2023 in Review
I started off this year with newfound excitement for what was to come, for the first time since Before Covid (BC) I’d actually sat down, dreamed about the year ahead, and planned. January is always my catch up month, where I cover all the jobs that have been put on the back burner over the course of the year, as well as planning out my year in greater detail and laying out framework for things like my mailing list - generally everything gets drafted for the year ahead so when I’m drowning in the chaos of the summer season, things like the mailing list don’t get neglected.
With the plan to expand the styles of portrait shoots on offer, I began arranging portfolio shoots in February to lay down the first phase of this plan: The White Background Portrait shoot. I filled out February and March with these shoots, enjoying the learning curve that always comes with doing something different.
Rolling into March, alongside the handful of white background portrait shoots I also had one of the sprinkling of Horse & Rider Shoots for this year (A package which was discontinued as of 1st August 2023 as SLP has moved into a purely portrait photography business), and a wonderful trip to Conwy to photograph 3 very much adored horses - this trip was also combined with one of my white background sessions as this client was over on Anglesey.
From April to March I began doing a smattering of trade stands, generally local point to points, where I had the pleasure of meeting a range of people, some of which who became clients. April also saw the start of the competition season, which means I was doing a few days of freelancing for Hoof Prints Photos, commencing with the Blue Chip Winter show jumping championships where I was pelted with gale force winds and driving rain, nervously watching jump wings getting blown about left right and center, definitely considering my life choices as rain chilled me to the bone. Fortunately for the PetPlan Winter Dressage Championships it was considerably drier, just a little chilly, which is to be expected for April!
I rounded out April with a wonderful equine portrait day at S&G Equine, meeting clients new and old and turning my lens on a wonderful range of horses and ponies.
Along came May with a very special portrait session for 2 older horses with an additional one popped in on the day - with an emotional viewing a few weeks later I knew that the images I had shot would be even more special.
I always try to encourage clients to book their older horses in for a shoot sooner rather than later, whilst they’re still looking well and you’re a way off having to deal with the heartbreaking decision that always comes with having older horses.
Following that I had one of the 2 camps I covered this year, the SDRC summer camp at Somerford Park Farm, and with it we had the first real taste of summer heat, it was such a dream to wear shorts almost all weekend whilst capturing riders enjoying their camp in the sunshine!
June came in with a serious bang of chaos, for some reason I was determined to fit as much into this month as possible.
I’d began phase 2 of launching new and exciting backdrops for my clients, so was working through a huge volume of clients to launch the backdrop I was most excited for: The Old Masters. Called this simply because it looks exactly like the kind of backgrounds you see on traditional oil portraits of horses, a definite Munnings/Woodward/Stubbs essence to it!
Alongside this I had a day exhibiting (Teaming up with Alex of AJN Lifetstyle) offering dog portraits on the day, as well as pushing hard with the Sisters in Strength Project that I was working on with my other business Pursuit Images.
I even managed to squeeze in a little photoshoot for myself with the INCREDIBLE Pix by Vix.
Already feeling the heat from the intensity of June, it was ramped up even further in July, kicking off the month with another shared trade stand with AJN Lifestyle for a day of dog portrait sessions, and the following day I picked up my new vehicle: Florence the van. Purchased to make life easier for carrying the obscene amount of lighting equipment I now carry around, but also with the aim to convert her into a useable campervan for 2024 adventures.
I then had 6 shoots in 2 weeks, some for the new backdrop, some for the Sisters in Strength project, some for individual clients, and a whole bunch of client viewing sessions too.
After this, I had 2 weeks booked off, because once again I was getting to compete in my sport at the A/BPU British Powerlifting championships in Manchester, followed by a week’s roadtrip to Scotland (I did take my camera and take a whole pile of photos, but I still haven’t had the time to go through and edit them, maybe you’ll get those in January!).
Because of the amount of stress I’d been under, with the additional layer of stress that also comes with competing, I’d actually come out in a stress rash all up my arms, neck, and onto my face.
The holiday to Scotland couldn’t have been better timed, and I came back once again feeling refreshed and ready for even more.
After the desperately needed holiday to Scotland, I was thrown right back into the chaos of my life with several days freelancing for Hoof Prints Photos, starting with Trailblazers combined training at Addington - I was deeply grateful to be on the dressage indoors for the first half of the day as it bucketed down outside.
