I honestly don’t even know where to begin….2018 has been a right old year.
My whole life has literally changed in the space of 12 months.
I became nomadic for a while.
I photographed 30+ sessions including London weddings, documentary family sessions, weddings around the UK and engagement sessions.
I walked 100 miles and swam from one Thai island to another.
I travelled to Malta, Iceland, Ireland, New York, Detroit and Thailand.
I marched against Trump and attended my first ideas festival.
I hosted another SNAP photography festival and SNAP Autumn social.
I spoke at workshops and conferences including The Photography Show, Learning to Fly, Looks Like Film and The Photographer’s Business.
I really prioritised my self-care and well being.
My marriage ended…
The constant throughout was the weddings I photographed and my lovely couples. With so much going on I did wonder if my work would be affected but, actually, I am really proud of the work I have created this year. Having an outlet to channel my energy into has been brilliant. You have to be 110% tuned into what’s going on around you when you’re shooting, which is actually a pretty mindful way of working when you think about it.
That said, I am ending the year having made two pretty big decisions and life changes. The first is that I am significantly reducing the number of weddings I photograph to focus on other projects. I’ll be taking only 4 more bookings for 2019 and 10 more for 2020, so if you’re thinking about working with me, now’s the time to get in touch.
The second is that 2019 will be the last ever SNAP Photography Festival. It’s been an amazing five years and the SNAP community is one of my favourite things in the whole world. SNAP is not dead because SNAP, as I’ve said from the start, is more than the sum of its parts. There’ll be other gatherings in the spirit of community, supporting each other, caring for each other and looking after ourselves, but this will definitely be the last big event I run.
These two decisions are huge for me but they free me up to get involved in other projects and also to spend some time exploring my own creativity for fun. Working with a smaller number of wedding couples also means I can give each couple a much more personal service which, if I am honest, I have struggled with in recent years because I’d taken on too much.
All in all 2018 has been transformative and I feel like I am walking into 2019 with a clean slate. I can’t wait to see what the year has in store and I am looking forward to creating work for my 2019 couples.
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