2010 Year in Review

2010. It was a great year. Here's a small collection of my favorite images from weddings and portraits through out the year. These aren't necessarily the best of 2010, but simply the ones that give me that good feelin' in the pit of my stomach; the feeling that makes me love what I do. These are the images that bring an instant smile to my face. In no particular order...

And then there's this little dude. I don't know what it was about this ring bearer, who is a little brother of the groom, but I couldn't get this kiddo out of my head. Maybe it's because he's so stickin' heart throbbin' adorable. Or maybe it's because he was just such a sweet little boy who stole my heart. I want to do more portraits like this one. Getting in someone's face like this and simply asking them to be themselves is a lot of pressure to NOT show the real you.

The below image is by far my Numero Uno favorite image from 2010. This is what weddings should be about; the love of family and joining two together in such grace just makes my heart move tremendously. And capturing this love is so epic for me that not only is it an honor to be amongst such great love but boy oh boy, does it get me all warm inside. Love love love.

For 2011? I'm wishing, praying, dreaming...for an exciting year for me and my quiant little photo biz. I've definitely used this year for more reflection and evaluating than originally planned. There's so many directions I could take myself with photography and I think I just need to decide for myself which way I turn. There's this burning desire to shoot more more more. But then this wonderful thing called homeowner ship, mommy-ship, and of course our dear Lucy, has turned my sights to a whole different life that sounds oh so wonderful! And I think taking photography to another level and just GOING FOR IT is regining supreme in my heart. Here's a quick call out of goals that are at the top of the list...

...Break my weddings and portrait record in 2011 and really hit the booking scene hard.

...Shoot more for myself and keep that artistic drive alive. My walls are quite bare of personal work and I've got a new home and office to fill with art and images that make my heart go ba-bump-ba-bump.

...Stop reading other photographer's blogs and focus on my own vision and declaration. I'm no lesser of a photographer than anyone else so why am I sitting back and watching others progress and not doing it myself? (Huh? Why? WHY?!?!?!) To hold myself to this, I'm deleting subscritions to the majority of the blogs in my GoogleReader. Right now. *Instead, I'm making sure I follow these cool peeps on Twitter. So if they have a new blog post, Twitter will be my resource to see what they're up to!

...Share more. Put myself out there. Spend some time showing the world what I can do rather than fearing what I can't do. This refers to my neglected blog...*sorry bloggy-blog.

...Talk myself up a bit. Not just to myself, but to strangers. You know, brag. Tell them I kick ass. Tell them I'm a photographer and I'm good at what I do.

...Simply stop being afraid. I can do this. I want this. I'm gonna do this. I have to become a lion-hearted girl. Rawr.

How's that for a quick call out? : ) Friends, Family, Colleagues, Co-workers: Here's to 2011. Let's go get 'em Boys n' Girls. Let's do this together; push each other, encourage each other, work together. Let's have fun, love life and be who we wanna be. CHEERS!

always, love. -a.

WeddingsAmy Kiel