2009 has really been an incredible year for us both personally and creatively. I know it’s a bit trite to say but it’s completely true. If you would have asked me this time last year if I would have thought I’d be sitting here having experienced all I did in the last 12 months I would have asked what you were smoking and what stars you were wishing on. But, here I am, completely overwhelmed as I look back through our archives, though our hard drives, and through our memories and relive all the emotions I’ve lived this year. We are blessed beyond our wildest dreams. And, as hard as we’ve worked this last year, we know that we couldn’t have done it alone so we’d like to take a moment to personally thank some of the people who have made all the difference to us this year.

Thank you…

Our clients, friends, family, and cheerleaders: We don’t hide the fact that almost all of our business comes from referrals and viral marketing. And that means that we owe all of you a huge thank you. Thank you for coming here to our blog and following along, thank you for your sweet comments, thank you for your funny notes on facebook, thank you for your encouragement on twitter. Thank you for appreciating the work we do and for taking the time out of your lives to support us. Thank you for trusting us and being vulnerable enough with us to allow us to capture images that touch our hearts and make us smile every time we look back at them. We love you all dearly.

Heather Ahrens: I joke all the time when I tell people that I’m 100% your fault. But we both know that I’m not really joking. Because of your gracious sharing of yourself we were able to jump head first into this crazy sexy world of wedding photography. Because you supported my dream and desire to have my own business, even though you didn’t have to. Because you weren’t afraid to tell me when I was being stupid. Because you have been my constant friend, business confidant, and mentor, I thank you from the very bottom of my heart. I know that without your friendship, I would not have been able to accomplish even half of what I have.

PDN Magazine: Thank you for choosing our image as a finalist in last year’s Top Knot’s competition. That one contest, that we entered on a whim with no real hope of ever placing in, has brought us opportunities we could have never imagined. Almost every big excitement in the last year can be traced, in some way or another, back to that image and your competition. While your judges may or may not ever know the true impact their decision to select our image made in our lives, we still want to extend a HUGE thank you them all, and to your magazine for hosting such an amazing competition highlighting the creativity, diversity, and talent in the wedding photography industry. (That being said, we want to take a minute to thank Stephanie Gould who encouraged us to enter in the first place and even suggested we enter that specific photo. Thank you Stephanie!)

Professional Photographers of America: Thank you. I don’t even know where to begin. Getting the email from your editors was surreal, to say the least. To see our image and our names in print was like a dream come true. And then I feel like our entire world snowballed into a feature article and a cover. We never even dreamed of such an honor, especially not so early on in our business. So thank you, for seeing something worth sharing in our work and in our business. Thank you for taking the time to work with us. Your organization and your magazine will forever hold a very special spot in our hearts.

Timco: Talk about lucky. What an amazing photography community we have here in Orlando. Thank you for never sugar coating truth to us. Thank you for always being a solid rock of support for us while we anxiously navigated our ways through the many business decisions we’ve had to make this year. Thank you for your open heart to us as friends and fellow photographers. We know you probably went home shaking your head in amusement at our complete freaking out over every decision. But, you never made us feel stupid, or put us down. And coming from someone as talented and accomplished as you, your friendship and support means the world to us. Thank you.

Liene Stevens: Thank you for your completely genuine spirit. Thank you for your conviction and passion concerning social media and how it affects both brides and vendors in our industry. Thank you for taking the time to visit groups of us all over the country with your workshops. I can trace some of my favorite relationships back to your Blogging Bootcamp and without that, I would not have been able to meet you, or many of the amazingly talented young professionals that I have. The knowledge that you shared with us has been invaluable to me and I continue to reap the benefits daily of the business tips I put into practice after listening to you. Thank you for staying and chatting with that small group of us all afternoon. You have no idea how big of an impact that day had on me both personally and for my business. Thank you.

To the Wedding Bloggers: (Wedding Chicks, Southern Weddings, Weddings Completely Unveiled, Every Last Detail, Trash the Dress/Free to Flaunt, Tinkled Pink, Florida Brides Blog, Brenda’s Wedding Blog, etc.) Thank you for sharing our images on your blogs and websites. Thank you for supporting us as artists and for shedding such a glorious light on the talent of the photographers in our industry currently,  and for being a constant source of inspiration for brides-to-be. We feel blessed to have been connected to each and every one of you and hope to watch our relationship grow even more over the coming years. Thank you.

And to say farewell to an amazing year, we put together a little highlights video with some of our favorite frames from both work and life. We hope you enjoy.

2009…

2009 in 222 from Studio222Photography on Vimeo.

*Music is on (but it’s a pretty kick ass song, so you may want to listen)

Music: Looking Up by Paramore

On the walk back to my car I thought I’d try to take some photos, to keep the trip from being a total waste. After snapping a few frames I remembered that I had been wanting to make a portrait in motion with my fancy new HD video capabilities. And so I did. And this is how it turned out. This is my first ever video and my first ever HD video and my first ever try at iMovie…

Lake Eola, A Portrait in Motion

You can watch the full HD version on Vimeo by clicking on the video. Office warning: Music is on

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