Will Byington Photography

Updated 5/22 - Y’all sure know how to make a guy feel loved!!! Thank you all for the comments, calls and texts! I was actually released today and am recovering the next few days at my parents house in Naperville.

So... here goes nothing. Get ready for a novel. I’m gonna start with saying 1) don’t worry (be happy) I’m fine and 2) sorry to any and all this will be a shock too... which is pretty much everyone other than some family, etc. If it makes you feel any better... this will even be an update/news to a lot of my aunts/uncles etc and again... sorry. That was my call and by design. And again... I’m great so don’t freak out. Enough on that, here’s the story of how my head was getting too big and something had to be done. Enjoy. Today... I had brain surgery. A very small one... small surgery, not brain... but one nonetheless. I’m ready for all the jokes.

Let’s start with how I got here. As all of you know and I’m sure are sick of hearing about... from late January to early March, I photographed 7 rock and roll cruises for my friends and the best clients in the world, Sixthman. Over that time, I took 98,500 photos and had an absolute blast documenting the best fans, friends and bands in the Caribbean. As many of you have said... best job ever... and it really kind of is. Fast forward to the last 3 days of the whole run... in the middle of the 311 Cruise. I woke up a couple days after photographing meet & greet photos of the entire ship with the band... and had full on 100% double vision.

As in... literally seeing two of everything. I really thought it was a combination of dehydration, exhaustion, hangover or some of all of the above. I thought I’d stay on the boat, sleep it off... and get back at it. That night came... I photographed bands, fans, etc and still had it. Same goes for all day Tuesday. I spoke with the medical staff on the boat to make sure I wasn’t dying... and all vitals were great. So I kept on working. When I closed one eye to get around or to take a photo... everything was normal. So shoot away I did. Man was it weird though. To anyone on the boat that I was a little off to or walked right past... sorry. Below you can get an idea of the final product and somewhat what I was seeing with two eyes open.

I flew home from 311 and went straight to my family doctor. That started a few weeks of doctors and tests. Long story not short... through an MRI... it was found that truly my head was too big. I had a non-cancerous benign pituitary adenoma... a tumor. I hope I typed that all right... basically the best part... NO CANCER... and it’s something 30-40% of society has in their head... you just never know about it till a random MRI or it does things like say... make you see double! If it had been smaller, we would have monitored it and I would have kept my little friend in my head. But because I’m an overachiever, was born in Texas and like to go big or go home... it was a macro one that had already impacted my vision and it had to come out. Again... a few people but very few knew this. Also... other than seeing double until the end of April... I felt 1000% and was ready to keep rocking and rolling. So with my doctor’s permission and approval... and no chance of worry (from him or me)... trust me... I made sure.... I went back to work with a little double vision corrected by closing one eye... so taking photos actually helped... over the next month, i photographed the Chicago White Sox Pride Crew, a corporate conference in Las Vegas, Cubs Opening Day, the Bon Jovi Cruise, The Murray Brothers Caddyshack Charity Golf Outing, a few shots at New Orleans Jazz Fest and finally Kid Rock’s Island Adventure before two great gigs back in Chicago this past weekend.

Almost everyone on all of those had no clue and that’s the way I like it. I’m stubborn like that. Again... sorry.

So here we are today and this note has rambled on way longer than it should. This is the part I’ll keep short. Today with the service of an excellent neurosurgeon and an ear/nose/throat surgeon (who actually graduated after me at WVHS) they made their way through my nose into my brain... and took out the tumor.

Everything seems to have gone great! I’m laid up in the hospital with more tubes and cords coming out of me than ever before but everyone is happy with the results so far. I’ll be here a day or two for monitoring but again... I don’t want your worries and no need to be sad. Life after 40 is an adventure, right? Rumor is recovery is fairly easy and other than no strenuous activities for a couple weeks (I avoid most of those anyway usually) Doc says I can be back photographing in days. Who needs a photo shoot? I gotta pay for this morphine and awesome hospital food somehow. Just kidding... I have insurance and it’s good. But I’m still ready to take your photos or sell you some prints!

A huge thanks to my parents and my sister and nephew for being here today! Meant the world to me.

So if you made it this far... I’m glad I could give you some entertainment now that Game of Thrones is over. Feel free to drop me a hello via email, Facebook, twitter or Instagram. And I hope to see you, my friends, all real soon.

Rounded out 2016 with a pretty fun month of being in one place... hosting my first ever Pop Up Photo Gallery at Block 37 in Chicago’s Loop.  Spent a lot of time walking past the Chicago Theatre... oh yeah... And I met The Boss.  That was pretty cool.  It’s been a great year... Let’s see what 2017 has in store for it all. Thank you as always for the support. 

Yep... so that happened. The Chicago Cubs are World Series Champions... and I was there to witness it all.  Crazy.  

Immediately after the Cubs won the World Series... that is just fun to type... I flew to Miami to photograph the last cruise of 2016... The KISS Kruise VI.  

July was the month of more fun events and concerts... from Guns N Roses at Soldier Field to the Chicago Cubs own Jon Lester’s charity event at Joe’s.  

I was hired to spend the day with actor Joe Minoso from Chicago Fire while we spent the day at Shriner’s Hospital. 

Oh yeah... and had my 20th High School Reunion from Waubonsie Valley High School.  Great to see so many classmates again.  

In June, I moved into my new place... which DOES NOT have a pool... but the view of a nice one... and I spent most of the month getting settled in... while photographing a few bands... from One Night Band to PHISH. Summer in Chicago can’t be beat. 

May is one of my favorite months of the year... as May = New Orleans Jazz Fest.

May also saw me buy my own condo for the first time in my life.... I am now a homeowner.  What have I done?

But before I could move in... I had to trek to Michigan to celebrate the wedding of two great friend... Brad and Sarah.... which included their own firework show.  Well done my friends. 

In April I ventured back to Florida twice... and in between, found out that as of June 1, I have to move out of the apartment I have lived in for the past 9 years.  I guess it is good to grow up sometime... Details coming soon on what’s next.

After setting sail on a bunch of cruises for Sixthman... I ventured south for a different project... documenting the campaign for incumbent Congresswoman Martha Roby from Montgomery, AL.  It was a fascinating project and I hope to dive into the political field more in the future.  

I also got to hit up Dreamland Ribs... so that is always nice. Then it was back on the boat for two more cruises...  Paramore’s Parahoy Cruise and Kid Rock’s Chillin The Most Cruise.

I then finished up the month with an excellent vacation... yep... with another cruise.  My Sixthman work family hit the seas on the SeaDream.  Could not have asked for a better trip with a more excellent group of friends. 

February for me means a month of cruises as I am the sole photographer for an Atlanta based company called Sixthman who is the leader in artist cruise vacations.  Here are just a few fun shots from the month that was...