2017: Part 1 A Year In Review |

Thankful for Growth

So If you've been following along for a while you know I love New Years. It's the time to really revitalize hopes, perspectives and plans. It's a time to receive all the parts of your year that were blessings and release all the pieces that were hard or painful. I always feel like the process of celebrations with family and friends is the moment I feel that redemption of a new year most clearly.

With each new year I give it a word. A word that I lean towards all throughout year's ups and downs. Last year my word was Growth and it was absolutely stunning how much growth I experienced. I moved for the second time in 2 years, restarted my entire business in a new city and went full time into being a photographer with no back up job or income, I grew in the way I saw love and marriage by accepting the move and trusting that there was a plan and purpose for leaning into a change that felt so counter intuitive, I grow everyday with loving myself and my flaws for who they make me and I opened myself up for growth and change within my passions. (I literally did a 360 last year from pushing toward Weddings at first to moving head first into birth photography) 

This year of growth also made me really aware that I'm not nearly as transparent as I could be with all of my followers, friends and clients with how much growth I've experienced in the last couple years. There is something about admitting that "you've gotten better" or that "you've been working hard for change" that scares me. Makes me think people will assume I lied to them before , hopefully that sounds just as crazy to you as it now does in my head. I want to be authentic about how long its taken me to feel stable in this business. It's not something you wake up one morning and say, I think I'll be a full time photographer. It takes a lot of pushing, a lot of hoping and a lot of failure. I won't go into the whole story now because I hope to write my story in all its failure and joy soon. I do want to say that this past year and every year before it have honestly been ones of growth. Whether I was watching for it or not, I was growing and changing. I'm so thankful for growing this business and my personal self this past year, it was painful and beautiful. 

Like each year before I've pulled together the photos that I feel were my best, my favorites and the ones that have filled my soul with fire for this art.

They are a mixture of my client work, family and travels. I've also thrown in a couple from my self portrait series I tried to pull together in 2017. (another thing on my to do list is to blog about that) They are in no ways perfect but they are a symbol to me of my growth as I move closer and closer to my goals. They will probably feel like a jumble of emotions, brand, and style. There are some I've never shared before, others I've kept for a special time because they didn't really fit on my business page and others that have been my favorites throughout the year. The order is not as random as you might think, I want the photos to make you feel all emotions, from wonder, to shock, to comfort, to joy. I believe in the power of photographs to invoke feeling and love the drama of switching from black and white to color from birth to travel and everything in between.

Tomorrow I'll also post part 2, name 2018 and talk about the hopes and goals I have for the New Year. Excited to share whats in store.