with the students and band members rather than on the field. I remember seeing the sunset over Protective Stadium and wanted a different way to capture it. I moved it bit closer to the percussion section, lowered to get the surrounding atmosphere, and came away with the colors of the sunset mirrored in the drums." — Lexi Coon

A bee hatches at the new beehive housed at the UAB Gardens.

"I just really love bees. The whole photo/video team knows that, so they understood my excitement when going to photograph the beehive installation at the UAB Gardens earlier this year. The overcast day made for really nice, soft lighting, and the beekeepers installing the hives were very patient with me as I asked them to tilt the hive frames different ways or waited for a bee to stop in a certain spot. I was looking specifically for a bee that was hatching, and found this one — although I didn't have a macro lens with me, I was able to get close enough to see the detail on the new bee emerging from its cell." — Lexi Coon

University photographer Andrea Mabry poses for a test shot as ideas were brainstormed for the cover of the Spring/Summer 2021 UAB Magazine.

"When we were working on the spring magazine, we wanted a cover that would recognize both the intensity of COVID and celebrate those who were working to keep our communities healthy, and we started by trying projections. This is my fellow photographer Andrea Mabry — she volunteered to sit in for me as I tested different projections, colors, angles, lighting, etc., to see what we could come up with and how it would look when shown on a portrait. While we didn't get to use the projections for this specific task, it was really fun to pull out all the stops on creativity and try new ideas for a few hours." — Lexi Coon

University photographer Andrea Mabry poses for a test shot as ideas were brainstormed for the cover of the Spring/Summer 2021 UAB Magazine.

"When we were working on the spring magazine, we wanted a cover that would recognize both the intensity of COVID and celebrate those who were working to keep our communities healthy, and we started by trying projections. This is my fellow photographer Andrea Mabry — she volunteered to sit in for me as I tested different projections, colors, angles, lighting, etc., to see what we could come up with and how it would look when shown on a portrait. While we didn't get to use the projections for this specific task, it was really fun to pull out all the stops on creativity and try new ideas for a few hours." — Lexi Coon