2020 Round Up

2020

Weddings
Families
Magic

It wasn’t quite the year we were expecting, was it? At all. So much has been said already about 2020 and so much written, too. I’m not going to add much to all that, just to say that it will forever be a year where the world turned upside-down and we all had to find our way through the mess of it.

Weddings stopped pretty abruptly and there was the initial wave of dates moving to this year and even beyond. Then amongst all this came a handful of couples that managed to keep on, to redefine their plans and have smaller, intimate weddings that may not be how they imagined, but were incredibly special.

Before Covid hit properly I shot two weddings which were, funnily enough, both up in Aberdeenshire. Alison and Naill had a fantastic day, with their Muslim ceremony at the Winter Garden (what a venue!) followed by their reception at the Marcliffe Hotel. Winter weddings are always appealing to me for the hugs, keep-warm attitude and that wintry light which, although brief, is worth it.

In March, Amy and Ben snuck in their beautiful wedding at Logie House Hotel just before lockdown and it was a day packed full of smiles, giggles and happiness. A day to remember despite it being so close to the line!

As the summer came round and lockdown eased, four of my lovely, lovely couples decided to go for it. Garry & Genny, Kay & Chris, James & Helen and then later, towards the end of the year, Emily & Ross. They all reworked their days to create smaller celebrations. And they were all brilliant. That first wedding after lockdown, when Genny and Garry walked back up the aisle in their own back garden surrounded by their most immediate family and friends, they took a moment to wave to all those special people in their lives on Zoom and I properly choked up. It brought it all home a bit.

Family shoots made my heart sing last year. They’ve always been so much fun, but after everything we all experienced in 2020 (and beyond!), never did making memories with family feel more important. In the relaxing of lockdown I was very lucky to catch up with faces old and new for photos and I loved every minute of it. Thank you, all you lovely families, for asking me along to snap away.

In the in-between time, when we’d all got our heads around the concept of lockdown as best we could and worked out the rules, there was a period of keeping on. A lot of photographers found chance to get out and do doorstep photoshoots and I was one of them. Though I tried to create something a little different to remember this time, by combining the doorstep sessions idea with my love of Photoshop - Doorstep Twist was born! I transported many a doorstep to somewhere else - the beach or the mountains for example. It’s been a project I’ve loved and has been so well received I’ve continued it on. I think #doorsteptwist will always be a fun addition to any photoshoot, especially family ones.

I also continued on with my concept family images and portraits, which massively helped keep my brain creative during the quieter times of lockdown (not that quiet is really a word I’d use when home-schooling a 7-year-old and entertaining a 3-year-old, but you know what I mean!)

And here we are in 2021… It’s all still uncertain, but I feel like hope is there. Weddings kick off for me again this weekend and I’m so excited! Let’s go, wedding season! ❤️