2019 Year in Review

And just like that, 2019 is whisked away and we’ve found ourselves in a new decade! This last 10 years (if I can speak so broadly) has brought so much into my life - of course going fro 14 to 24 will do a lot for a girl!! Within that time frame, I also started my business a few years ago. I gained more creative confidence and learned so much - so much!! - about running a business, gaining my first clients, and becoming a better artist. I found an old journal during some closet clean out (hello New Year’s motivation) and read some pages from when I was still in university (2015? 2016?) and a baby in business. It was a goal that said “next year I want to book 1 WEDDING and second shoot 3 WEDDINGS”. Things actually did a lot better than that for me that first year - I shot 6 weddings of my own and photographed a few more for others. But it was crazy to be transported back to a time where my current life now wasn’t even fully fledged - maybe I hardly believed it was possible to make a living doing what I loved.

Peering into the next decade I also feel like there’s huge change and an abundance of experience unbeknownst to me on the horizon. I’ve felt so lucky to be able to document so many huge milestones of couples and peoples lives during this decade. It’s an honor that my images will live on in photobooks and prints (and lets face it, phone screens and instagram). Each day we have an opportunity for new experiences, a new outlook, and fresh intentions. We don’t need to wait until a “New Year” or the next month, or even the next week to make positive change or reflect in our lives. BUT! There is one thing that certainly is more special (in my opinion) when it’s all lumped into one and shown together - and that’s from January 1 - December 31 - what is the body of work that I created in a year (and wedding season) and what did I create! What did I do, love, what did I focus on, where did I grow?

This year in business I had a LOT going on. Most of it was outside my photo-work, balancing other responsibilities, travel, festivals, honestly just a lot of life outside of my photo-biz. I wouldn't change those experiences for the world AND I also got to create some stuff this year that I’m proud of. I chose images from every couples session and wedding that I photographed this year to share in this 2019 review. It’s rewarding to have my work placed like this all together because sometimes it’s easy as a photographer to get lost or unfocused on your “big picture” - sessions can become to-do lists and you forget about the creative success you found amongst the work. This year I loved photographing laughter (as always) and found myself drawn to texture, people and faces more than grand landscapes or places, and playing with colour and personality a lot more! I didn't go to any mountaintops or travel for any weddings this year! It was good to stay rooted. I feel like my work has “grown up” a bit - and I see more of myself in these images than I have in years past. Looking forward to 2020’s season I’m so excited to keep storytelling and pushing myself and my clients to show up in their sessions for creative growth.

So here, in no particular order, are some of my faves of 2019! (now is also a good time to say that I’m booking for 2020 and you can contact me here!)