For much of 2015 I felt like I was obsessed with getting ‘The Shot’, one iconic image that would prove that my artistry was boundless, that I was a force to be reckoned with. I competed with myself, and if I’m being honest, with others. It may have pushed me a little creatively, but it didn’t fulfill me emotionally.

At the outset of 2016 I resolved to be more mindful about why I got into this work in the first place. I didn’t become a wedding photographer to satisfy some deep artistic drive and fulfill my soul through creativity. I became a wedding photographer because I love people, plain and simple. I love the thrill of meeting a new person and feeling a connection. I love making people laugh. I love watching them and thinking about the idiosyncrasies of motivation driving their behavior. Being a wedding photographer gives you this sudden all access pass to moments grand and small, public and private. You see tears and giant laughs and big hugs and awkward family dynamics and reunions and longing and that’s all before the dress gets put on. For people watchers like myself, it’s distilled satisfaction, truly.

In 2016 I put my focus back on the people who invited me in. I resolved to stop looking for ‘The Shot’ and to just keeping shooting. I think this may be a humbler set of images than in years past, in terms of creativity and artistry, but it feels more intimate to me, and much more satisfying.