2018 …..
What was that?
Seriously though, what just happened?
This year has gone by at the speed of light in a giant rollercoaster. One minute I was on the top of a mountain in Lesotho on New Years eve writing my goals for the year and the next they were playing Bony M in the shops and now here I am doing my annual Best of Wedding Photography post.
2018 saw some great thing happen work wise
• I ran 3 creative photographic workshops for a really great bunch of photographers Gosh I do love teaching and inspiring others
• We shot weddings all over South Africa and also Tanzania for beautiful souls who all inspired me to no end So grateful for the clients I attract
• We shot a record number of portraits this year Met so many interesting people and animals along the way in all sorts of interesting places
• I took a mini sabbatical and went down to Rhodes University to do a self created artists residency and processed my first roll of film in over a decade! Thanks Dyan McGarry, you are one of my most favorite humans in the universe.
• My new website and branding was finally re-launched Thanks Dylan McGarry for illustration, Tyrone Bradley for branding, Chanelle Segerius Bruce for coaching and Chantal from one day webs for coding and a serious amount of patience
• I spoke at the Foto Plus Africa Photography Expo in Johannesburg. Still have fomo from not being able to stay for the whole event
• I won two Fearless awards which is so hard to do these days as they literally get thousands and thousands of entries from all over the world. So chuffed about this as it had been a while!
• One of my pics was included in Bored Panda’s Top Wedding Photos of 2018. What an honor
• I had photos published in the Huffington Post and the Rangefinder magazine amongst other. Shooow thanks to my clients for giving me the opportunity to create shots that interest the world enough to publish them
• I was placed on Nicholas Purcils 2018 Top Wedding Photographers in the World List WOW didn’t’ see that coming!
• I was invited to speak at the Fearless Wedding Photography Conference in Germany in 2019 STILL CANT BELIVE IT!
It was also the year that our beloved dog called Panther Bear dropped dead out of the blue and I went into a depression afterwards which is rather surprising for someone who previously didn’t like dogs. Just as I was getting over that, a number of other personal bombs landed in my lap. It’s been a challenging year, but I feel that there has been a lot of growth and lessons that have been learnt, I have also experienced a lot of love and for that I am truly grateful.
So what have I learnt this year?
You never know what is around the corner so be grateful for everything you have now, Be present, Meditate every day, Love your people, Time is precious, The mind does not always serve us so be careful of getting caught up in the head, Things are not always as they seem, Good friends and family are to be cherished and Gardening makes me happy.
Thank you so much to all the clients who have entrusted me with their precious memories. I am so grateful for you all! Thanks to all the service providers who I work alongside who make my life easier by creating your own magic. Thanks to Lizzy for training up Charne. We miss you! Thanks to Charne for all your dedication and hard work. You survived your first year!!!! Welldone! Thanks to my friends and family that have supported me, put up with me and celebrated with me. Lastly thanks to the man in my life Riaan for giving guidance when needed, for making fires, for hanging pictures, for helping pack and unpack and for being there for me. I so appreciate you all.
