2019

A year in review…

Yay! We made it. 2019 has been one of the worst and best years all wrapped into one. Personally we have had a lot of changes with moving to the PNW from Indiana. 2200 miles of driving excitement! We got to experience some amazing adventures with our loved ones, created some memories and visited some amazing locations!

I spent a lot of the year traveling back and forward from Central Oregon to Indiana to document some amazing love stories.

Without further adieu… our 2019 in review…

After a lot of weddings and travel in 2018, my husband and I celebrated our 10 year wedding anniversary on a cruise to Havana, Cuba and Cozumel, Mexico. We had the best time celebrating and just relaxing. It was so nice just to relax, reset and plan for our exciting move to the PNW later in the year.

After a whirlwind trip to Oregon for a bridal show to meet new brides I went to Colorado to shoot Justine and Kyles engagement session and Claire and Luke’s bridal session at Garden of the Gods. We had so much snow the night before Justine and Kyles engagement session that we had fun finding a location we could venture to without sinking to our knees in snow. Which I did… Thanks again to Kyle for pulling me out! Lol.

Up next was one of my favorite weddings of 2019. I absolutely loved shooting at Journeyman Distillery. It is such a perfect venue for any season but is one of my favorites for winter weddings. Congrats Kathryn and Eric! I cannot believe it has been nearly a year since their wedding!

I had so many fun sessions in January and February. Engagement sessions, in studio milk baths for babies and all of my boudoir Valentine’s Day sessions and a styled bridal shoot at Potowotomi Conservatory in South Bend. I also closed my Elkhart studio in preparation for moving to Oregon. It was a bittersweet day.

March was totally EPIC! I got several awards in the Shoot and Share competition, including a top 100 and finalist image in that competition too. I also had 2 images featured in Shutter Magazine for their Senior Edition.

I was super excited to shoot at LEX 530 for WeddingDay Magazine’s styled shoot that was featured in their magazine. What a beautiful venue and I got to work with some of my favorite vendors! This dress and styling was PERFECT!

With all the planning and trying to get our house ready to sell, April was a little slower for me. We had some challenges as a family but moved past them and only looked forward to our goal of living on the West Coast. I was published in Shutter Magazine again this month for their TRAVEL edition. I was beyond humbled as I have been striving to get my travel wedding/elopement side of the business up and running.

I was so excited to capture two of my amazing couples’ maternity photos in April also. There is nothing like seeing your couples families grow and add little ones. They both turned out PERFECTLY and unique.

May was exciting and challenging. My husband turned the big 4-0 and we took the family and flew out to Bend to check out locations and houses. I got to shoot in so many amazing venues in Central Oregon, Pronghorn, Black Butte Ranch and Bend. We fell in love with a little quaint western town called Sisters which is nestled at the base of the Three Sisters Mountains. It reminded me so much of home (New Zealand) and just felt right.

I got to shoot 3 amazing weddings in May as well. First up was Brianna & Jon in Goshen, IN. Then Melody & Xavier at Amish Acres in Nappanee, IN and then Brock and Amelia at Four Corners Winery in Michigan. Plus several amazing engagements and other shoots.

I was lucky again to have 2 more images published in Shutter Magazine for May in their WEDDING edition. Both images I absolutely LOVED! I had a couple more amazing maternity shoots as well. We put our house on the market to sell and got an offer within a week! Things were starting to come together.

June came and went super fast as we planned on closing on our house the first week of July and then driving the long haul to Central Oregon. Our house that we had wanted to rent in Sisters had fallen through but were were all in and had decided to move without knowing where we were going to land.

I shot 2 fabulous weddings, Nicolette & Jake’s at Sand Creek Country Club and Stephanie and Ryan’s at Wellfield Gardens in Elkhart. Both were so beautiful!

