2017 Review
Personal landscape by Ethan
With 4 more days left until 2018 we thought what better way to bring in the new year than by reflecting on 2017…
We weren't sure if we should publish this before or after the new year but then we remembered there's that strange limbo after Christmas and Boxing Day that isn't quite New Years. For some reason a lot of people still have to work so here's a little something to make the time pass by a little quicker.
There's a lot we could say about this year; it's been a huge roller coaster for all of us involving new pets (ok, just Blue), new homes, new jobs, not getting jobs, working with incredible people, working with not so incredible people, getting sick, breaking bones, the list could go on and on. We've each written a small personal year end review reflecting on 2017, a couple of our goals for 2018, and shared a few of our favourite photos that we've taken this season. Continue reading below for more.
Click the photos below to enlarge and browse through. Landscape photos by Ethan on his Mamiya 645
HANNAH
Overall, I don't think this year turned out how any of us expected it to. We began the year by sitting down and making a list of goals to achieve, and I don't think we ever looked back at it! We were a little lost, but looking back it was definitely a great learning experience.
Not t say it's been a bad year, because really it hasn't (except maybe for Ethan???). We jumped into wedding photography so quickly upon graduating school (actually, even before graduating) that we didn't have the opportunity to properly dedicate time and effort into our branding and to our business. I truly don't even think we operated as a business and considered ourselves business partners until this year. We were able to take the time to recreate our style, our vision, our goals, and our message to our clients. Having a slower year finally allowed us to breathe, appreciate how far we've come, and better ourselves for the future.
Between Ethan's otherworldly accident in the spring/summer, my surgery and moving out, and Stef's ongoing search for a rescue dog, we all had personal struggles going on which really made us thankful for a slower year.
STEF
In all honesty I was kind of excited to have 2017 as a slow year. Ever since we've started shooting it has felt like we've dedicated every summer to doing just that- it's been wedding after wedding after engagement session, another wedding, so on and so forth. Don't get me wrong, it's been great! We've met so many incredible creatives, amazing couples, and with every wedding that we've been apart of I have more and more fallen in love with what we do. With that being said, apart from weddings we all are involved with other aspects of photography and I was excited to spend this summer working on just that- since graduating from college (when we *officially* started all of this) I haven't had a summer to shoot any editorial or personal projects.
A big curve ball came in the beginning of summer when Ethan broke his leg and I don't think I've ever been so happy to not have any work. Although Ethan and I were forced to take time off (his 4 week stint in the hospital, me helping him with his day to day) it turned out to be a nice thing to slow things down for a change and not focus on any work whatsoever. I'll admit that I'm a really bad person to be around on vacation- I'm constantly checking my phone, trying to keep up, and if I'm quiet it's probably because I'm thinking about work. It might be silly to say but I think having to disengage myself from everything this summer has really helped me relax a bit and come back in to work with a new focus and energy I hope to carry over into the new year. Asides from the craziness of this summer, the rest of the year had us working with and for so many incredible people, I couldn't be more thankful for every single person we've come across this year.
I'm not too sure what 2018 holds in store for us, but I know that one of my goals for this year is to be 110% with everything we do; every engagement session and wedding, with networking, advertising and even with taking time off- no more workcations, and no more half assing things! There's a lot that I feel we didn't get to do this year, or that we started and forgot about/gave up doing, so watch out 2018 because we're comin' at ya full force.
ETHAN
Well as I’m sure most of you have read by now this year was an interesting one for all of us on the team. My year was going well until I had a mountain biking crash that resulted in me having 4 months off from work. The crash itself happened the day before I was entered in a race at Blue Mountain; this race had been one of my goals for the year and I was really looking forward to it. Long story short I was doing a large jump that I had done multiple times and I tried to push myself a bit harder on it and it went wrong. I ended up breaking my femur, knee cap, severely spraining my wrist and partially collapsing my lung. For those of you fortunate enough not to have experienced this it translates into a month in the hospital and non stop rehab.
So my month in the hospital…
First off I have to express my gratitude to Stefanie for going above and beyond during my whole time in the hospital and continuing until now. She slept over in an uncomfortable chair for the first week to be there when I needed her most. She is great! Having said that, the first week was pretty miserable as I realized the gravity of what I had done to myself and all that I was going to miss out on throughout the summer. Lucky for me, by the beginning of the second week I was out of there and transferred to Toronto Rehab where the real work began.
Fast forward to the end of July and I was out of the hospital and back at home. It was about two weeks later when Stef and I were able to start going to my family cottage. It was there where we were really able to unwind and enjoy what was left of our summer. Having said that we could only enjoy relaxing for so long. In September I was scheduled to shoot Rachel and Brandon’s wedding with Stef however I was still walking around with a cane so shooting was out of the question for me. Stef ended up shooting solo and knocked it out of the park which was definitely a great feeling for her! Since the unusually beautiful weather September brought us ended we have stopped our weekly trips to the cottage and Stef and I have resumed shooting our editorial work. It was a great feeling to be back at work shooting after 3 months!
I am really looking forward to all of the work that 2018 will bring our team. I give my thanks to Stef and Hannah for being such wonderful teammates and friends and wish everyone the best for the new year.
From our little team to you and yours, Happy New Year! May 2018 be filled with happiness, love, and lots of travels! Here's to all of your wildest dreams coming true- you know we're going to be bringing ours to life!
How did you celebrate this year? What are some of your goals for 2018? Share with us in the comments below!