The Best of 2013

I put these in order of the session date because the progression in my shooting and editing style fascinates me.  2013 was a huge year for me - the first full year of my business.  I bought my new camera in April, and from there things grew so quickly!  September, October, and November were crazy busy.  I think one of the biggest challenges of the year was learning to balance doing school, assisting for another photographer and shooting for my own clients, but with the perseverance the Lord gave me and the patience of my clients, it all worked out.

All my clients this year were either seniors or families - two groups that grew really close to my heart.  I saw how important photographs are for both.  Seniors are in a important transition year and photos help to slow that down.  Families are constantly transitioning and photos celebrate those special moments of the right now.

However, I also got to capture an adoption homecoming, which was a dream of mine.  After almost five years, one of my closest friends and her family brought their daughter home.  I cried behind my camera, and when I got home, I felt refreshed.  There's something about crying while shooting that does that to me.  I also assisted my first wedding, which turned out to be the perfect introduction to wedding photography.  Though I hope to gain more experience in this area, I haven't planned on shooting any weddings this next year (although, if the Lord wants me to, I'd be perfectly happy with it!).

I believe I really settled into my niche this year.  Not that I settled and didn't try to improve, but that I was happy with the photographs I was making.  And I waited and prayed for that feeling for a long, long time.

So, I want to thank each of my clients.  Your love, patience, and faith made this year memorable for me!
And I want to thank my friends who cheered me on and my parents who told me I needed to stop on that one weekend when I had five shoots.  You kept me sane.  :)

I'm so, so excited to call 2014 my second year of business!  Even though I'll begin school as a photography major in the fall, I am determined to continue shooting for clients.  (All my junior friends, that was for you. ;))  Hopes and dreams for this year?  Shoot more creatively.  Shoot at least one proposal or engagement session - I didn't do any this year and I've been dying to.  Shoot moments, not just poses.

And really, it's that simple.  I'm not going to over-think it this year.  I want to be an advocate for good photographs and the importance of photography.  I want to prove that this "hobby" can also be an enjoyable and fun career.  2014 is going to be good.  :)

Thank you for all your support!

3 days left // 3 days remaining

I.  She liked to think of that frozen pond as her future.  Beautiful at first glance, announcing its depth with every cracking step.  But it would hold her.
II.  C.S. Lewis:  "If you want joy, power, peace, eternal life, you must get closer to, or even into, the thing that has them."
III.  Perspective:  3 days left // 3 days remaining
IV.  She was ear buds playing her favorite songs and socks for warmth not for style.  She was adventure and somehow, she only knew that from what small town Indiana had to offer.
V.  They always told her she could sleep when she died, so she taught her thoughts to keep her up until dawn.  Maybe, though, if she slept, she could become those thoughts rather than simply thinking them.  Releasing them from the sheets so she could grow was better than hiding what she could be in the first hours of the morning.
VI.  So if you see her in a photograph, know that genuine happiness was a crinkled nose above a smile.  Maybe she truly was happy.
VII.  The only place she wanted to be is here, enveloped by the blue.