While preparing to write this post I looked back over the past few years of round up posts and my goodness, it was overwhelming. Was life really like that? All those adventures, great big sweaty hugs, hopping round here and there for destination weddings… how alien it’s all become. I felt so sad, but also so hopeful. That life is out there somewhere in the future and it’s coming back as fast as it can. If you fancy a trip down memory lane here’s a couple of previous posts you might like - 2019, 2018, 2017.
Normally, writing one of these posts can take days. I sift through tens of thousands of images and dozens of videos. My first draft normally clocks in at about three hundred photos and I try and wrestle it down to something manageable. I obsess over it. I usually shoot over forty full day weddings… this year I shot 15 weddings, most of which were very short coverage. What do you do when a pandemic hits and your job revolves around cuddle-filled gatherings that bring people together from all over? Not very much it turns out. It was a very different year and let’s just say choosing photos has been a shadow of the task it usually is.
It hasn’t all been bad of course, because I’ve had the chance to slow down for a while and spend time with my family. Months of home learning brought us all back together after an impossible year last year when my son was very ill in hospital. We had seemingly endless sunny days, discovering just how many beautiful footpaths had laid unexplored by us in the rush of normal life. Mine and Dave’s wedding was postponed, but our relationship grew stronger than before.
I won’t claim to be sad that this year is over, but there are definitely times that I will miss.
To all my couples… my goodness I feel so lucky to have you. The majority of you postponed your weddings, but some went ahead, never really knowing what restrictions or lockdowns might have in store. Some of you found yourselves in not only plan b territory but plan h, i, j, f. There were last-minute changes, masks, and the sudden importance of zoom calls. Each wedding that happened truly felt like part of history: Love in the time of corona. As one of my couples said right after their ceremony “easily the best thing to happen all year!” To those waiting til we can finally have weddings as usual… just think how euphoric those parties will be. It’s always special to have a chance to have all those people in one room but when all this is over… having all those people in ONE room? It’s going to feel incredible and I can’t bloomin’ wait.
So here’s my slimmer-than-usual round-up of some of my favourite images from the year. Weddings, family shoots, portraits, elopements, and a couple of personal photos thrown in too. Here’s hoping for a great big beefy blog post that takes weeks to whittle down in 2021.
And that’s 2020. A challenging year with some wonderful bits in amongst the challenges. If it’s been a tough one for you I’m sending you all my love - let’s hope we reach the light at the end of the tunnel soon.
If you’d like to hire me to take some super ace photos at your wedding drop me a line! I’m open for bookings and I can’t wait to hear from you.