Pretty much everyone I know takes the end of the year as the opportunity to reflect, refine and recap the year… to talk about everything that was INCREDIBLE during that year…and to looks forward to the promise of what the next year will bring. I am no different.  Along with about 100 of my mom’s homemade Christmas cookies.  OMG.   I went through all my files (not really ALL. But a LOT of them.) and pulled 300 plus of my favorites. While it was super fun for me to see everything I did, everyone I met and photographed over the past 12 months ( I made so many amazing friends and fell in love with so many people! )  I had to consider just WHO would sit through THAT slideshow?? My mom.  Maybe.  And my Studio Manager…because well…it’s her job.  ::grin::

So…instead of that level of torture…I’ve decided to choose what I consider the “moments”…the “iconic” photographs that mean something significant to me from this year… I can’t promise that I won’t bust out with a slideshow or additional post later…but for now…this is a small illustration of the FUN I’ve had!

I’ve been humbled by just how MUCH I’ve learned this year…how MUCH my clients pushed me outside my comfort zone and into new things I wouldn’t have imagined before this year…how MANY times I doubted myself but did things anyway. My favorite line is “I’ll figure it out”.  I refuse to use the word NO. I don’t care how scary or intimidating – I’m trying it. And that attitude has led me into some CRAZY photoshoots – and I wouldn’t have it ANY other way. So..in no particular order…here are some MAJOR things I was impacted by this year:

=> Relationships are EVERYTHING.  No matter where I am…or who I’m photographing…if a mom is there with her daughter (or grandmother), if a husband is there with his wife…if siblings are forced to tag along…I feel compelled to photograph them together.  This photograph is my best friend in the whole world.  Her daughter is a senior this year and mom and grandmom tagged along for her senior portrait session.  NEITHER of them wanted this photograph taken…but it’s one of my absolute favorites from this year.  It makes me happy.  And guess what?  They loved it too.

=> I have learned NEVER to panic.  Pouring rain?  … Snow?    Nighttime?  Someone telling me no?    All of these things used to scare me.  I would think…oh my god.  I can’t do this.  Too risky.  Too scary.    But you know what? I’ve learned that sometimes when things don’t go as planned — amazing things happen.  Just keep looking.  Eventually the solution finds YOU.

In December…it gets dark at 4:30!  It was FREEZING so an on the spot decision to ask a boy scout troop selling trees if we could photograph inside the fence led to some GORGEOUS shots.  The construction light they were using made these images CRAZY cool.  Among my favorites of the year.  (And also I talked the bride into putting on my cowboy boots instead of her high heels!  Whatever it takes!)

Remember the cardinal rule: Don’t Panic.  This photograph CRACKS ME UP.   I’ve learned a LOT this year about sparklers.  The first one is this:  buy the LONG ones.  The shorter ones (look closely at the photograph) burn QUICKLY and throw off sparks so everyone is yelling “ouch!”  “ouch!” “ouch!”  ::grin::.  When we got to the beach…it was cold…dark…and windy…and the sparklers wouldn’t light…until someone dug a hole in the sand to light them (brilliant!)…but there was NOT time to set up a formal “shot”…so I just told everyone to run madly around the couple before the sparklers blew out…and before the police came and threw us off the beach.  This shot took place in about 2 minutes flat….then the police came and threw us off the beach.

I used to worry I was missing things.  That I needed to be in the middle (although sometimes the middle is fun.  See next paragraph) to make sure I got every second.  But what happened to me this year — was a personal goal to SLOW DOWN.  STEP BACK.  And allow myself to fall into the flow of the day…either during a photoshoot or a wedding.  The non moments…the unexpected moments…have become my favorites. Maybe that seems obvious — what you would expect from a photographer who’s documenting your day — but believe me — you HAVE to be in the flow of the day — to SEE the emotion.  Because it is super fleeting.  A millisecond before or after — and it’s gone.  I’m obsessed with finding those moments.

In this image?  The next blink of her eye the mom noticed me and looked into the camera and not at her daughter.

In this photo?  I sensed movement off to the right…and waited…and that amazing little boy wandered into the frame.  Immediate favorite!

Just unbridled (if you’ll pardon the pun!) excitement and anticipation.  Can’t you feel it almost tangibly?

And that moment when I imagine she’s thinking:  “it’s today.  it’s finally happening.  I’m a bride”…

I WANTED the sewing picture.  I waited for her arm to extend…I love this image.  Everything about it makes me happy.

=> I no longer fight my sense of humor.  It’s as much part of who I am and the photographs I take…

…

So…what do you do when the groom busts out a duck hunting gun to show the guys?  Yeah.  I knew you saw that coming.

I dare you not to smile when you look at this photograph.

Speaking of smiling…TELL me that this dog didn’t wander through my photograph and GRIN at me.  GRINS AT ME!

Also…further proof that dogs generally have their own unique sense of humor.  Another photograph from the same wedding in which she wandered into the frame…

=>I have learned to embrace the light.  No matter where.  Or when.  Or under what stressful circumstances I find myself in like:

Sunset imminent and raining.  RAINING during this shot.  I had a million little dots all over my lens.

I waited for her…and was so scared I was going to miss this shot.  The blast of light behind her and the utter darkness…mmmm…LOVE this shot.

Looks like I planned it, right?  Nope.  The bride and groom wanted to stop for a shot at a local bar — and as we were leaving and RUNNING to the limo I spotted this light.  I grabbed a groomsman and sweet talked him in .5 seconds to pose for me before the limo left us.

=>I’ve learned to let EVERYONE play.  I invite everyone into the process. If someone wants to be involved, suggest ideas, or take a risk with me — guess what?  GAME ON!  In the next two pictures from a workshop I took with the amazing Carla Ten Eyck it was POURING rain.  I had only a few minutes with these models…and we wandered by a shop that was under renovation…and all I could think of was “look at that window!”  It can’t hurt to ask, right?  And although everyone thought I was a little crazy — everyone got involved — including a guy who walked up and offered to clean the window for us!!  The second picture is one of the final shots…not executed perfectly by any stretch — but SO MUCH fun to look at and remember.  I’m such a sucker for having fun and taking risks.  What’s the worst that can happen, right?

And…I never would have considered taking a couch to a wedding with me (pickup truck following the limo — believe it) — but the bride and groom were SO excited to try something different and work to make this happen — that we made some really FUN images as a result…

=>I guess the biggest thing I’ve learned is persistence.  That sometimes an idea won’t necessarily work the first time — but if you want it -  don’t give up.

My bride has this GORGEOUS tattoo that says “the power of love” in a quotation and I WANTED that photograph.  I just couldn’t make it happen in a way that made me happy.  So during the ceremony — I decided to give it one more shot…climbed through some bushes…and…that was it.  Mysterious, colorful…and gorgeous.

I had a lot of fun this year!

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