‘Behind-the-scenes moments’: RJ photographer Chase Stevens’ favorite photos from 2025

Every year, the photographers on the Review-Journal’s staff take tens of thousands of photos. We had each of them select 10 to 15 of their favorite images from 2025.

The chance to photograph the long-running Tournament of Kings show was exciting on its own, but when I found out we would be getting a full behind-the-scenes view for the entire day and evening I knew it would be something special. There were so many great moments from that day, but only-in-Vegas kind of scene stood out to me.

While the Raiders have been facing ongoing woes on the field, there are still highlights for the players from each game, and this image with defensive end Charles Snowden celebrating his first career interception was one of those. Being in a massive stadium full of fans feels something like what I imagine being in the Colosseum of ancient Rome must have felt like some 2,000 years ago.

I’ve photographed a handful of WSOP final tables over the years, but Michael Mizrachi’s win this year stood out. Mizrachi already had a prolific resume in the world of poker, but the WSOP Main Event championship bracelet had eluded him over the last two decades. The moment when he finally got the bracelet and held it up and just paused to look up at it was like witnessing someone finding the Holy Grail.

It’s such a cool experience getting to photograph hockey right from the glass. Something I try to do every game is get a good wide-angle action shot when there’s something happening in front of me because it makes you feel like you’re right in the middle of it all - and this photo where the puck is flying right past my camera lens with Golden Knights center Jack Eichel and Florida Panthers center Anton Lundell staring it down worked out perfectly.

The Aces’ A’ja Wilson is always a force to behold on the court, but it’s always a joy to watch her interact with teammates as well as the crowd. Following the game where she became the fastest WNBA player to reach 5,000 career points, a mom in the crowd excitedly handed her baby over to Wilson, making for an amusing yet endearing moment - one which later came up in both the postgame press conference and the subsequent story in the RJ.

On a summer day this year I was looking around for anything that might make a good feature photo to run as a standalone in the paper, sometimes I drive around hoping to find a visual scene, and other times I come across local community events that could work. I found a sewing course that was being held by the library district and stopped by to see what photos I could get - expecting some cool close ups with patterned fabrics or textured materials perhaps, but the longer I was there more and more happened, and when everyone gathered around to get a good view of a demonstration on sewing snap-ons I knew I had something that stood out.

Sometimes the small, behind-the-scenes moments are my favorite from a massive event, such as with Pennzoil 400 NASCAR Cup Series race earlier this year. During the pre-race driver introductions I noticed a few guys making their way over with some fanfare but didn’t realize who they were at first, until I remembered that the Backstreet Boys were in attendance to promote their show at Sphere. During driver introductions they were casually mingling with some of the drivers backstage, while a group of kids were playing over to the right, and it was just one of those Vegas moments that stood out to me.

I always love getting the chance to photograph the Rock ’n’ Roll half-marathon because the Strip is only shut down a couple of other times a year, but for this we get a little more free reign - and better light - to take it all in. The contrast of one of the Blue Man Group members taking in the scene contrasted with runners speeding off as confetti rains down was a highlight for me.

This past Easter I had the rare opportunity to visit The Jungle Palace, the former home of Siegfried and Roy, and as someone who loves both vintage Vegas history as well as vintage Vegas homes I could not have been more excited to simply be there. While the main photos to get from the event were kids on an Easter egg hunt, I was on the lookout for something that would capture or at least into the allure I felt from visiting that day. As I was playing around with reflections by a window with a painting of the legendary duo, I saw the one and only Lynette Chappell, who was the “Evil Queen” that performed for decades with Siegfried and Roy.