Despite everything that happened this year, I stayed pretty busy with my photography. I met so many new and wonderful people, took thousands of photos, and even managed to explore some new places. I could have easily put over 100 photos in this post, but I somehow narrowed it down to my absolute, tip-top favorites. I've put them in chronological order starting in January and ending in December.
Some are my favorites because of the actual composition of the photo, others are on this list because they have a fun memory attached or just give me warm fuzzy feelings. With that in mind, I hope you enjoy this year's roundup of my favorite photos and the stories behind them.
January
In the first month of the year I used some leftover Christmas money to purchase two big fluffy skirts to use for photos. I love having beautiful women in beautiful dresses as my subject, so naturally I took loads of photos using these skirts.
It was freezing outside, but both of these lovely young women were champs at modeling for me in the cold. They also got lots of funny looks as we took the photos in the busy streets of the city, but totally worth it!
February
In February I booked a slot for a workshop in London with one of my favorite photographers, Alexandra Cameron. I've followed her work for years, way before I even had a camera. It was surreal to finally meet her and to get some insight into how she works.
The setup for the workshop was right up my ally, with a model wearing a pink dress in an old rundown church in the heart of London. One of my top experiences of the year. I also met Alex Lawther in a café nearby just before the workshop started! What a day!
While I was still in England for the workshop, I also got to meet and work with the lovely Charlotte, a model I had been following on Instagram for a while. We got some amazing shots in the Chichester Cathedral that I am still absolutely obsessed with. She goes by @lady_lottee on Instagram if you want to see more of her lovely face.
March
March was tough. This is when the virus really started to become a problem for us in the Netherlands, so I didn't take as many photos as I usually do despite it being the beginning of my favorite season. I did manage to take a few photos in some of the cherry blossom trees around Amsterdam, but other than that I laid low. I am really excited for March 2021 so I can get even more shots with these beautiful blossoms and all the other flowers that start taking over the Netherlands.
One of my favorite locations for March is the cherry blossom park in the Amsterdam Bos. Someone please book a session with me here in 2021 because I am itching to take more photos at this place!
April
April was suppose to be the month that I finally got to visit the world famous tulip fields here in the Netherlands, but due to the virus, farmers were asking people not to visit to prevent crowds from forming. There were still some amazing shots that I took staying within Amsterdam.
The light here was next level.
My apartment is at the other end of this street! One of the things that I have been most grateful for, especially during the pandemic, is having a place so conveniently located in the city that makes meeting clients and models quick and easy. I always think back to living in North Carolina where I would sometimes need to travel two hours one way for a photoshoot.
May
Flowers are one of my favorite things to incorporate into photos, so May was especially hard to narrow down to just two favorites because I went a little overboard with taking pictures with all the flowers that take over the Netherlands in spring.
A friend on Instagram tipped me off to this lovely little location on the outskirts of the city. It's a little patch of birch trees next to a cycle path that I had passed many times before, but for a week or two it was completely covered in these stunning bluebells! I put on one of my big ballgown skirts, set up my tripod, told my husband to look at me like Edward looks at Bella, and got this shot. I hate doing self-timer portraits because they're so tedious, but this turned into one of my all-time favorite photos of us together.
My sweet photographer friend Whitney Rogers, bare-chested and hanging out of a window with some wildflowers that I gathered from the forest the day before. This was one of my favorite days in Amsterdam, and I will cherish these stunning photos forever!
June
In June things started to really pick up and I was back to taking photos on a regular basis.
This was my first summer in the Netherlands, and I was not disappointed. The sun started setting close to 10pm and I had so much time and light for photos.
July
July was easily the best month of the year for me, and since it's also my birthday month I allowed myself to include four photos instead of just two. The virus seemed to be somewhat under control at the time, and travel within Europe was allowed again. Luckily for us, we were finally able to go visit our family in England for a couple of weeks.
After being stuck in a city for months without a break, taking this hike to Durdle Door was incredibly healing for my soul.
I worked with this couple on the nature reserve near Pagham Harbor while we were still in England. They were such a rad couple and I am still fawning over the amazing golden light we were blessed with during the photoshoot.
Then I spent my birthday in Paris!
My husband took this photo of me on the eve of my 25th birthday. Visiting France was one of my goals for the year that I wrote down before I knew what exactly this year would entail, so I am super grateful that we could still make it happen.
I told my husband to step off of one of the stone platforms in front of the Louvre in Paris. He didn't understand my vision at the time, but now this is one of his favorite photos of himself.
August
Things got really busy for my business during this month and I worked with so many new and lovely clients. I remember coming home after one of my photoshoots and thinking how lucky and blessed I am because not only was I finally booking consistently again, all the clients that I was working with were so sweet and so appreciative of my work.
I also got to work on this fun creative project in between clients. I had been picturing this exact photoshoot setup back when I originally bought these ballgown skirts, so it was amazing to finally have my vision come to life. I will be sharing the photos from this series for a long time.
I also got to visit the heather fields that bloom in late August. One of the highlights of my year was getting to photograph the Highland cows that roam the fields. This cutie will be printed out and framed on my wall soon!
September
September in Amsterdam is magical and romantic, so I stayed in the city and photographed some of the sweetest couples.
The pigeons in Dam Square. Love them or hate them, they're always there, and I love getting people to walk through them for photos.
October
October was another really tough month to choose just two images from, so I just had to include three.
This first one was from my shoot with Anna Bee who I met on Instagram, her handle is @annabee_nl if you want to check her out. I loved her cyber punk vibes and colorful hair, and the photos from this series are some of my favorite ever.
I also got to photograph more sweet couples in the beautiful autumn foliage. Every photoshoot I went on, the background was just so lovely and painterly, I finally understood what inspired so many of the famous Dutch painters.
I mean, just look at this backdrop!
Love the old car, the leaves, the smiles, and the Westertoren in the distance! This photos captures it all!
November
Things started to get chilly in November, but I really do think Amsterdam looks its best when it is cold, dark, and as my husband puts it, horrible. The lights start coming on early in the evenings, and things start to feel cozy and festive as decorations start going up for the holidays.
The lights and the canals just hit different when it's cold outside, and you know you're going home to cuddle up with someone you love and a hot chocolate.
December
These last pictures are a little mix from the last few weeks as I haven't taken many this month yet. The cold outside has put a damper on my desire to venture out with my camera, but I hope these last few shots give you all the cozy festive vibes that December should bring.
If you follow me on Instagram, I've been sharing a lot of evening shots recently. This was from a trip to Edam.
This session gave me all the Christmas feelings.
A day trip to Naarden that ended up being the coldest I have been in a very long time. Can you see how red my nose is here? I was miserable, but as always, I tried to smile for the camera.
I'm definitely not done taking photos for the year just yet, so I hope you will follow along with me on Instagram as I have some fun things coming up in the last few weeks of 2020.
The gallery below includes a few more favorites from throughout the year that I couldn't go on without sharing. I hope you enjoyed reminiscing on some of my favorite moments with me :)