One of the photography blogs that I follow had a recent post highlighting many photographer’s “best photos of 2011″ themed blog posts. This inspired me to take a step back and look the bigger picture. I’ve included a little bit of everything in this post and I hope you enjoy this walk down memory lane with me…
The first image I’m going to share with you will always have a special place in my heart as it was the first print that I sold to my friend, Travis. His support very early on gave me the drive to aim high and his faith in my talent means more to me than words could describe.
This next image was actually from my first of many photo shoots with my lovely friend, Sofia. I love this image for many reasons but mostly for the excitement I felt taking my photography to the next level. I’m fairly confident that if this session had never happened there is a good chance I wouldn’t be doing what I’m doing today.
In February of 2011, I went to Australia for a walkabout of sorts where I did quite a bit of soul searching during a once in a lifetime trip. Choosing one picture from my two week trip was quite difficult but the wild koala ended up being too adorable to pass up. During this trip, I began writing my business plan and setting tangible goals for myself. 
As I try to figure out my main focus in photography, I’m very drawn to family portraits. This family is especially near and dear to my heart. It was a challenge working with four people but this picture really captures the essence of our shoot and turned out to be one of the favorites of the day.
Speaking of families, I was honored to capture such a special moment in Frank and Sofia’s life while they were expecting their baby boy, Sylar. They are such a stunning couple who are madly in love and this picture captures that pure emotion.
When trying to select images for my top 10 list, I went to Facebook and this was one of the most liked images of the year. Many thanks to my dear friend, Christina, for modeling and my lovely roommate, Lauren, for helping to direct.
This was another well liked image on Facebook as well as one of my personal favorites taken during the cherry blossom festival.
If you’re following my blog, then the next picture will look very familiar from my post about the Jones family. My time with them had a huge impact on me personally and professionally.
This was the second most liked picture on Facebook. I’ve taken many pictures of Iwo Jima as it’s only a few blocks from my apartment and my dog, Chloe, loves to run around in the open field next to it. Sometimes photography is about being at the right place at the right time.
Last, but certainly not least, is a portrait of the lovely Ashley. There were many great shots from that session but I just loved the colors in this particular portrait. Portraits of young professionals in an urban environment is what I enjoy shooting most and I hope to really expand upon that in 2012.
I hope you enjoyed my top 10! Leave some comments to let me know what you think! :)