Well this is it for 2011.  Another year in the books.  Five years down.

Five years.  Think about that.. where were you five years ago?  How different was your life compared to what it is now?

Five years ago, I had just graduated college (probably two years too late) and was starting life as an adult.  I had absolutely no aspirations to be a wedding photographer.  Then someone said to me, “Hey, you have a camera… want to shoot a wedding?”

2011 was a great year for me.  Just a few numbers for you: I photographed 9 really good weddings, took 21,967 pictures, and had 17,103 visits to my website in the past 12 months.  It boggles my mind every time I see those numbers.

I wouldn’t have taken 1% of the photographs I did this year without the people who invited me into their lives, even if it was just for a few days. I had a ton of fun this year with all the couples that I worked with.  It rarely, if ever, feels like a job.

So before you take a look at my “Best of 2011” slideshow, we need to talk business.  If you follow my blog at all, you probably remember this post.  To be honest, I was burnt out.  I took on way too much work and got away from what I liked about photography.   For 2011, I cut my weddings down from 18 to 9 and spread them out a little bit more over the course of the year.  I think doing so allowed me to really focus on getting better at my craft and devoting all of my attention to the next wedding.  When I wrote that post, I was ready to walk away.  Well, this year gave me new life.  Call me the Brett Favre of photography, I don’t really care.  Well wait, not that type of Brett Favre photography… I’m just talking about retiring and un-retiring.

Now – I’m pretty booked up for 2012 already.  I have 13 weddings on the slate at some really cool places: Miller Park, a barn in Illinois, two in Mexico.  I’m perfectly content with that number.  Looking forward to 2013 and beyond, my “business plan” is to photograph about 10-13 weddings a year.  That is, of course, as long as I can find 10-13 couples that want me to do that.  I feel that will allow me to continue doing this for the reason I started doing wedding photography in the first place.  In other words, I’m back in business for a while!

And now, the Best of 2011 slideshow I know you have all been dying to see.  To the people who share this page with their friends or tell someone about what I do – thank you.  To the people who “like” my work on facebook – thank you.   I’ll never take for granted the messages that people send me letting me know they enjoy my photography.  2011 was a great year for me.  I’m really looking forward to what is sure to be an exciting 2012.  Thanks again.

P.S. For those of you wondering, the song is the slideshow is called “Lost in My Mind” by The Head and the Heart.  Check out their album, you won’t be disappointed.