Then amazingly I had 3 images published in Shutter Magazine’s CHILDRENS edition! Wow! All three were maternity images. I also had the opportunity to shoot the cover for The Wedding Mag’s summer edition. The shoot was stunning and in Downtown South Bend. The vendor team was amazing!

Cynthia Basker and I dreamt up an amazing shoot for Wedding Day Magazine’s styled shoot competition. We placed Runner Up and had our images published in their Fall edition. This shoot was absolutely stunning and a little wacky (in a good way). Cynthia and I both love Marie Antoinette and we decided to go a little out of the box and portray what her big day would have looked like if she was married in 2019.

July was absolutely NUTS! My son turned 11. I didn’t work much as we loaded our 26ft Penske Truck, closed on our house and drove 2200 miles across America towards our dream of living in Central Oregon. My Mum flew in from London and drove one car and my kids on an EPIC road trip across the country through Colorado, Utah, Moab, Salt Lake, and several other cool locations. We were super lucky to find a house on our drive over in our dream town of Sisters. So we only had a couple of nights in hotels as we did all the necessary paperwork!

We made it and spent the next couple of weeks exploring Oregon!

I also got to capture my first Oregon Engagement session and Oregon Senior Session. I loved how they turned out and the change of scenery. No denying it, Oregons backdops are EPIC!

We seriously spent August traveling the state, checking out the coast. Camping, crabbing, fishing, adventuring and hiking. I pretty much took the whole of August off and spent it with my family. It was a welcomed break after the stress of the move.

September and October were my busiest travel months of 2019. I went back to Indiana 2 times for 4 weddings and over 30 mini sessions. I also got to shoot my first Oregon Wedding at Stewart Family Farm in Eugene, OR. I also got to venture across the pass in the snow, which was a fun adventure.

Shooting at these awesome Central Oregon locations has been a dream of mine for 18 months. Getting to shoot part of Alex and Alexzandra’s engagement at Sparks Lake as well as Gabbie and Breck’s maternity session made for some epic photos.

Carlos and Ali came from Eugene to have their engagement session and bridal portraits done at Smith Rock and so did Ryan and Megan. This location is something out of this world and has quickly become one of my go to locations. I am so looking forward to my elopements there in 2020!

I was so super stocked to have images published in Wedventure’s fall magazine. There is something to be said about going to the grocery store magazine isle and seeing a magazine someone has to pay for to look at your images. Just a humbling and surreal feeling! I was also awarded the Knot’s Best of Weddings 2020! Thank you for all of you and tour reviews!

Meeting new clients from all over the state wanting to come shoot at these EPIC locations is so much fun. When we picked Central Oregon for our base, I had hoped that we would have this opportunity and so far we are meeting so many great people, with great stories.

In October I travelled back and forward to Indiana several times for lots of weddings and LOTS of engagements, boudoir shoots and family fall photos. Bailey and Brett tied the knot at the Doubletree and Armory in South Bend and Caleb and Kassidy got married in a beautiful ceremony on a super windy day at Meadowbrook Barn in Goshen, IN.

Ashley and Travis’ engagement session at Tumalo falls was so much fun. I took the kids with me for a little adventure! We ended up hiking down to the base of the falls to be able to get some unique photos of them and the falls. I love how they turned out and can’t wait to go back!!

I was also so excited to announce my new business, Untamed Weddings. I partnered with Alexzandra, a local wedding planner to offer full service weddings and elopements in Oregon! Stay tuned for more info on that. The next set of images are from our first elopement in central Oregon.

One of my last 2019 shoots was an epic one on Mt Hood. My car got stuck in the snow and had had to get my clients to pull me out. The photos turned out so fun, even had a heart shaped snowball!

A huge shout out and thank you to all my family and friends that have been super supportive this year. I appreciate each and every one of you!

also huge thank you to all of my clients who have graced my lens (no pun intended he he) in 2019. You all make my day! I love capturing your best days and memories.

cheers to the end of 2019! So excited to see what 2020 holds for us!