Oh my goodness, what a year. When we get into January a little more and I’ve had time to process, I will let you know about what we’ve been through in the last 2 months or so. Just when I thought 2020 was hard for everyone everywhere, 2021 stretched our capacities in ways I couldn’t have ever imagined. Our sweet pup, Ella, passed away in March at 12 years of age to a tumor on her spleen. My Dad was diagnosed with acute leukemia in May and passed away from a brain hemorrhage caused by the leukemia and chemo crashing his platelets in June.

I am so thankful for the support of so many who rallied around our family this past summer. Clients & friends alike came out of the woodwork and offered meals, cards, hugs, prayers, and attended the funeral service from so many states (Kansas, Wisconsin, Nebraska, Wyoming, Virginia to name a few). This summer was a blur of funeral planning and doing my utmost to care for my senior & family clients to the best of my capabilities. I’m so thankful for the grace and understanding that met me wherever I happened to be on that particular day.

Photos below from Dad’s service courtesy of Paul Joy:

Moving on from the personal side of how this business ran in 2021, I found so much joy in capturing families and high school seniors through my lens. From Family Reunions and hugs from Grandma, to fish lips for a fresh smile, dunks in the SCI water feature and the antics of toddlers, we truly captured the love and joy of Family and these images and what I do means so much more in the face of so great a loss of my dad.

We did a lot of things behind the scenes that will serve my business for the next several years. Namely, a few branding photo shoots with Nicole Determan and we created a video for my updated website with the ever-amazing Paul Joy.

No matter the age, the outtakes are sometimes the best part of editing for me:

Dogs played a significant role this season too. I didn’t realize how much I missed our Ella until Melissa & Ryan’s session with their adorable 1yr old schnauzers. Oh, how I had to choke back the lump in my throat and then embraced all the snuggles they’d allow!

Hopefully, these high school seniors don’t mind too much if I reveal some outtakes. There were seriously the most chill bunch with the best sense of style and came to their sessions so well prepared with outfits and a plan while also trusting me to make artistic, creative decisions. That’s the best kind of professional-client relationship there can be!

There were poses we tried that didn’t work, backdrops we tried that only Photoshop could salvage, we created foreground by transplanting wildflowers, wiped off the sweat, I nursed a sore toe that crunched under my 70-200 falling out of my bag (thankfully, the toe broke the fall between the lens and the cement!) looked out for birds pooping midflight and laughed off Emi’s attempt at a 360 while also looking like the most adorable otter, waiting for the boat to take off again.

Siblings were amazing (mad props to the boat captaining, Max!), Moms were willing to get their hands dirty, Dads helped me check my tire pressure when I had warning lights on my dash….It truly was an “all hands on deck” season (no boat puns intended) and I am so thankful to everyone who leant a hand to the magic.

Thank you to everyone who hired me this past summer and was so gracious & understanding with all we had going on with my Dad’s funeral preparations. Truly, we have the best of friends and community around us and uplifting us. That always makes hardships more bearable, and for that, we couldn’t feel richer.

I’ll be back in the new year with some updates as I use this point in the turning of another year to reassess and finesse my own business practices/processes and hopefully, make this coming season another outstanding one!

Happy New Year and Be Well,

Carrie

2021 Behind The Scenes