The Rub:
When I look back at 2016 I will remember it as the year I became completely lost. I will also remember it as the year where I found myself as a creative wedding photographer. Right back at the beginning of my journey, I set myself 2 goals for my business:
- To provide for my family
- To create beautiful images for myself and others
But in a noisy and busy industry, it is so easy to be swallowed up by the success of others and to lose sight of those simple goals we have for ourselves. I had thought I knew who I was and what I wanted for myself, but I was trying too hard to be something to everyone and too scared of being the very thing I most needed to be: a creative wedding photographer.
Becoming a Creative Wedding Photographer:
So I experimented with studio photography and bought a load of stuff that I really don’t need and spent time doing things that I didn’t really want to do until I couldn’t understand where I was any more. But in the midst of all of this, I realised that I was over complicating something that didn’t need to be complicated.
I am in the business of making creative and beautiful images for myself and others, so I just need to do some of that.
I didn’t reach this insight on my own. A combination of mentoring with Stephanie Belton and a workshop in Glasgow with Mark Pacura (two of my all time photography crushes *swoon*) helped me start to gain momentum. Weekly talks with my photographer bestie Lara Frost and for the ups and downs also smoothed the path ahead to becoming a creative wedding photographer.
What’s Next:
There’s still plenty to fix. There’s still much to do. My work is evolving so quickly I hardly know whether I am the crafter or it is crafting me. My creative process is literally just looking through the viewfinder and knowing when it feels right. Surely I should be more scientific? And yet, when I look back through my favourite images of the year, I know that whatever I am doing, it must be working. Because I’m proud of every single one of these.
There’s still plenty to fix. There’s still much to do. And yet, I am more inspired and excited than ever and can’t wait for my business to grow and improve. I also can’t wait to hear from more clients about their wedding plans.
If 2016 was about being lost and found, I want 2017 to be about soaring.
