Look back at 2009

We it’s been a great, but crazy year here at Brodiefoto. As I get ready to greet 2010 and say goodbye to 2009, I thought I would give a look back at the year and talk about some of my experiences, images, and memories that made 2009 so great for me.

First let me also say that I know 2009 was a hard year for many people. The economy is down, people lost jobs, and quite frankly everyone I know was cutting back on spending. That being said, 2009 was probably the busiest year for me photographically. I sold more stock photography, I shot more weddings, more portraits, more…everything. Some of that was due to my skill and photography, but most of it was because of my attitude. It wasn’t until about March or April that I understood I couldn’t just sit back in a bad economy, I was going to have to really work for what I wanted. While most companies were scaling back to save money, I did everything I could to make sure people heard my name, saw my images, and wanted to be a part of art I offer. I have to say I think it’s working.  Sure, I took some gambles. I spent some money I probably shouldn’t have. I tried some things that didn’t work so well, but in the end I gained far more than I lost. Social media like Twitter, Facebook, Youtube and this blog have really helped to keep people aware of what I’m doing. I’ve also been very active in a local Flickr group, helping to lead photo walks, and chatting photography with anyone who was willing to listen.

2009 was also the year of the referral. I got a lot of people coming to me because a friend or family member referred me. Of all the great things in 2009, that’s number 1. It means people trusted me to do a good job, not just for them, but they put their own reputation on the line and trusted me to do a good job for their friend. Especially when it’s a wedding, it really means a lot.

While I remember just about every photograph I’ve ever taken, 2009 had its share of very memorable photographs for me. The first couple of photos that really stood out to me were the portraits I did of my newborn son. I’ve done a ton of baby portraits, but having a newborn in the house again was an inspiration to take the baby portraits to a new level. I tried some new things, new props, and really started to develop a beautiful baby portrait style.
I also did a lot more wedding photography this year. The real joy though, was getting to photograph two very good friends’ children’s weddings. It was really a lot of fun to shoot a wedding that I knew so many people and could really push the envelope because they trusted me.

I also focused a lot on “Fine Art”, specifically cityspaces this year. I hadn’t been much of a “Fine Art” photographer. I always considered myself to have more of a commercial and photo journalism type of style. However, the walks I went on, both with the Flickr Group and the World Wide Photo Walk really started to peak my interest. I’m very excited to say that in about a month or so a new restaurant will be opening in Columbia and will be featuring a lot of my Columbia Cityscapes. It will also be including some of my wedding and portrait work as well.

Well there you have it, a quick year in review. There was a lot I didn’t talk about, but could have or should have, but no one really wants to sit here and read a novel. Most of you come here to look at the pretty pictures… So here are a few more of my favorite images from 2009.

Enjoy and God Bless.

Matt

Finlay Park

The Columbia Capital

Katy and Brad

Evil Monkey

The Damn Bridge in Little Rock Arkansas.

Fun with Photoshop.

Later Gator

Baby will