Sara Gray Photography Portland, Oregon

I am a huge believer in the power of thinking positively, which includes giving thanks and celebrating the things we work so hard for. This past year has been an absolute whirlwind for me, personally and professionally, and when I look back at it, I am totally awed by not only all the things that have happened, but all the people who have been gracious and generous to me. Without all of you, Sara Gray Photography wouldn’t have grown in the immense ways it has, and I wouldn’t be nearly as personally fulfilled by my work.

For my last 2010 blog post, I wanted to recap the year, thank some great people and give you a little preview of what’s to come in 2011.

First, the weddings. The main event, the reason for Sara Gray Photography’s existence. I have come to love weddings so much. Almost every one makes me shed a few tears and teaches me something new about marriage. I definitely am not exaggerating when I say I have the best job in the world. Here’s a look at the 13 fabulous couples I worked with this year.

Congrats to the newlyweds: Erica and Nick (married July 3), Melissa and Andrew (July 4), Morgan and Brandon (July 22), Katy and Justin (Aug. 7), Rachel and Neal (Aug. 8), Jessie and Adam (Aug. 14), Emily and Nick (Aug. 21), Shannon and Erik (Sept. 4), Kim and Patrick (Sept. 11), Julia and Ryan (Sept. 18), Caroline and Michael (Oct. 2), Liz and Eric (Oct. 23) and Aura and Brad (Nov. 20).

You are all amazing couples who I loved working with and getting to know. Thank you so much for being an influence in my life this year!

Another fun thing I started work on this year was producing inspiration shoots, which many of you have seen on the blog. What started as a way to hone my craft in the slow spring months became a real passion for me in styling and editorial-style photography. I’ve produced and collaborated on eleven of these styled shoots this year, and there will be way more where that came from in 2011.

Below, a peek at some of the styled shoots I worked on this year.

In addition to all this fun, I’ve had my work featured all over the Internet this year in the great community that has formed around wedding blogs. I’ve had my work published more than 20 times this year, on blogs like Style Me Pretty (twice!), Green Wedding Shoes, Wedding Chicks (twice!), Brooklyn Bride (twice!), Elizabeth Anne Designs (including an inspiration shoot and winning the Inspired Creations Contest with a great team of Portland vendors), The Sweetest Occasion, Classic Bride, Grey Likes Weddings and Ruffled. Thanks to all the great editors who have become more like friends over the last twelve months, and thanks to all the tremendously talented vendors who have worked with me on these fun shoots and weddings and have contributed the details that made them so visually stunning.

What’s to come in 2011? More than my brain can keep track of most days.

I’m taking 2011 wedding bookings like crazy right now. I’m already way ahead of where I was a year ago, so if you’re getting married this coming year, get in touch before all the dates are gone! I am so excited about the exciting year ahead and the new friends I’m making along the way.

Next week, the blog will get a mini-makeover, along with the Sara Gray Photography logo. I’m going to try to adopt a more editorial style to the blog, which should be more engaging to you, the reader. I’ll be blogging a little less — moving from three days a week to two — but my posts will be a little longer.

I’m working on a couple of new projects, too — one will be launching on Monday. It’s a project I’ve been putting together with my friend Erin McGovney. I’m not going to leak it yet, though — you’ll have to check my Facebook page or Twitter next week to get the link.

My other project is on a bigger scale and has been in the works since late last summer. It’s going to be a blast, combining my love for styling and my background in publishing. I’m working with a great team on that and expecting a launch in March 2011. Stay tuned!

My wish for you all this New Years’ Eve is that you have a moment to reflect on the year, celebrate your victories and what you’ve accomplished, thank those who helped you get there and then steel yourself — this next one is going to be good. Happy New Year, friends!

November was a great month — lots of orders for Christmas cards, fun family sessions and the kickoff of the holiday season, which is my absolute favorite. Speaking of favorites, here’s my favorite photo from this month.

I had so much fun hanging out with Angie, Josh, Grace and Eileeta during their shoot (and I love the fall colors Angie dressed her family in). But this moment between Angie and little Eileeta was really sweet and it’s in moments like these that I’m really glad I have my camera poised and ready. I love little candid moments, especially ones between moms and little ones.

Technical info: 5omm f/1.4 @ f/1.4, shutter @ 1/400, ISO 100.

Remember to check back tomorrow for the December contest, which will be pretty festive. See you then!

In looking back at this busy and exhilarating month, I can’t help but think how close the end of the year is and how exciting a year it’s been for me and my business. I’m really looking forward to next year and have already begun booking wedding dates for next year (so don’t wait!)

This month was a really tough month to choose a favorite photo, since I spent so much time photographing weddings (three of them!) and numerous portrait sessions. There was a ton to choose from, and so with some pain and wobbling back and forth, I finally settled on this image as my October favorite:

This was a totally and completely candid moment between Annie, my Oct. 17 bride, and her two flower girls. It was a quiet moment in the bride room, with everyone besides Annie running around taking care of last-minute details, but instead of joining them, Annie spent time talking to her flower girls, letting them snuggle up and enjoy being the center of attention. I loved the warm light coming in through the window and Annie’s gracious touch with the little girls. I’m a sucker for a candid moment, that’s for sure!

