Year in Review: 2020
Well… I think we can all agree that 2020 was not at all what we expected it to be.
First, I need to clarify how massively thankful I am to everyone who has supported, encouraged, and/or hired me. This year hasn’t been easy on anyone, and I am extremely grateful for everyone who has worked harder than ever to help others and done their societal part by wearing a mask and taking other safety precautions. We are all in this together, and while there are ups and downs, I have been overwhelmed by the resilience of the human connection.
In the past few years doing my review, I usually have a word that has carried me through the year. This year, I didn’t have one, but my tagline “documenting the beauty of humanity” has never been more true. While I appreciate life as good as the average person, I was humbly reminded that humanity is beautifully resilient every single day. Every moment is precious.
Several of my weddings were being completely rescheduled in a matter of days due to governments changing regulations daily. At most of the weddings, if there were even family or friends at all, most hadn’t even seen each other in months. I’ve photographed more generational family sessions than ever - grandparents to newborn babies - remembering the importance of family, now more than ever. I photographed people that are battling cancer, trying to get an education without being deported, and others who have had to battle grief in very difficult ways. I photographed couples who struggled with infertility and got pregnant this year and some other families who were happily surprised by their bundle of joy. Some families wanted to photograph their kids exploring the great outdoors, unaware of all the issues, bursting with joy and love. Every session was purposeful on an emotional level, not just photos for the walls or an album to remember for generations - every time I photographed anyone, there was a much deeper emotional human connection I observed and documented. Every emotion was deeper and fuller.
A couple of highlights of the year: one of my 2019 Breckenridge weddings was printed in Rocky Mountain Bride magazine, and you can view all five pages here. They also digitally published this lovely Colorado Springs anniversary session online! Another highlight is having Junebug Weddings publish one of my 2019 Texas weddings! Also, both Joe and I are ordained :)
Love is wonderful, and not nearly celebrated enough. Please, tell someone you love how important to you right now. You will make their day - or their year. I hope that despite the crazy year we have had, you can look through these images and see why I well up with emotion every time I look at them.
If you are interested in how our business, personal lives, and our 2021 plans have progressed, scroll down to the bottom to read about all about it.
Stay safe and healthy!
Moving to a new state and starting a business in a fresh location mere months before a global pandemic has not been a walk in the park. When we started our business in Texas years ago, we stay mostly local and built a very strong foundation there. Moving to a much more saturated market was daunting on its own, but certainly much harder without being able to physically network. For those who know me, I spend a lot of time networking with other vendors and scouting out locations to provide the best experience for my clients… so this year was quite challenging.
I had significantly less work than I normally do - typically, I average 25 weddings, 60 couples sessions, and 8 family sessions a year. This year, I had 9 weddings, 22 couples sessions, and 14 family sessions.
Joe normally DJs 45-50 weddings on average, and he only had 2 weddings this year. It was shocking.
Because of the lack of work (and therefore income) and such a high demand for teachers, I substituted in various schools to offset our projected profit losses. I began a long-term substitute job in September as a Kindergarten teacher at a dual language academy, and I am still teaching in this class until further notice. Surprisingly, I love teaching kindergarten. I hope my photography career remains a career, but due to this unusual year, I was able to experience a potential career path that I would’ve normally never tried - maybe it can be something for my future.
We also bought a house in March! It was a fantastic choice right before all the lockdowns began, and we are still renovating it. To keep my business and personal life separate, you can watch our daily lives in a renovation home here. Let me warn you though, that house is pure 70’s - everything needs updating and improving, so it’s going to take a long time for this!
We are looking forward to what 2021 has in store. Both Joe and I are ordained to officiate ceremonies in Colorado (and nationwide) so I hope we get to both marry some people over the next year. We don’t even want to plan anything out though, because every single day is changing, but with quite a few summer weddings in epic locations, I can’t wait to celebrate more people falling even more in love with each other! Thank you for always supporting us!