This past weekend I shot the last wedding I had on my calendar for 2011. So with the end of my first wedding season it seemed a good time for some reflection and to post the last of the weddings I assisted at this past summer.
The pictures in this post are from a wedding I shot with David Gaston back in early July at The Sanctuary.
This whole summer started with one thought. A thought that I wanted to pursue my dream of being a photographer. A thought I had approximately a year ago and rather naively decided to pursue. A thought that’s motivated me all year and continues to do so. Sure, at this point when asked what I do I say photographer. That’s what I am. But it’s still this precarious thing. This dream I’ve nurtured and really hope grows up big and strong but feels so much like a house of tiny sticks that could be easily blown over. I want this dream. I want it bad. And I’m certainly doing more than hoping it comes true. I know that much. I have to work for it. I have to shoot my a** off. And still my dream might get blown over by the wind. At least I have my stubbornness and my knowledge that there’s nothing else I’d rather be doing.
When I look at my photographs over the year I can see a progression. I can see photos that I could have done so much better. And I think that’s good. It’s good to know there’s actually a visual confirmation of all the work I’ve put in. And in the end it wasn’t for nothing. And now I have a list a mile long of what I want to learn. If you asked me last September what I wanted to learn this year I would have simply said how to photograph. Now I can point to specifics. I can say the weaknesses I’ll be working on over the winter. And I can say what I want to experiment with more. And I can say that I still want to be a photographer.
Just as I was feeling a bit anxious with the end of my first wedding season I got bombarded with inquiries. I’ve been jumping up and down all week and excitedly calling Eric as I get asked to photograph one awesome wedding after the next with seemingly perfect couples. I couldn’t ask for a better end to the wedding season as I look forward to these wonderful summer 2012 weddings and maybe even one in 2013. The winter may be a bit of a mystery but come next May I know what I’ll be doing and I couldn’t be happier.