It’s that time again! Time to do my year in review 2022 post. In January. It’s fine, it’s fine.
2022 was an incredible year for this here business and for me personally. I ended 2021 fulfilled but honestly a little burnt out. I fully believe in taking full stock of the year and constantly refining what works and what doesn’t. For me, that meant putting more focus on film photography and full family sessions. It was honestly a little scary but I have to say, it was the best decision I could’ve made and I’m so excited to see where 2023 takes me!
January & Feburary
These are always my planning months. I take time to set goals, plan out sessions, and recharge for the busy year ahead. While I didn’t pick up my camera a ton (see aforementioned burnout), I did go airplane spotting, a thing I haven’t done in ages. I want to do it more.
I also photographed a beautiful friend’s beautiful cake that she made for her daughter’s birthday. Imagine being this talented.
March
March is always the month where the sun comes back, the blossoms return, and it’s easier to get outside for photos again. And man, were we blessed with some incredible weather this year!
First up: a model call I did for a hybrid session on Vashon Island. I made the decision to begin offering film photos as part of my sessions this year. And to build up my portfolio, I did a few model calls. The first was at this location on Vashon I’d been eyeing for ages.
I can’t tell you just how in love I still am with this session. You can read more about it here but here are some of my favourite images (digital and film).
I’m still not over it.
One thing I love about living in West Seattle is the amazing group of incredible photographers we have. And the best part has been getting to be friends with so many of them. So when Coty at Posy and Pine asked for updated headshots at this lovely little studio, I was beyond happy to oblige. And when she called me as I got off the ferry to bring my makeup bag, I was over the moon; I love doing other people’s makeup. It takes me back to my years doing plays and cheerleading in high school. But that’s neither here nor there. Please look at how adorable and lovely she is!
March 2022: Cherry Blossoms
My year in review 2022 would not be complete without a subsection just for the blossoms. Do I love the blossoms? Obsession is more like it. I live for the blossoms.
First, the incredible blossoms at the UW. I will go here every year until the day I die. And I’ll have my camera.
Like my Vashon session, I did another model call for families who wanted to try out a new to me location: Hamilton Viewpoint in West Seattle. It has incredible trees and unparalleled city views but I never get there. But no longer. I’ll be here every year now, too. This is a great location if you want less of a crowd but no less beautiful photos.
First, a session with a wonderful friend and her youngest. She runs a sensory bin rental business here in Seattle (site coming soon!) but do check her out on Facebook. Can we please talk about how incredible this little picnic she devised was? They were learning about Japanese culture and that included hanami. Hanami is viewing the blossoms with a picnic, friends, food, and lots of booze. It’s undefeated.
The only bad thing? My film busted on the rewind and I lost the incredible shots I got on it. I’ll never stop being mad about it.
Thankfully, I had another roll ready to go for this next family who I still honestly adore. They rolled up on their e-bike and it made my heart so happy.
I’m so excited for another year of sessions here in 2023!
And because I can never get enough of the blossoms, here’s more from UW on my Sony a7iii:
April: Seattle
I started off the month on Vashon trying to see the northern lights over Seattle during a solar storm.
See that slight green and the pink? That’s the aurora!
April was also a month for getting more comfortable using film. To begin: a Seattle Kraken open practice with my youngest.
I also took myself on some photo walks while he was in gymnastics. Where did I go? To the nearest bunch of cherry blossom trees. I am who I am and that’s all that I am.
April: Montana
For Spring Break, I decided to take the littles back to Montana to see the grandparents. We spent a few days in Missoula, exploring the city and hiking. In the snow and 15 degree weather.
And going back to photo walks, I took myself on one in Kalispell while the kids played at the library with the grandparents.
I adore this bakery’s storefront and I’m going to go back someday to get it when there aren’t too-big trucks parked in front of it.
I spent a solid 5 minutes deciding if I should take this photo and just went and snapped it in the end. I couldn’t get over the light and the framing here. It just feels so true-to-life as I look at it, even now.
The Kalispell library has this great marble run that the kids played with for like a solid hour.
April: Issaquah
Right after we got back, I did a styled shoot with a local family at Infinity Farm for my May Day photo sessions. Can we talk about how sweet they are? I’ve never gotten over this and I never will.
April: Texas
The last half of the month found the small one and me in Texas with my family. I wanted to meet my littlest niece, have my family meet the small one, and do a little mini-mentorship to help my sister learn photography.
I’ll be doing a longer breakdown in a blog sometime but for now, enjoy some snippets from around my sister’s house.
As mentioned, part of the trip was me doing a mini-mentorship. My sister wants to learn to take better photos of her grandkids, so we used my youngest and her oldest granddaughter to model for us at this little mural wall in McKinney.
And because I love showing the beauty of film, here’s a digital vs. film of the First National Bank in McKinney.
McKinney is adorable and I can’t wait to go back there to do another photowalk. (And maybe you live in/near McKinney and want to do a photo session after Christmas this year?)
Please appreciate this perfectly preserved Volkswagen Thing with me in front of this adorable storefront. It’s everything to me.
And oh yeah, my littlest grand niece! I need to finish editing the other photos I took of her still l m a o sorry to my niece
And to finish off this post, please enjoy some shots from the plane home from Dallas at sunrise.
And that was my winter and spring! This post is at the point of getting unwieldy, so unlike last year’s posts, we’ll be dividing this into three parts instead of two.
Stay tuned for my summer post for: a wedding in Portland! Travel sessions around the PNW including Olympic National Park! Yet another trip back to Montana! And then another trip back to Montana right after that!