One of my favorite things to do at the beginning of each year is to take a day to look through all of my weddings from the previous year and search for images that produce something special in me when I see them. When I put together a typical blog post for a wedding, I choose images that tell the story of that particular day. This is not one of those blog posts. These are images that capture a specific moment, a raw emotion, a breathtaking detail. These are images that, as I literally scrolled through thousands of photos from 2012, for some reason I stopped and stared for a moment.
I also use this reflecting exercise as a chance to consider how I have changed over the past year as a photographer. I try to notice what things I was most excited to capture from a day… what direction I may be taking for the coming year.
I can confidently say that 2012 was the most defining year to date for my career and my life as a photographer. Last Spring, I embarked on a rebranding process that taught me so much about myself and where I hope to steer my career. From that experience, I arose on the other side with a very clear perspective of what I wanted to be about as a photographer and the kinds of moments I wanted to capture.
Natural . Timeless . Unique
As an extension of my personal values and the things that fire me up outside of photography, I wanted to bring an organic-ness to my images. As an obsessed organic gardener, I am in awe of how the mixture of the right natural materials can create something wonderful like a cauliflower. When you leave behind the fertilizers and pesticides and let nature produce an organic plant, you notice many imperfections. These imperfections make each plant unique. So, when I speak of organic photography, I’m describing the imperfect nature of a photo that causes you to pause… feel… consider.
My hope for my own life and the lives of my clients is that we will savor the organic moments that God brings us each day. That we’ll leave some things a little wrinkled… some furniture a little beat up… some moments a little awkward. That we’ll slow down and appreciate things a little more.
Take your time and enjoy my favorite images from 2012.
// 2012 WEDDINGS CONTEST Guidelines //
To cast your vote, just leave a comment below with the couple’s names and the results will be tallied after Midnight on Tuesday, January 15th. Thanks!
