I believe it is typical to start the new year by reflecting on the last one and setting new goals for the year ahead; so here is my wedding photographer 2023 review!
The last few years have been pretty eventful. As I'm sure is the same for most of you, there have been plenty of highs and lows. Loss, illness and accidents are part of all our lives and it is sometimes very difficult to find a balance between coping with these challenges, looking after our families and working.
The lows this year? I had my first major photography accident - and I was walking forwards, not backwards; surprising I know! It just happened to be my birthday and I was working a wedding when I fell straight onto my face breaking a lens in the process! Apologies again to the beautiful bride and groom (they know who the are) for any unnecessary stress caused on the day but somehow I muddled through. A 10 hour A&E trip, a CT scan and a couple of scars later and I am thankfully much improved.
This year saw the anniversary of my beloved Dad's death after two incredibly distressing years of treatment for cholangiocarcinoma (bile duct cancer). I am not sure how I will ever come to terms with this or the effect it has had on my family but I realise that we all have to cope with loss in our lives and that it will become easier over time.
I strongly believe that we can be inspired by such lows to make positive changes and so these things have lead me to some of my highlights:
I climbed a mountain! This was the most amazing adventure for me and together with my wonderful family and friends, we raised over £4000 for AMMF bile duct cancer charity & Macmillan cancer support.
I travelled! I suppose I was a little overwhelmed by the fragility of life and the urge to experience everything I possibly can whilst I am able. My lovely husband and I have been lucky enough to be able to take a few trips to expand our world horizons including the trip of a lifetime to Iceland.
I have had had my one of photographs published in a book! I have also taken part in three exhibitions and created a zine; Roots, with friend and artist/poet Maddi, which we took to a book and zine fair at Cambridge University. (You can follow my art work here).
I have started some new ventures! Whilst I am still very much enjoying offering my wedding photography services, I am always keen to keep learning and growing and have been offering photography tuition and venturing into product photography!
And as always, I have spent lots of time in the healing embrace of the great outdoors, often with my bestest little buddy, Nellie.
And then there are all the beautiful weddings I have witnessed...
There is nothing more rewarding than capturing special memories for special people. You can read about some of these in more detail in my previous blog posts but some memorable moments are...
...strong winds...
...a race against time... (That's a story for another day!)
...long awaited celebrations...
...an extra special destination wedding...
...and generally, lots of love.
How was it for you?!
My goals?
Well, I must keep my blog posts up to date! I still have a few weddings to blog about from 2023 but time is running away from me and this years weddings will soon be starting!
But in general, my goal is to keep moving forwards and to try recognise my achievements. This blog post has been a step towards this good practice as when I started to write, I really wasn't sure what I had achieved! I know I always put 110% into my work and want to do the absolute best I can for everyone I love and take photographs for. Hopefully my best will be good enough and as I always strive to improve, things can only get better!
With huge thanks for all your support and love. I can't wait to see what 2024 has in store.
Nicola x