Well 2016 is over and it’s officially 2017. Is anyone else weirded out that we’re already 5 days into the new year!? I certainly hope this isn’t setting a president for another quick year. I am however excited to share some of my favorite images from 2016. It was an amazing year filled with beautiful weddings, growing and laughing kids and a huge business project for myself. It was so hard for me to select photos from each of these sessions but I knew I wanted to keep it short and pick my absolute favorites. I picked two from each session and can honestly say that I love each and every one of them. I have been incredibly blessed this past year to photograph some of the sweetest couples and families and to have not only photographed my favorite wedding to date but also to be able to photograph the wedding of one of my oldest friends. So let’s stop the chit chat and just get into the photos!
I got to photograph half of Harrison’s first year of life in 2016. He is just the cutest! The Rayburn family had a lot of changes this year including building their own house and celebrating their son’s first birthday! I had a blast photographing Harrison grow up and watching him giggle at his parents. He has such a fun little personality already!
I also got to photograph baby Karly’s first birthday in February! It’s hard to believe she’ll be two in another month! It was definitely cold for their session but Wyatt and Clayton kept us laughing despite the cold and have to stand still lol.
I photographed Tiffany and Jo’s wedding last year and this year I got to photograph Jo’s college graduation photos! It’s such a huge accomplishment to complete college and I’m so glad she asked me to photograph her graduation as well. It was freezing this day but you can’t even tell! ๐
I LOVE this family! They are so incredibly fun! Brayli asked me to photograph her beautiful family in their LuluRoe clothing for her new business and I could not have been more excited. The love that I have seen between her and Mike and that they have for their daughters is seriously incredible!
This session! There are really no words to describe this session. I worked alongside Kate who is a hair and makeup artist in Nashville to create this dark and moody session. Kate had the ideas and I came to photograph her vision and could not be more proud of what we created together. Also how stunning is Sydney!?
I drug my sister out one day last year and got a little creative. I’ve been eyeing this field behind my mom’s house for some time now and the light was perfect the day we went out. I wanted to photograph something for all seasons and had a blast! Plus my sister is a natural! ๐
Now it’s time for engagements and weddings! My personal favorite. I love photographing portraits and families but weddings are where my heart lies. The emotion and love that you see on that day is magical. It’s something that gives me life and at the end of the day completely wipes me out from the amazing experience of it all. There is definitely nothing like it.
I had been wanting to try out some new unposed posing techniques so I put out a call for engaged couples and found Michaelle and Will. They totally rocked their engagement session! Usually it’s really hard to get men to smile during a session but Will was amazing and I love this new unposed posing technique that I’ve been working on. It adds real emotion and real connection to each and every photo!
2016 was the year that my “little brother” got engaged and married his best friend. I have known Joseph since I was 8 and could not be happier that he has Leah in his life. These two are so much fun together! We spent their engagement session at Beachaven Winery in Clarksville, TN. It was Leah’s 21st birthday and what better way to celebrate not only her 21st but also their engagement then with a little wine and romance! They got married just a few short months later at Events on Main in Dickson, TN. The sweetest intimate ceremony you have ever seen! It was a little hot that day but they both looked stunning and were all laughs as they got ready to say I DO!
Art and Joanne’s intimate wedding is my favorite to date hands down! Their sweet relaxed day was perfect for them and for their guests and the emotion that came from everyone in attendance truly made it a special day. There are two many words to describe their wedding so I’ll just highlight a few of my favorites. Joanne’s face when she saw HeyDad walk into the bridal suite wearing the military uniform he wore to marry his late wife in….PRICELESS. Not a dry eye in the house including my own! Art singing John Legend’s “All of Me” to his wife during their vows….again not a dry eye. And Art and Joanne’s infectious smiles and love for one another and the way they welcomed me into their family and their lives. ๐
The final and most exciting thing I did last year was to plan and execute my promotional video. I have been dying to do a video like this for some time now. I want families and couples to see what working with me is like and to hear the story of what I love most about what I do. This video is all of that and so much more. The images that I produced and the video footage I have from these sessions are incredible and I could not be more thankful to the amazing vendors that helped me to pull it off. I will be posting the video soon so be on the look out for that to come!
2016 was a year of incredible changes not only in my photography style and business but also in my personal life. I have grown so much and love the path that I am on. I cannot thank my amazing clients and collaborators enough for your continued faith in my ability and can’t wait to bless more families and couples with the gift of their real, raw and emotional memories.
