2012 in review.

2012 was a year of growth. It was kind of weird, with a lot of different changes in my thinking, the way I live my life, my business, and just life in general. It was a year of challenge and sometimes struggle. But it was still good. I changed churches in February, and that was one of the best decisions I made all year I think. The way that God has used that church to turn my thinking towards Him and live a life with more purpose, is really amazing. The list that I keep of things that I'm thankful for consists mostly of things that have happened since being a part of the Hopesprings family. The friends that I've met there have truly changed my life. It's also been a year of increased boldness. In January, I traveled to Nashville for a photography workshop, which pushed me out of my comfort zone where I learned how much God really is caring for me and He doesn't want to leave me where I am.

2012 was also a tough year for business. I went through all of the spring and summer without any photoshoots of my own, just second shooting weddings. I'm so thankful every day that my parents let me live with them and continue to provide for me while I'm chasing after my dreams. But thankfully business picked up once school started in September and I was able to photograph some wonderful high school seniors. Through second shooting weddings, I learned that weddings are not where my passion in photography is. And I realized that it's okay to not want to be a wedding photographer. It doesn't make me any less of a photographer if I choose to just focus on photographing teenagers. Also, I learned a lot about fears that I had and how much they controlled me, you can read about that HERE. I also learned that all of the time and energy that I was putting into marketing and promotion and business ideas, that it sucked all the passion I had for this business that I had when I started. I don't how many days I wished that I could just quit. Thankfully I never really let that thought go very far.

In July I joined a group of women at my church who were reading this crazy book called "7: A Mutiny Against Excess" by Jen Hatmaker. We experimented with getting rid of clothes, taking times out of our day to pray, recycling, and shopping fair trade. This is when I discovered Noonday Collection and a true passion was born in me for promoting fair trade fashion. You can read more about that HERE on this post.

Now, onto my favorite photos from the year. As I looked back on my photos, I realized that I spent way less time photographing personal events with my dslr and took mainly iphone photos. And I kept my dslr for photographing jobs. This may or may not have been a good idea, but like I said before, I felt burnt out on photography and taking pictures with my iphone was the only way I felt I wanted to document things. So there will be a separate post with iphone photos coming later. Or earlier, whichever order I decide to schedule these posts in.

January 22nd. The workshop in Nashville.


January 31st. James' birthday. His girlfriend Liz wasn't able to be with him on his birthday so she skyped with us while he opened presents and ate dessert.


February 22nd. I channeled my inner Martha Stewart.


February 27th. Annie came over and she dance in the street and I also took some accidentally abstract photos with film.




March 8th. Kasey is one of my new friends that I met at church and we went on a photo adventure in Jacobsburg park. He's also a great photographer.




March 17th. My cousin's son turned one. Kids covered in icing is always cute.


March 19th. I helped Paola photograph a brand new baby.


April 3rd. I spent an afternoon with Hilary taking photos just because we felt like it and these happened to be my favorite photographs I've ever taken.






April 22nd. I second shoot my first wedding with Paola. It was gorgeous.


May 5th. I went a little crazy and planned a party photoshoot with my senior models.




I practiced a little bit with film on that shoot as well.


May 19th. I second shot my second wedding with Paola. I fell in love with the bride's dress.




June 5th. I decided that I finally liked strawberries, so Annie and I went strawberry picking.


July 2nd. I did a little free lensing experimenting during Quentin's senior session.


July 28th. My cousin Livie got married. This may not be the most technically wonderful photo, but the fact that my cousin Jack is smiling with one of the most genuine smiles I've ever seen on his face, makes is this one of my favorites. He was so proud to walk Livie down the aisle.


And bubbles always make for a perfect photo.


August 31st. My friend Lauri is so gorgeous. We swapped photos that day. She's also a fabulous photographer.


September 9th. Kourtney was the first girl to find me from one of my senior models. And she was a natural in front of the camera.


September 16th. For Kimberly's senior photos I experimented with some night photography.


October 14th. Lydia was one of my senior models. We spent a gorgeous afternoon wandering around downtown Bethlehem taking photos. And she brought her dog along with her. There's nothing quite like the love between a girl and her dog.




November 17th. I photographed Liam's family before his Bar Mitzvah, but my favorite part was when we got to go into the temple to take some photos. There' just something so beautifully sacred about these images.




December 15th. I just finished editing these yesterday. And Priscilla hasn't even seen her photos yet, but I just had to post this one because how can I possibly leave it out of my favorites.


 
2013 is going to be a year of increased boldness and a year where I learn to say "yes" to what's in front of me. I'm working on not making excuses to get out of things just because of fear. It's also going to be a different year photographically. I'll be joining forces with the wonderful dreamer, Tassia, at Twinkle Photo Studio. I'm not entirely sure what all that will include right now, but I know I'll be editing a lot of photos for her and others, teaching and training new photographers, and photographing family sessions. Laurajane Photography will still exist, but now I'll be focusing on working solely with teenagers, fashion and editorial style shoots, and film. Yes, I'm going to be pursuing film photography this year as more than just an occasional hobby. And it excites me so much!