Our 2016 Year in Review | Barbara Bell Photography | Chapel Hill, North Carolina

Does it feel like 2016 flew by?  It does, doesn’t it?  But then I take a pause and look back over these past 12 months, and realize how full 2016 really was…

JANUARY

Thank you to this family who invited me into their home to photograph the three of them.  These three have a joy that was the undercurrent of our session.  Their smiles.  Their laughter.  Their joy.  I have all the #hearteyes for this family.

January also brought my 10^th year of photographing the Confirmation ceremony at St. Charles Church in San Carlos, CA.  This was the year of the bow tie – so happy this fashion accessory made it mainstream.

If that wasn’t enough to keep me busy at the start of the year, I also flew to the United Kingdom to photograph a wedding.  This couple – at the moment the magistrate declared them husband and wife – glowed, truly glowed at this announcement.  My heart swelled to see their happiness through my viewfinder.

FEBRUARY and MARCH

February and March allow me to spring clean in the studio, at home, and with images.  This is also the time of year I help clients to spring clean…photos that live in digital land not belong there!  Print your photos!  Find a way for them to live on in your lives…  Is it a framed piece for your wall, for your desk, or to give to your family as gifts?

I first undertook this when a client asked me to help her clean out boxes of photographs after her mother passed away.  The task felt too big for her to tackle on her own, and having someone who can guide her through the process – what to keep, where to store, and how to manage years of memories – helped to give her peace of mind that her favorite photographs, her favorite memories, and her favorite moments were safe.

APRIL

My dad passed away in April after a five-year battle since his diagnosis with Alzheimer ’s disease.  While he had no idea who I was these past couple of years, I thought it was important to show up and to call.  He would smile when I arrived and seemed happy to see me, but I could also see he was struggling to remember how he knew me.   Someone explained it this way to me: “He may not know that you are his daughter, but he knows you’re a nice lady who comes to visit him. He’s happy to see you for that reason.”  That perspective helped.

Losing a parent is a rite of passage, and after seeing my dad struggle with his memories, as well as a sense of time and place because of this disease, I know he is now at rest.

 

MAY

May is one of my busiest months for First Communions, as well as family portraits.  I LOVE the families I got to photograph this year.

[First Communion shoots]

When I first got the call to capture a multi-family portrait on Mother’s Day, the mom of this tribe wanted to make sure my mom was good with this arrangement of me working on Mother’s Day.  With me in California and my mother in Massachusetts, I knew it would be okay, but I love that she had asked if my mom would be okay with me doing this.  So, so thoughtful…

May also had time for this sweet couple to have an engagement shoot,

One family to hold hands,

One family to hang out together,

and play time…definitely more time needed for play.

Finally, in May I went to spend some time with my mom.  She is actively involved with the Gold Star Mothers, the veterans organizations, and the fallen heroes of Massachusetts.  I am always inspired by the work she does with and for other families so that their soldiers are safe.

 

 

It was also a dream of hers to visit the Azores, so off to Ponta Delgada we went!

If you haven’t been to the Azores, book your travel immediately to see these islands.

JUNE and JULY

Summertime is also the time of year where I take some time to spend with my sweetheart.  Whether it’s cooking dinner in the evenings with both of us home, baking during the week because our chickens have gone into egg-laying-overdrive,

or going somewhere new to explore and have an adventure.  This year we visited Scotland.  Okay…it was a short visit, as my husband had a business trip, but when he said, “Want to join me in Scotland?”  I said, “Yes!”  Some of my best marital advice has come from friends who have said, “If your husband travels, join him whenever you can.”  BEST. ADVICE. EVER.

AUGUST

August brought toddlers galore, not to mention sand and sunshine…

Worldwide Camera in Savannah, Georgia closed down after almost 40 years in business.  I worked at this camera store part-time while also teaching first grade.  I LOVED the community that Tom and Pam Coffer fostered with their staff and all the people who walked through the doors to have their film developed, to print and frame their photos, and to talk (camera) shop.  Although I had been taking photographs for years before working here, it was the background I needed to fan the flames of my growing passion for photography.

SEPTEMBER

September brought a fab family

OCTOBER

October brought a family of three out to play, and when I asked this sweet boy to show me how much he loved his parents, this squeeze said it all…

And a 20^th anniversary celebration for the Chapel Hill Public Library Foundation

NOVEMBER

In November, this sweet girl stole my heart

 

and this family sandwich said so much about who we love and how we love…

DECEMBER

December means families galore

 

and meeting a A+ legal team who believes in a sense of community.