 Another year almost over! 2017 has been epic on so many levels and I am so grateful for this chapter of our lives with all the beautiful memories we've made. There might have been no big exciting trips or major accomplishments but I've learnt a lot about myself this year and I feel like 2017 has been a year of doing and growing. From a business perspective 2017 has seen us shoot 18 weddings, 35 portrait shoots and travel over 40,000 kilometres on the road, while I'd estimate our cameras have clicked close to 50,000 photos! We've gained many new friendships and photographed truly precious stories for all the awesome people who put their trust in us to capture their memories.  And 2017 hasn't been all work and no play. We've had plenty of adventures and we try to make the most of our days off; exploring & enjoying!  From playing in the frost to aurora chasing.  Biking adventures to laying about in hammocks in Rarotonga. A definite highlight was celebrating 10 years of doing life together with a long weekend away in Wanaka, staying in an eco-friendly treetop lodge!  We made it to a couple of weddings even...as guests! Which was pretty special. And we tripped up to the Rangitata to work on part of my personal project that I'm doing (more on that here).  Being a photographer you would think I'd take all my photos on my good camera, but these iPhone snaps are just as precious in their own way. They document memories of good times shared with people I love.  So many good times with family and friends, from Matt's hillbilly themed 30th to partying on a Monday night (it's a photographer thing!) with my NZIPP family.   Matt's been busy mountain-biking. I upgraded to a truck. And among other things this year Matt taught me how to weld.  Matt also finally relented and let me get a pet bunny. So in August we added Percy rabbit to our fur-family. It wasn't love at first sight for Henry, but thankfully their friendship has grown with time.  This year we hosted our first ever #heidihortoncouples event! I dreamed to create something more from our business, to create community & cherish those who are a part of our journey. So we put on a movie night for all our past wedding couples, complete with bubbly and popcorn. We had couples from as far away as Christchurch come join us for a night out and a catch up! We laughed, we hugged, we celebrated. (Read the full story here).  We also hosted a handful of photography workshops teaching people how to take control of their cameras. And we have already set the date for our first one in 2018 - more details can be found here if you'd like to join us!  I shaved half my hair off (well technically Mikaela my hairdresser did) and I love it!  And in the spring we updated our portraits with Kim!  Photographs have always been really important to me, even before I was a photographer. I get so much joy from looking back through photographs. I feel very lucky when I look back on these moments of 2017. Yet there's still so many memories and people missing from my photos, so I need to keep getting better at documenting life with my camera (New Year's resolution #1)!
I cannot wait to see what 2018 brings...Happy New Year friends! xo |