First and foremost, a huge thanks to all of the clients I worked with in 2020. Looking back over the past year isn't the most exciting thing for most. However, I look back and still see some great work that I did for my clients, time I got to spend with my family and a perspective gained about a work/life balance. From portrait photography and food photography to product, marketing and commercial photography, video production, drone photography and videography as well as video interviews. I still did quite a bit of work that I'm proud of and how I helped my clients to show their business and faces in the best light possible during this difficult year.
The year started out pretty normal with the look of big things to come on the horizon. I started by looking into new ways of using light with color while incorporating athletes. I was then looking into a lot of travel with one of my best clients, Landscape Leadership. With plans for the whole Spring, late summer and fall, it was going to be a great collaboration. Additionally, I had several other clients with large projects that we were working to flesh out concepts and schedule.
After a few portraits and small projects I was supposed to photograph a cookbook with a small team over about 5-6 days of shooting. Followed by 2 months of heavy travel for a client. Then, the shutdowns came and I had to close my studio for about 2 months. Well, being the problem solver that I am, I figured out a way to not only keep working remotely but to gather ingredients, create the food and photograph the photos for the cookbook from home. With food delivery being slammed and taking up to 2 weeks for delivery dates, I found myself in smaller grocery stores doing pick ups and using photography tricks to create good looking food for a cookbook that made the print deadline and finally hit shelves in late August.
I still did the occasional portrait as I could in between larger shoots, giving my wife time with her business considering we haven't had childcare since March, being a preschool teacher and home projects that gained more attention since we were home more and not spending money on going out or on vacations. Some of these were editorial, some personal and some for businesses that wanted that extra special look for their employees.
The travel shoots I had scheduled mostly got cancelled but a couple did just reschedule for the fall. The furthest I went for a shoot this year was Montana and let me tell you, the travel was crazy but the location in Big Sky and Yellowstone was well worth it and simply amazing! The other travel was a bit closer in the Maryland and Virginia areas so I was able to do day trips to those locations. Even though those were some long days, I made it work and the clients were very understanding considering the year we had and the challenges presented.
I gained a few new clients this year, working on some architectural interiors and exteriors as well as product photography in and out of my studio, video production and drone aerial photography and videography. Product photography in my studio has really filled in my work nicely this year and I'm very thankful for my new clients and clients that have been with me for years as well! Clients like Scrub Daddy who I did one in person shoot with this year but mostly sent me products to work on by myself in studio.
Video work for interviews, videography clips, video post production and creativity that went into coming up with exciting and informative videos was also a big part of the year. While a bunch of things got put on hold or cancelled, new work came in for clients that didn't see much of a drop in work or actually saw growth in their businesses. I plan to share more video work with you soon.
Studio portrait photography also made for a tricky situation this year while not being able to have many people in my studio and masks necessary for my business to remain open, it required some thinking outside the box with ventilation and making people feel comfortable. I did however do one group photo for a client that I've been shooting for a couple of years now, and luckily the weather worked for us to be able to have the photo done outside with social distancing in full effect.
What will 2021 hold? I will be optimistic that things will be better, for businesses to come back and flourish! Let's all support one another, work toward getting back to normal and show love for our fellow humans who have been harshly impacted this past year. Here's to 2021! We can't wait to work with you and your business to create something special that will help you and your business grow in the new year!
As if this post wasn't long enough, enjoy a few more of my favorites from this past year below.
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