2014, wow, what a year it has been! It was a year mixed with exciting adventure, exhaustion, travel, lots and lots of work and lots and lots of learning. Looking back over the calendar to try to prep this blog post I was completely overwhelmed with gratitude as I remembered the road trips, the tears, the tired mornings, the late nights and the beautiful people we had the honor of meeting along the way. I remembered the joy, the anxiety, the long talks and the aha moments that make your first year in business so beautiful and challenging. I can’t believe it has been a year already. I am so grateful to my husband, my friends, my family and the people who have taught me so much this year about myself and about photography, about business and art and relationships. I am so thankful for our clients who have trusted us with creating films and photography about their lives. I am so thankful to God for placing this passion and gift in my life and I cannot wait to see where 2015 leads! Here is a look at our favorite moments from 2014 in a year in review highlights post! January – We launched our business on January 1, 2014 after a year of talking, praying, investing, practicing and creating. With us both already working full time jobs, we knew this would stretch us to the max, but we were excited and willing to take the risk and ready to start pursuing our passions! 
February – We decided to expand our family and welcomed our fur child Penny to our home on February 14. She was our sweet Valentine and has brought us so much joy! We also had the opportunity to see Les Mis in Raleigh with our friends Scott and Amanda and it was amazing!!! 
March – I attended CLIC in Raleigh, NC and Grady attended Story Telling with Heart, a Stillmotion workshop in Raleigh, NC. We knew in our first year of business that investing in education is one of the best things we could do for ourselves and we wanted to make it a priority. Both were excellent experiences for us! Investing in education is well worth it! 
April – I did quite a bit of second shooting and we also traveled to Emerald Isle, NC to celebrate/shoot the wedding of our friend’s Liz and Steven! Here are a few photos from Liz and Steven’s day and one from one of my favorite second shooting days with Ginny Corbett Photography. 
May – May was filled with family sessions, wedding films and prepping for our first international wedding which took us to Germany! We were so excited for this opportunity. We also celebrated Grady’s birthday in May! 
June – This is the month we will just forever refer to as the craziest month ever! We shot three wedding films and photographed a wedding out of town all while continuing to work 40 hour weeks at our full time jobs. We were super tired, but learning a lot and very grateful for a busy season. I also made the trip to OBX for a mentoring session with Amanda Hedgepeth Photography which was an amazing experience and shot one of my favorite images of the year at Holly and Renato’s engagement session! 
July – We packed our bags and all of our camera gear and headed to Germany for our first international wedding in a tiny German village for our beautiful friends Victoria and Andreas. We planned some extra time in Germany and saw some of the most beautiful sites and visited with our friends Abby and Peter who are getting married this weekend in PA! We can’t wait to celebrate with them and photograph their beautiful day! 
August – I invested in a second mentoring session in August. This time I wanted something that focused more on branding so I booked an online mentoring session with Tiffany Farley. I had long admired her work and the depth in her brand. We spent time diving into the “why” behind business and the power of branding. I have yet to even tap the surface of implementing all the changes I’d like to make, but I have a much clearer picture of what I want our business and brand to be and I can’t wait to dedicate some of 2015 to making our business mean more! 
September – I fulfilled a huge dream and attended Walk Through a Wedding with Justin and Mary Marantz in Charlottesville, VA. Holy life changing experience Batman. So good. Loved every single second of this workshop and learned so much here! So grateful that Grady signed me up for this when I was too scared to do it on my own. What a guy! We also photographed and filmed two amazing weddings this month, Holly and Renato and Kelly and JD. 
October – We headed to Charlotte, NC with some of our best pals Rebecca and Perry to watch the Charlotte Panthers vs. the Chicago Bears. While the game ultimately ended in a disappointing loss for the Nichols, we had an amazing weekend of laughter and fun with our friends. Rebecca and I even mastered the Lynx as we were unaware of the NFL policy of no purses and had an hour long adventure back to our hotel to store our purses so we could actually enter the game. 
November – The best month ever! We had the amazing opportunity to travel to Italy. It was an incredible experience in which we helped lead a community trip with more than 80 people. We celebrated our third year of marriage on the plane ride home with wonderful memories of a beautiful country! I will treasure memories of Italy in my heart forever. I loved this place so much! 
December – We celebrated Christmas with family and friends! We got some rest. We reflected. We are so grateful for what this year has brought in our business, in our life and in our marriage! We are so thankful for each person we have met, each client, each new friend and each of these highlights that have made this year so magical. We can’t say thank you enough to each of you who have supported us and helped us in our first year of business! 
Welcome Friends!
Hello and welcome to our blog! We’re Amanda and Grady, wedding and lifestyle photographers based in North Carolina. Grab a coffee or a glass of wine and enjoy browsing our most recent work and our latest life updates from NC!
One Comment
Beautifully done. I can’t believe you got to go to Europe twice this year! You certainly have invested in your craft and your business and it shows in your work. I think you are going places with this! I love the end picture of your big girl at home! She has gotten huge! Have a wonderful 2015, I look forward to seeing where it takes you…..