I sat down to write this 2021 in review post and thought I did not have an entire year’s worth of images to post. Turns out, I have so much to post I had to split this post in two! But let’s start here with the first half of the year, January through May.
January, February, and March 2021
As I said, January and February are recovery months for me. I both plan out my year as a photographer, setting my schedule and goals for the year, and as a mum. Just like in 2020, I limited my calendar to account for extra time for quarantine prior to and after returning from travel.
One thing I was thankful I was able to do was take some updated photos for our preschool of our outdoor classes. Being able to stay connected to our preschool community was one thing that got us through 2020 and the shift to outdoor classes was definitely hard in some ways but so rejuvenating in ways that we all needed.
But unlike 2020, I was able to actually do my beloved cherry blossom minis at UW! It was so wonderful to be back on campus (I got my MA in Korea Studies at UW), to meet so many lovely new people, and to connect with families I hadn’t seen in ages. I can’t wait until this year’s!
April 2021
These were months where my oldest finally got to go back to school in person after a full year of remote school. We also moved house and both my husband and I finally got our Covid vaccines!
The transition back to school was a big shift, both physically (routines? out of the house?? what is this, 2019?) and mentally in terms of accounting for adjusting risk assessments. But the change was so welcome and necessary for all of us that even those few hours were a huge boon to all our mental health.
We were also able to finally see my in-laws after months of all of us being locked down when they came to help us move house. Our new place serves us so much better both in terms of a more efficient use of space and location and we could not be happier being where we are (especially because it’s so much easier for us to escape this accidental island now).
April also gave me the opportunities to do more things like adventure sessions or business branding for my favourite local gift shop, Alair.
And I got to finally shoot at one of my favourite places, Tanner Landing in North Bend on what turned out to be our first really beautiful day of 2021!
May 2021
The highlights of my May (other than my birthday) was getting to reconnect with a family whose photos I’d shot a year and a half before now that they’re a bigger, blended family and doing headshots with a photographer friend!
Literally two years ago, right before what turned out to be a massive snowstorm, I had planned to meet up with and chat with Holli of Native Light Photo. And then no one could leave their houses for two weeks with the snow and our meeting just sort of never happened. But this May, we finally made it a point to get together for a headshot exchange and y’all, it was so wonderful. It was so great to see someone who does more posed photos of professionals for headshots talk through how she poses and work me through poses, and I had a blast working her through my sometimes seemingly demented prompts for more casual, playful photos.
This post has already turned out to be way bigger than I planned, so stay tuned for Part II!