Reflecting on 2020
And just like that we’ve completed another spin around the sun! Here we come, 2021!
2020 - I feel like everyone (myself included) is pretty tired of talking about how crazy a year it has been. And yet, all at the same time, I felt like it would be shorting myself if I didn’t take a moment to reflect on all of the good that 2020 has brought. More time with my family. A heightened appreciation for the health of myself and my loved ones. My community and all of the ways we’ve stepped up for each other. Love and laughter and creative, inventive, gorgeous wedding celebrations. Watching our kids grow into their true selves all while reflecting on what parenthood means to me. Photos of families during quarantine and all of the fun ways they spent their time. Senior photos, local business highlights, newborn sessions, and engagement portraits - 2020 has shown us that life continues to roll on and that we’re more adaptive and flexible than we give ourselves credit for.
Below I’ve linked to a handful of blogs from this past year that fill my heart with joy (okay, they all do - so I had to roll the dice and narrow it down!). I hope they bring a smile to your face as you reflect on your 2020 and look ahead to a brand new year!
A Year in the Life with the Jameson Family
I remember kicking the year off with a story about the Jameson Family’s Year in the Life shoots. I absolutely love doing this series. The transformation kids make in their first year is incredible and being able to capture it for a family to cherish is one of the things I enjoy most about my job.
And with the Jameson family, I have been lucky enough to get to do the whole thing twice-- starting with little Catherine and then a couple of years later with her little sister Gwen. You can see the full blog post here with the Jameson Family. Interested in booking your own Year in the Life session? You can contact me here or via e-mail at studio@devkhalsaphotography.com and we can talk details!
Family Time During Isolation
Oh my, how life has changed since March! When I first wrote “Family Time During Isolation” it was after just the first few weeks of the kids being home and moving through remote learning, when everything felt so freshly uncertain. It’s crazy to think how much we didn’t know then, how scary it all felt, and like we’d never be able to keep this up. And while we’ve found a lot of resilience in this past year and we have had to keep so much of this up, there is a line from that original blog post that I still hold close: “The current health situation isn’t something to take lightly - but that doesn’t mean the rest of our moments have to be heavy.” Click here to read the original post.
Quarantine & Community
Something that will stay with me forever after 2020 is how much I love my community. I always knew I loved the Wood River Valley, but the way people showed up for each other this year really hammered that feeling home. After just a couple of months of the pandemic being in the Valley an 8pm “Howl for Healthcare Workers” became a daily fixture in our lives. It lasted for months, and it was beautiful not only as a thank you to our healthcare workers but also as a “you’re not alone, we’re all in this together” reminder. Also - the kids loved howling from the doorstep and hearing the echoes back from neighbors near and far.
Not too long after the howls began, I launched “Stay at Home Sessions" where I went to take photos of families outside of their homes (proper distancing of course) to try and capture some of the magic I was finding in my own home. New projects being taken up, hobbies learned, family time had - so many folks were having a similar experience of finding silver linings in a crumby situation. Some of my favorite photos were ones I took of my sister’s family - they were all riding unicycles, slacklining, gardening - I don’t think I’ve seen a more ambitious bunch! You can see more of their photos here. As well as some incredibly cute “Stay at Home” photos with the Neet Family here.
Local Business Highlights
During a year when it was challenging/impossible to be together physically, I made a goal to try and get to know some of my fellow local business owners a little better. All while highlighting their talents, personalities, and incredible businesses for more folks to enjoy! I was able to connect with three wonderful women in the Valley to get their stories - Sarah Latham of Latham Interiors, Jamie Truppi of Jamie Truppi Integrative Nutrition, and Amanda Seaward of Absolute Weddings. All of them are magnificent at their crafts, but the thing that stood out so much to me was the love of their home here in the Valley. This is a place where people come together, where small businesses often link up to help each other out, and where you can both find a meaningful career all while putting down roots in a beautiful place. I have more local business highlights lined up for the coming months that I can’t wait to keep sharing!
Summer time with the family
Summertime in the Wood River Valley is a dream— it has always been my favorite time of year here! And after a couple months of quarantining through the spring, we appreciated it so much more! There’s never enough time to work on the garden, play hard, have all sorts of adventures, make dinner, and get the kids to bed on time. You can’t do it all, but you have to try, right?? We certainly tried our best this year! From backpacking with the girls and their cousins, a hike to Pioneer Cabin, rafting on the river, and weekends away in our camper - we tried to make this summer full of the outdoors. Idaho is a special place with wide-open spaces that lends itself to incredible opportunities to distance, play, and reconnect with nature and the things that truly are important.
A Very Creative Wedding Season
It’s been quite the year. So often my weekends are filled with wedding photography. The big beautiful tents filled with smiling humans, rehearsal dinners, big family photos, wedding parties with friends from far away - everything you think of when you think of your “typical” wedding traditions.
For the most part, that just wasn’t happening this year. But people are resilient, determined, and creative. Surprise weddings on local trails, relaxed elopements, intimate vows - this year of weddings were fun, inventive, and put a whole new spin on what getting married looks like. Click here to see just a few of my favorites!
Real Life Portraits
I don’t think I will ever stop saying this - I love getting to do Real Life Portrait Sessions. There is something really incredible that happens when I get to become part of a family’s regular environment - to get to see how kids act when they are at their most comfortable. To see the everyday play, tantrums, giggles, snack times - everything that you see on a regular basis, but don’t usually get to capture in photographs.
Getting to photograph so many families over the years has made me realize how similar we all are in the best ways. We all have our inside jokes, our favorite things to do at home, kids have ups and downs (which is good, these sessions are meant to be real!) - it’s shown me that life is both messy and beautiful for everyone. And how lovely is that? Below are just a few photos from my Real Life Portrait Session with the McNeal family. You can see more of their images here.
Senior Portraits
After a season of shooting Senior Portraits, I feel both lucky and humbled to have worked with so many incredible young people. Their grace, understanding, flexibility, and hope for the future has inspired and encouraged me throughout all of the events of this past year. I enjoyed getting to talk to each senior I took photos with, to hear their excitement for the year to come despite so much unknown. Again, it just goes to show how incredible this community is for supporting these kids and for the kids taking everything in stride! You can see more photos from Grace & Nysa’s shoots by clicking on their names!
Imperfect Perfect
Last, but certainly not least, has been something of a mantra for me for 2020. The idea that life can be Perfectly Imperfect. I’ve always liked feeling like I have some semblance of control or at least a hand in the outcome. I like thinking that I’m the skilled captain of my own (and my family’s) ship. Which, in many ways I am. But perhaps I’ve been underestimating the seas and my relationship to them. This year has taught me so many lessons - but the one that has brought the most positive change to my life is learning to loosen my grip on the steering wheel. To lighten up. To be kinder to myself (which leads to more kindness to others). There’s no way I want to re-do 2020, but I’m not sure I would want to change it either. You can read both of my blogs about finding the imperfect perfect here & here.
And that’s a wrap! Another year in the books. I’m excited for the year to come. It feels full of possibility. I’m looking forward to doing more Real Life Portraits and sharing those with you all. Writing more. Spending more time with my family. Trying new things. Reading more books. Who knows, maybe even pick up a new hobby or two! What are your goals for 2021? How do you want to spend your 365 days? What things do you want to see more of in this blog?
Thanks for reading, and I can’t wait to share more with you!