2025 in Review

If I am being honest, this past year was so full, I am not sure how to process it all. My last post was on August 12th - my son’s 23rd Birthday. Before that felt like “Life As Usual.” But a few days later things took a bit of a right hook.

Johnny and I have been together for 6 years this summer. Through those years, he has been dealing with some aging parent issues and end-of-life things that turned plans on it’s head.

On August 28th, about 3 weeks before I was scheduled to leave for a 2 week trip to England to see family, he met with some financial planners that said, “You really should go ahead and get married before the end of the year.”

When he told me this, I had just come off a photoshoot. My head was spinning from that. And I wasn’t sure what to think.

“Let’s talk tonight…we can figure something out.”

Within 2 weeks I had sorted a location, a date, a dress, some food, and a loose plan - that meant we would be getting married in 8 short weeks. And somehow it happened. We married on November 1st in a small ceremony that included our kids, our dog, and our Scott.

But that wasn’t all that happened this year. I lost some clients and I partnered with some new people. I worked hard and played even harder. And somehow the universe allowed it all to happen.

If I could tell you one thing about the lessons this year has brought me is that this life isn’t on our time schedule. There is something else in control…This, I know. But what I did learn is all the hoping and wishing and planning and playing and working and grinding and commitment to myself and faith and hope and huge love I have to give has somehow brought me exactly where I needed to be.

Johnny’s vows to me during our wedding were taken from the song “This Must Be The Place” by the Talking Heads. Below are a few photos from the day and this year. I couldn’t feel more gratitude than I do right here, right now in this body I call home.

”Home is where I want to be
Pick me up and turn me round
I feel numb, born with a weak heart
I guess I must be having fun

The less we say about it the better
Make it up as we go along
Feet on the ground, head in the sky
It's okay, I know nothing's wrong

I got plenty of time
you got light in your eyes
And you're standing here beside me
I love the passing of time

Never for money, always for love
Cover us and say goodnight”

<3

Wedding location - City Scape Winery in GVL

One of my top moments of the year.

If you know…

London Scene

London scene

Summering at the Lake in Columbia.

On Location

On Location

If I could bottle a moment from this year, it would be this one.

On Location

On Location!

Wouldn’t be summer without a few concerts

Can’t go to Texas and not shop for boots!

A classic shot of the coolest dude I know…

There is truly so much I have to be grateful for. I just don’t even know where it starts and where it ends.

Wishing us all the joy and peace this new year will bring!

Love Birds

The Andersons

When new love finds a way into your heart, make sure you notice it. Pause in it’s glory. Look at it. Observe all it’s ebbs and flows. Don’t let it just float away. It’s going to be work…hard work…even when you adore the person. It all needs to be cared for.

I want to say “when you know, you know…” but life doesn’t always work that smoothly. Sometimes it’s more confusing. Sometimes it flies away…but like lovebirds, it always comes back when it needs to. And often times, it changes shape over time.

Nourish your love - for everything. Nourish your love for yourself…your love for your life…your love for your heart. And your relationships. Everything needs tender care.

Those early days in love…remember them. Come back to them. See each other. And keep coming back to that nest.

Connection

“There’s an inexplicable delicateness to your photos…like you put your tender heart into each picture you take.”

Perhaps the best compliment I have ever gotten about my work in one simple sentence.

When my work started looking like I feel on the inside was when I knew I had finally found my style - so to speak. Of course it’s easy to shoot a wedding this way or a family. But the trick is to let yourself come through in those shoots with commercial work. Food. Portraits.

All photos need to have the balance of the client plus the photographer. It’s hard to not let instagram or other people’s work dictate how I portray myself. But with each photo and each moment, I try to put a piece of myself in there.

It’s about connection. No matter what I shoot. Connecting the people to the moment.

Inside Out

How do you see yourself?

Do you see what you truly are…not just physically, but the whole you? Do you see the parts of you on the inside and on the outside.

When I photograph people, sometimes they tell me “can you make me…?” which is always followed by something we are insecure about…”Taller.” “Thinner.” “Less bald.” “Bigger boobs.” “Cover my butt.” “Only from the waist up please.” “I hate my arms.”

But wouldn’t it be better if we looked at someone and said “can you capture who I am on the inside. Not just on the outside. I want the world to see all of me…not just what I look like.” Show our insides on our outsides. Show us inside out. Not just outside out.

I struggle to be in front of the camera for all the reasons I am stating here. I am insecure about how I look sometimes. But I never look at other people this way. I only see who they are in a photograph. I try to approach my photography this way…from my heart. I do it so I can see all of the subject. Not just what someone looks like on the outside, but who they really are…their character and their humanity. Their vulnerability and their strength.

So next time you get your picture taken, ask that photographer to take your photo inside-out and see what they say. You might be surprised at the result…

It's in the details.

If you ask me, I think it's the details that make any photoshoot where I am telling a story complete. But this is particularly true at a wedding. Those small shots. The close ups. The tiny sidebars that tell fill in the details on the bigger picture. I always felt like they were the most interesting part. They are adjectives in the stories and the subtle punctuation at the end of each sentence you tell as you recount the day.

Other parts come into play as well...candid shots and final edits really make it complete and set a tone. But those details make you remember what the day felt like, and most importantly - how you felt in it.

I approach much of my photography like this: How will I tell this story in a photograph? Often, the job is to capture the story in one shot, one portrait. So then, a detail shot just isn't the thing. But I still try to make sure - no matter what to story I am telling - that you come away with a feeling.

Maybe then, the details are in the feeling you get from a photograph. The feeling is the theme, the adjectives and the punctuation. The feelings are hidden in the cake toppers and the colors, the little hands holding the rings and the crazy groomsmen busting a move on the dance floor. The details are hidden in the smiles and the eyes of everyone I photograph...just waiting to tell their own story.

The one shot

Last weekend, I got to shoot the most amazing wedding I have ever photographed - on an estate in the middle of vineyards in Sonoma. On every level, this day was perfect - all the details and elements just seemed to fall effortlessly into place that day (thanks to MANY busy people!) All of the delicate details of this event were perfect in every way.

For me, this shot is the defining photo of Nick and Milena's special day. The whole day seems to stand still right here in this moment. It represents all of the their beauty as individuals, all of the loveliness of their special day, and all the inspiration on their journey as a new couple and family.

For me it's this shot...the one shot. 

I guess I can give them a few more, though.

Congratulations, Nick and Meeps! I am so honored and grateful to have been a part of this.

Flexing my wedding muscles

It's admittedly been a few months since I have flexed my wedding photography muscles. I have been busy with loads of families and commercial work - as well as some design that I also do. But yesterday, I dove headfirst into the wedding waters again. And what luck! A beautiful day with an adorable couple and the most simple wedding I have ever had the pleasure of shooting.

Congratulations to Ben and Janea! I am so happy I got to be a part of this day with you! I wish you many many years of a happy marriage and a long life filled with love and joy and - most of all - peace.