2006 In Review

At weddings (especially wedding receptions) I often get to photograph people doing some rather unusual things. Take for example this balancing act. At a recent wedding reception, this young lady was determined to balance this spoon on her nose. I'm not sure if she ever succeeded or not since I didn't hang around long enough to find out (I had other photos to take...)

2006 was kind of like this for me as well... trying to keep things in balance.

A lot went on for me in 2006. My photography business continued to mature and I am very comfortable shooting strictly in digital. The last few years has seen huge growth in digital capture and the industry has embraced the new technology nicely. Clients no longer ask if I can shoot some images in film anymore. They have accepted that digital is the way to go.

Other things remained the same for 2006 as well. I remained the top referred wedding photographer for the Chicago area on Respond.com (a referral service) and I saw consistent referrals coming to me from past clients. This year, I even booked a client who was referred to me from someone who was not a past client but simply because that person had heard about me from someone else. So "thank you" to whoever has been passing my name around! I don't know who you are, but I appreciate the kind words you have been saying about me to people you meet!

In 2006, I also purchased and sold a LOT of guitars in search of the right guitar to use for both performing and for recording. Ultimately, I ended up keeping a Taylor GS and a Taylor DDSM (Doyle Dykes Signature Model.) The GS will be used at church weekly and the DDSM will be used for special performances.

2006 was also the year in which I attended my 30th year reunion with my high school friends. I think that was the highlight of the year for me. I had wondered for many years what became of the people I went to school with and I was very happy to find out that many of them did very well for themselves over the years! In our graduating class, we had everything from dentists, doctors, attorneys, accountants, musicians, actors, gymnasts and even photographers!

What's in store for me in 2007? Stay tuned!