So here I sit, two and a 1/2 years into my photography career. It’s crazy really … 3 years ago I’d never think myself a wedding photographer. But I’m usually at a loss to think of something more rewarding.

I find these posts difficult because I always feel that the collection of images I create from a certain event/session is far more powerful than any singular image. I love to tell the whole story and I wonder sometimes how just a slice of something translates when set apart. But without getting into that any deeper, here are some 2011 images that caught my eye as I scrolled through my desktop folders last night:

2011 was the year I finally saw my style & work come into their own. The year I stopped looking to other photographers for inspiration or comparison … and didn’t feel a sense of panic that I was doing things wrong. I no longer cared about that; I really finally felt comfortable shooting 100% from my heart. I’m not here saying I’ve sworn-off looking at other photographers’ work. In fact, I believe it’s important to foster that virtual community by being out on friends’ and others’ blogs, leaving comments and encouraging one another in all of this. I keep up with my friends’ blogs, as they’ve become my coworkers, in a sense. And family in yet another way. I do remain inspired by many many other photographers. But I’m no longer mimicking what they do. It’s all part of learning though … I think we all emulate those we admire when we start out.

I have to end this by thanking my clients, without whom none of this is possible, obviously. They’ve flown me all over the country yet again this past year … including to the west coast several times … my favorite place. People are starting to call it my home away from home. Definitely suits me. Thank you thank you thank you to my clients, friends, and other photographers who’ve helped and encouraged me. I’m glad I don’t foresee any end to this most exciting of careers.

Love, AM

So today is the final November morning and I can’t wrap my mind around time and timing. I’m always thinking about it too … how it moves, how its speed is amplified in proportion to the number of days we are alive, how it places us in certain places and next to certain people, and how it’s not really linear at all. Maybe I’ve just been reading too much Haruki Murakami lately … but parallel realities and timing/time have always engaged my mind.

I’m done shooting for a month; I always take December off from weddings and engagement sessions. Working on my accounting/taxes/insurance/other exciting paperwork items until the New Year. Also planning to hibernate the last week or so of December … spend time with family and friends and nothing else. Recharge for 2012 and my first wedding of the year in San Francisco mid-January.

I’m all booked up for 2012 weddings now so I’ve been reflecting on how the 2011 wedding season was wonderful and surreal as always. I was able to travel all over the country once again to shoot engagements and weddings and portraits. The people I’ve met have proved to be one-in-a-million yet again. It’s A LOT of hard work (believe me, none of this just *happened* to me) and ups and downs (read THIS ARTICLE for an idea), but mostly I still can’t believe this is my life and I’m doing what I love every day … for a living. I hope I never lose that feeling of awe.

I was so honored to be featured on some of my favorite wedding blogs in 2011. Below are a few select features from the past few months. Thanks to all my clients (and now friends) for having beautiful and inspiring events and letting me into their lives to document them.

Holly & Kohler’s Wedding on Style Me Pretty

Katie & Ben’s Wedding on Green Wedding Shoes

Jody’s Bridal Session on Perfect Bound

Victoria’s Bridal Session on Perfect Bound

Megan & Brent’s Wedding on Style Me Pretty

Megan & Brent’s Engagement Session on The Loveliest Day

Holly & Kohler’s Engagement Session on Perfect Bound

Several more of my awesome clients’ weddings and engagements will be featured in the coming months in both print and online. If time doesn’t escape me again, I’ll be better about updating the blog with those new features :)

I’ll leave you with a beautiful song I discovered late last night and cannot stop listening to this morning. xo, AM

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It was cooler outside with bright sun and whipping wind. But with fall weather also comes the fall colors and glowing sunsets. Molly and Ryan’s wedding was beautiful with thoughtfully selected personal details. Molly loves all sorts of vintage items and Ryan is a professional trumpet player, making all the old music memorabilia very fitting. A boatride, a photobooth, John Sherman as DJ, Ryan’s musical group (Northside Brass — you should have heard the never-ending praise for these guys) playing the ceremony, a sunset blazing through the Riviera’s windows coinciding perfectly with cocktail hour … the whole day came together seamlessly. I think the biggest hit of the day might have been the bouquet Molly’s dad made from dozens of vintage broaches — so awesome.

Congrats, Molly and Ryan! Your day was beyond beautiful and so were you both.

A special thanks to my good friend, Nikki N, for helping me out. Always love having her shoot with me … so fun.

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So much love for this wedding and especially for these people. What a great, welcoming, warm, giving, FUN group! As I drove into Dillman’s Bay Resort the fall colors were at their peak and the air was astonishingly warm. The cabins and grounds were bustling with laughter and anticipation … the tent was being readied with antique china, teacups, lace tablecloths, Scrabble namecards, kegs of WI beer, tons of decorations made with DIY love. Every turn of every viewpoint was gorgeous for this outdoor wedding on a Northwoods peninsula. I wanted to wrap everyone and everything up in a little bundle and take them home with me.

While every photographer loves shooting a gorgeous wedding like this one … it’s the people that make or break the day. And these people?? MADE MY DAY!  I’ve never seen a dance party like this dance party. A bluegrass band at a wedding is some sort of brilliant. My favorite memory of any wedding so far will be everyone gathered around Amber and BJ, singing Old Crow Medicine Show’s Wagon Wheel at the top of their collective lungs. Beautiful.

Congrats, Amber and BJ — I just think you two are amazing. Thank you so much for having me there!

A short wedding dress, fall-inspired details, striped socks, a gorgeous rural backdrop, torrential downpours followed by a double rainbow (!), some of the sweetest people, good food, cheeseheads, and a Packers’ win. What’s not to love?

Juli & Heidi, it was an honor. I had a blast shooting your wedding and I’m so glad we’ve met. Enjoy a few of your wedding images: