2011 A Year in Review

If I could use one word to describe 2011 it would have to be……interesting.

It’s one of those descriptive words that could go either way and in this case it does. Good interesting and bad interesting.

I’m not going to lie and say this past year wasn’t a difficult one. I was still learning how to be a mother, we moved multiple times, my husband and I both experienced debilitating health issues and I also was going through a number of personal issues that helped contribute to my health problems. I wasn’t even going to write a year end review because my head space at the moment is kind of down, as I nurse my head cold and feel ill from my other health issues. But today, as the sun is shining, I can’t help but feel hopeful, so here I am.

This was the third year for Simply Rose and the biggest one yet, which was very exciting to me. Despite everything that went on in my life, photography and improving my business was one of the few things that helped keep me sane and constant. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again because I can’t stress it enough. How thankful I am for couples who welcome me into their lives to be a part of one of their biggest days ~ it really is such an honor to work with people in love, meet their friends and family and to be able to provide them with good memories of such an important day. And to the families that I have photographed as well ~ each family is unique in its dynamics but there is always one thing that remains the same and that is the way that parents interact with their kids and visa versa. There is such a pure love and joy there. So a big, warm thank you to everyone is highly in order.

There are some changes coming up for 2012, which will be rolling out in the New Year. Some of those include completely changing my workstation, meaning, my new Mac is on order as I write this. I am so very excited and extremely nervous at the same time. I haven’t worked on a Mac, in oh, since high school at least, when my brother would let me use his to check my emails. I’m pretty sure things have changed a bit since then and my learning curve will be steep. But I am really looking forward to a system that doesn’t crash and burn multiple times in the middle of wedding season. I am also really looking forward to my Pegasus R4 RAID tower which will help me backup all those crazy files I have to manage. I’ve been looking at backup systems like this for a while and am really happy to start 2012 with some fresh equipment that will make my workflow seamless and smooth.

I am also working on a bit of a brand refresh for 2012. Well, it’s actually a bigger makeover than I expected but it’s been really fun to work on now that wedding season is done. All of Simply Rose is getting a bit of a facelift ~ new blog, new website, updated logo, pretty much new everything. It feels really good to be going in a direction that is a lot more streamlined, less cluttered and overall to me feels a lot more mature and elegant but without losing any “country” feel. Sample of the website is below ~ this is the home page.

With wedding bookings for 2012 well underway (I am almost completely booked for next year!), I have had to take a bit of a step back and make some considerations regarding how I spend my time and provide my services. There will be some more very big changes expected in 2012, however none that I can concretely confirm. It’s all a matter of timing. My family has a game plan in terms of where we would like to see ourselves by the end of the year and we are going to try to stick to it. But we all know what happens when you try to make a plan ~ it usually falls apart. At least it does for me! We are just trusting that whatever happens, even though it doesn’t always make sense, is a part of a larger plan that someone Greater is in control of. I am so thankful for the support of my husband, who stays at home with our son and is my biggest fan, and for my parents who help out daily as well. Without them, none of this would be possible.

And now, a short review of my 2011 wedding couples. A lot of photographers are picking favourites, but I just can’t, so here is a little bit of something from all my 2011 couples. So looking forward to what 2012 has in store!

Have a Happy New Year, all!

Andrew and Alison

 

Jonathan and Dawn

 

Lee and Jennifer

 

Dan and Amanda

 

Nick and Shannon

 

James and Melicia

 

Alain and Anna

 

Dickson and Frances