A look back at 2024. A year that simply flew by.
2024
Where did it go?
So here it is… my annual (whenever I remember to do it) look back at the year gone by.
2024 was a strange year. It was relatively quiet in general terms.
Work wise it was and still is a little difficult. If someone tries to tell you that things are going well out there then they are ‘not entirely telling the truth’.
It was tough for all of us. My bookings were down on the previous year (which I suppose was to be expected after the post Covid rush) and they are still slower than I would like. We are all feeling the pinch.
That said, there are many positives I can take both personally and professionally.
Professionally, I was lucky in that I attended a lot of very enjoyable, lively and fun weddings. It seemed that most of the days I was asked to capture were quite unique in their own special way. People had gone out of their way to really personalise their celebrations, which I love.
My main goal this year was to try and improve my ‘party time’ photography. It’s that time of a wedding day that I really enjoy being a part of and it also affords the most scope for creativity and experimentation. I’m really pleased with a lot of the work I produced when people were letting their hair down… thank you very much for letting me do my own thing while you were doing your own thing!
I was also asked to photograph two very meaningful days last year (obviously they were all meaningful, but in this case I mean for reasons other than the norm). I can’t and won’t go into detail here but suffice to say being asked to capture these moments was hugely flattering and meant a massive amount to me. You know who you are and thank you again.
In 2024 I tried very hard to overcome my natural shyness and introversion by reaching out to other suppliers and venues. For many people, putting yourself out there is very difficult and you can count me amongst those numbers. Thank you to all of you that have been so receptive to my attempts to come out of my shell a little, especially Sam and Lily.
On a personal level it was a good year. We managed to get away a couple of times which was great and I have come to terms with things in my life that maybe aren’t as I would like them to be and won’t change regardless of how I feel.
I also received the great honour of having an image published in a coffee table book produced by Assouline. This was a very big deal for me as the book is all about Las Vegas and is exceptionally high end to say the least. You can find it here.
But, without doubt the most amazing thing that happened this year was welcoming two new fur babies into our home.!
It took us the best part of two years to get over the loss of Daisy (she’s the inspiration for my websites logo) who had been with us for 17+ years. The idea of bringing new cats into our home was for a long time something we couldn’t face. But we also knew that a lot of joy left us when Daisy passed away. So last spring I found two beautiful kittens that matched exactly what we were looking for and most importantly were rescues that needed a forever home.
Paco and Pixel joined us in April of last year and have lit up our lives more than we could ever have hoped. They are perfect. With very different personalities they keep us on our toes in very different ways. It took me a while to fall head over heels for them (I still miss Daisy) but I am all in now. I adore them both.
And I also now know that they are referred to as ‘Voids’ on the interweb. Thank you Mara!
And finally, thank you to everyone that I worked for, chatted to or just generally annoyed last year at all the weddings I shot.
Thank you to all of the venues and suppliers (especially caterers) for being fantastic. The wedding industry is a rather odd one to be a part of. It can be quite overwhelming at times and isn’t necessarily good for those of us that simply want to do very best for our clients without all the nonsense that goes with it.
It’s worth noting that most of the people in this industry are, like me, doing this entirely by themselves. Not only do we turn up on the day and more often than not go beyond the call of duty for our clients, but we have to market, keep accounts, network, learn and a million other things more or less on our own. It is tough and 24/7 and leads to endless sleepless nights but I promise you we all do it because we love it.
What are my plans on 2025? I have a few.
I have a print gallery that I am about to launch… just waiting for a sample to come through before I press publish. It looks great and I can’t wait to add more images to it from our travels.
Speaking of which we have a couple of trips booked. Very exciting and I cant wait. Don’t worry, P&P will be well taken care of.
I also want to move further away from Social Media… specifically Meta related products. It’s become harder and harder to be seen on IG over recent times and I have no interest whatsoever in making mindless videos just to please the algorithm and to gain more engagement. It’s also becoming less of a place I want to spend my time because of its overall effect on society.. so expect to see less of me there from here on out.
I do really enjoy sharing stuff on Substack though… so if like me IG has just become too much nonsense and not enough of what it used to be, do check it out. You can find me here.
And obviously I am looking forward to the weddings I have booked to shoot this year, to meeting new people and to hopefully pushing myself to create bigger and better work.
Thank you and all the best for 2025!