Technical info: I shot this photo with my Canon 50D and my 50mm f/1.4 lens at f/1.4, shutter speed 1/250, ISO 500.

I know I’m always shocked that another month has come to a close, but this is the sixth time I’ve published my favorite photo, which means it’s been about six months since I launched the blog. It’s been a blast so far, and I hope you’ve all enjoyed it.

There was no question when it came time to sit down and pick my favorite of the month. When this photo uploaded onto my computer, it almost took my breath away. Shannon was a peaceful bride, moving slowly and consciously through the ritual of getting dressed and getting her jewelry on. She was sitting on her parents’ bed, just above where her wedding was getting set up, and just then, a dark scary cloud moved out of the way and the sun streamed in through the window.

You are beautiful, Shannon!

Photo friends: this photo was taken with my Canon 50D and a 50mm f/1.4 lens at f/1.4. The shutter speed was 1/125 and ISO 400.

Can you believe it’s going to be September tomorrow? September is my favorite month (it’s my birthday!) and because of that, I am going to give away something awesome on the blog tomorrow. Trust me, you’ll want to come back and enter to win.

My month has been a blur, has yours? In August, I photographed four weddings and they were all beautiful and so much fun. So needless to say, picking a favorite photo this month was basically torture. I landed on this photo, though, and I’ll tell you why:

I took this photo the morning after Kristi and Jason’s wedding, on the beach in Rockaway Beach. It was sort of foggy and very calm, and they were so at ease. I thought it was such a great thing that after the dust had settled, these two were jumping right into their new life as newlyweds. It was really a treat to work with this couple — and all my great August wedding couples!

Technical info: ISO 100, shutter speed 1/6400 and f/2.2. Lens: 50mm f/1.4.

September is going to be great here on the blog, so stick around, and don’t miss tomorrow’s contest!

Can you believe it’s already the end of July? I’ve been slammed with wonderful weddings in the past month and they’ll continue into August, so picking a favorite photo this month was really tough – especially since Marc, the groom in my July 4 wedding, stopped in the middle of his portrait posing, turned to me and said, “This better be the photo of the month.” No pressure!

Well, Marc, I’m sorry to let you down. I do adore your wedding photos, but you’re not the focus of my favorite this month.

This is Anna – she also got married in July and she was loads of fun. I love this photo because of the spontaneous moment. She was leading her bridal party across the street, I’m not sure she even saw me in front of her, and she was totally engrossed in the moment and how fabulous she felt. I love the city buildings behind her, the vibrant colors of her bouquet and the look on her face.

I took this photo with my Canon 50D, fitted with my 50mm f/1.4 lens. I snapped it at f/2.2 and with a shutter speed of 1/400 on a beautiful Northwest overcast day.

Happy August tomorrow! Check back for a great giveaway tomorrow on the blog!

I can’t believe it’s that time again! My favorite photo this month was really hard to choose, as usual, but I came up with this photo I keep coming back to. I’ll be telling you all on the blog more about this shot in the next few weeks and the shoot that produced it because I’m going to be announcing a new, amazing way to take senior photos. But all in good time. I love this picture because of the happiness, the true friendship and the energy of being a teenager that it captures. Girls, you rock my world!

This photo was taken with my Canon 50D, a 16-35mm lens at f/2.8 and 1/200th of a second. Happy July tomorrow – don’t forget to come back to check out the contest!

This is only the second time I’ve done these “favorite shot” posts and it’s already getting hard. However, I stopped myself from settling on a tie. Here’s my favorite photo from this past month.

This month’s photo has already been on the blog over the past week, and it’s from Stefanie & Marc’s engagement session over Memorial Day Weekend. I can’t get enough of it.

Why do I love it? I have to tell you how fun this session was for me – Marc had just flown in for the weekend from Texas, and you could tell they were so happy to be together at last. It was palpable. Then we found this great little alley, and as these little leaves were falling all around, they stepped out into this little patch of warm sunshine, and it was like I wasn’t there. This was just one of the blissful moments that couples have. Moments like that never get old.

I shot this with my Canon 50D, fitted with the Canon 85mm f/1.8 lens. I shot at f/1.8 and a shutter speed of 1/2500.

P.S. I know it’s not officially the end of the month, but I don’t post on weekends, so the sessions I’ll be shooting this weekend will be counted toward June’s possible favorite of the month.

I’ve decided that to wrap up every month on the blog, I’m going to share with you my favorite photo from all month. It’ll be a photo I’ve taken in the last month and I’ll share a little bit about why I love it and why I think it’s my style.

After this shoot, I was talking to Jen (in the photo) and her husband Jason – you’ll recognize them from a post on the blog last week – about what I want my photography to be. Some people are all about the scenery and the artistic aspects of it, and others are about effects and post-processing. I appreciate all that, but to me it’s all about emotion.

I want to capture people who are in love, want to show them what real laughter looks like, faces scrunched up in glee. That’s one of the reasons why I adore photographing weddings so much – where can you find more emotion than that?

I love this one because it’s Jen and Ruthie – it’s a geniune moment between a girl and her dog, and it’s love and companionship and silliness and all of that. It’s what makes me love my job, and it’s what makes the world go around.

For you photography nerds out there, this shot was taken with my Canon 50D and my 50mm f/1.4 lens – taken at f/3.5, 1/200th of a second and ISO 100.