2018 Year in Review

2018 year in review. I have spent a lot of time on this blog post the past week. It has been fun to look through all of the various sessions, weddings, engagements, and other random shoots I had the joy of being a part of this year. This year has been such a special year for me. It was the first full year that I have worked full time as a photographer since I began in June 2013. Also, after being in business for about 5 years, I implemented a big brand overhaul with a new logo and a new website at the beginning of the year. It was so tough to really figure out what I wanted my logo and brand to look like going into the future but I am so thankful I had the help of my super talented graphic designer, Kristen Van Oostenbrugge, as well as the help from Jamie at Curly Host web design. Between those two people we really created something I am so proud of displaying!

Before going into the details of the sessions I had this year, I want to say thanks to various people. First of all, I want to say thank you to my husband for all of his support. Owning your own business can be really challenging, but through this year I feel like we are finally starting to figure out a better balance and working even better as a team. Second, I want to say thank you to the various second photographers I had the opportunity to work with this year including my husband, Kelsy Mellema, Adam VanderStelt, and Kristen VanOostenbrugge. Third, they were mentioned above, but want to say thanks again to Kristen VanOostenbrugge for all of the hard work she does for me when it comes to graphic design. All of my graphic design work is done by her and she is so amazing at what she does. She has been so supportive and wonderful to work with since I have started this business and I am just so thankful for her. Also, Jamie from Curly Host LLC has been so incredible to work with this year as well. She helped me with a huge website overhaul once I had my new brand designed. Any time I have a question, she is there to help me through it. Working with technology is not always my forte and she is always there to help me work through any website questions I may have. (and if you want to see proof of her great work, take a second to browse through my website )

Most importantly, I need to say thank you to everyone who trusted me this year with their memories and their photography needs. From the friends that continue to choose me to work with their families and believe in me enough to share my work with their friends to those repeat costumers that continue to choose me year after year. From the companies that trust me with their headshots and brand photos to all of the incredible couples that I had the opportunity to photograph their wedding days. I am just so incredibly thankful for all of the opportunities I had this year. Thank you!

This year I photographed 20 weddings, I worked with 16 seniors, and countless other various sessions from corporate headshots, extended family sessions, newborn sessions, fun styled shoots, and so many other amazing sessions. I had an opportunity to attend an incredible 2 day workshop called the Unveil workshop with Nathan English Photography. At that workshop I met so many other incredible photographers and it was so much fun to learn from one of the photographers I respect the most in the business. I also had the chance to do a styled shoot with Holden Michael Events, the Rental Company, and the Ravines Golf Course to show off their beautiful reception hall. This year I had the opportunity to work with the Holland Young Professionals again and photograph their annual dinner as well as provide headshots. Another fun thing I had the opportunity to do is to photograph various Tulip Time events. The First Bloom to announce the winner of the Tulip Time artwork, the Governors Luncheon during the week of Tulip Time, and I had the opportunity to photograph the Tulips & Juleps event again that is hosted by Tulip Time & the Holland Young Professionals.

It’s really great to sit and reflect on all of the great things that have happened in the past year and remember all of the wonderful people I had the opportunity to work with. Social media makes it really easy to sit and look at other peoples photography journeys and lives and instantly feel like what I have done is not good enough and that I am not good enough. Its something I battle with and I know it’s something that many others struggle with too. This year was a tough year but a great year. I made mistakes and learned along the way. I struggled with being insecure in my work. I struggled finding a great work and personal life balance. I struggled. In those struggles though I persevered and kept going. I know in 2019 I will probably still struggle with all of these things but every day is an opportunity to grow and get better.

Now as a reward for getting through all that reading, check out favorites from this past year <3