HOW IS THIS POSSIBLE? I’m doing a “2016 in review” post already? I’m still not sure where the time went and to be honest if I didn’t have thousands (upon thousands) of photographs to prove otherwise, I would have thought it was still 2015. Yet here I am dating documents with “2017″ and already preparing myself for an exciting season of shooting. I would be remiss however if I didn’t take some time to reflect on our growth, the incredible memories we’ve made, the beautiful people we’ve hugged, and stories we’ve captured this year. First, what we are proud of this year! In 2016 we:
Celebrated our first anniversary (even put on our wedding clothes because I insist that only getting to wear a dress once is crap).
Celebrated Ganer’s 30th!
Traveled coast to coast, all over the midwest and south shooting weddings and visiting our family and best friends.
Took TWO vacations after many years of vacation-less years together.
Ganer enrolled in his EDD program and Carrie took over a hundred barre classes.
Redid our logo (thanks to SLL bride Colby Baumberger!).
REVAMPED OUR SITE.
Shot a more balanced season with weekends off and set actual business hours.
Designed more albums than ever.
Started posting on instagram (better late than never)!
Forged incredible friendships with fellow photographers.
Second shot for and with said fellow photographers.
Shot more film.
Shot several in-home lifestyle sessions.
Delivered nearly every gallery early.
Overshot every session (can’t stop won’t stop).
Bought (and danced to) more records.
Ganer cooked hundreds of overly elaborate meals and Carrie ate all of it.
Received so many thank you cards we need a second “motivation board.”
Made lots of gifs.
Met with and booked some incredibly excited, brilliant, and creative couples.
Shot more tiny weddings.
Ate so many amazing dinners because our clients wanted us well fed.
Climbed, ran, and even joined the dance party to get the shot.
Cried during too many ceremony and toasts.
Carrie shot several weddings in a dress and sneakers.
All of this is to say that we fell even more into a style of living and working that is unabashedly us: celebratory, imperfect, sentimental, a little bit weird, a lot of bit sassy, and always operating from the heart. Thank you sincerely to all of the clients who got our vibe and let us do our thing. It is wildly affirming to be connected to so many people who have excitedly let us into their lives with an open mind and an eagerness to make real memories. Your commitment to being present, playful, and loving is endlessly inspiring. You all rock. So. Hard.
Here is a rather long post that only scratches the surface of what we captured this year. This is by no means a “best of” post as I feel I could have built this a million different ways. Just looking at these frames me even more energized to seek out moments of humanness, happiness, and love in 2017.
2016 trends we’d love to see more of:
Messy hair.
Grooms in color.
Brides in color.
Pizza at weddings.
Wild flower girls.
Friend officiants.
Sloppy kisses.
Champagne explosions.
Chill wedding parties.
Backyard weddings.
Homemade desserts.
Dancing wedding recessionals.
Animals.
Dance lifts.
Power poses.
Practical shoes.
TULLE.
Stylish “something old”‘s.
Embarrassed laughter.
Pantone skies.
Cool shades.
Tattoos.
Books.
Barefeet.
Serenades.
Nontraditional rings.
Handwritten vows.
Mixed, tiny, or uneven bridal parties.
Golden hour sneakaways.
Full bodied laughter.
Ugly crying.