Then Trailblazers dressage dressage, again at Addington, followed by my first outing to Sheepgate. With it being a 3hr drive, I made the most of having a van and drove down the night before to camp out and make for a slightly shorter day; 6 hours driving in a day can get a little draining!
I also did a single day for Jasmine Punter Photography at Broadway HT, spending the day getting soaked in repeated downpours - but it was warm rain so wasn’t too bad!
This was a quieter month for equine shoots, with my other business, Pursuit Images, keeping me busy and empowering a gorgeous range of different women across a variety of shoots, from art nude shoots to gym shoots (I’ll pop a small selection of those images below as I’m sure you’re curious as to what I create with humans rather than horses!).
After being able to catch my breath a little in August, and having caught up on the MOUNTAIN of editing I’d created for myself, September ramped things back up again.
I started the month with a returning client, Karzan Hughes, for a white background portrait shoot with his stunning young mare, Lily - she was such a sweet little mare, definitely one with a very bright future ahead of her under Karzan.
In the middle of the month I had my final few days freelancing for Hoof Prints (The season with them starts March/August, and tends to finish in late September), shooting at BD Nationals at Somerford Park farm.
Once again, I was on my favourite arena, the Vector arena - I love it there because it’s a little more tucked away from the hustle and bustle of all the other arenas, and a beautiful spot by the lake surrounded by trees.
The final week of September was by far the most intense, with a week at the Your Horse is Your Mirror luxury rider retreat at Trevor Hall, shooting equine portraits for those attending.
I spent the first 2 days shooting, getting to meet so many wonderful horses and create some real art with them. Because I wanted to be able to give these clients the full luxury experience and be able to do their viewings in person (I find virtual viewings just aren’t the same!), I pushed myself to the limit, working up until midnight on the one evening editing, to have everything ready in time.
Everyone loved getting to have a cosy viewing session in one of the beautiful rooms of Trevor Hall so it was definitely worth it!
I then rounded out the day with a lovely dog portrait day at home, and due to it’s popularity, it’s definitely something you’ll all be seeing more over over the course of 2024 - if you’d like to be notified about future portrait days, sign up for the mailing list here!
I blinked and suddenly my favourite month, October, came in with a slow exhale. A quieter month ahead with just a sprinkling of shoots, but a whole pile of editing to do; October was set to be a month of catching up, as well as the month that I shot my final Horse & Rider Shoot.
If you’d been reading my social media posts this year, you will have seen that I was discontinuing the Horse & Rider shoot, because my heart truly lies in the portrait work, so I made the 1st August the cut off date before discontinuing the package.
This client booked in to get some images amongst the gorgeous autumn colours, and after an initial reschedule due to one of many storms, we ended up timing things just right for the peak of the autumn colours!
October also meant I was shooting content images for the festive season - planning for Christmas generally starts around August/September for us small business owners so this is standard!
And I also had the pleasure of shooting and incredibly special mare for her owner. This mare had had a laundry list of things go wrong, but her owner has stood by her every step of the way and the connection they share is something truly beautiful.
Then in came November, an intense, non stop month with packed weekends.
The first weekend (11th & 12th) was my exhibition weekend with Pursuit Images for the Sister’s in Strength project (Tap the link here to learn all about that). I’ve never ever run an exhibition before so was both terrified and excited. The week leading up to it was spent mounting prints, putting final bits of media together, and talking non stop about it on socials. The exhibition itself was hugely successful, and in 2024 it will be going on tour to get those powerful images in front of even more people who need to see them.
The following weekend (18th & 19th) I was at the English Winter Fair at Stafford Showground exhibiting my work, I set up everything on the Friday and had two long days there from 8am-5:30pm both days - having to make sure I had everything I needed for this weekend was extra challenging off the back of the exhibition, and I arrived to find I’d almost completely run out of business cards!
Then I had my festive dog portrait day on 25th November at home - a day fully booked; 7 clients with 10 dogs between them. We created a lovely selection of festive and classical portraits, giving everyone the best of both. Due to a number of these being shot with the intention of wall art as Christmas gifts, I’ve had to take on extra hours to have images edited in time before the Christmas wall art cut off date on 13th December - I want to make sure everyone is taken care of for Christmas so I really don’t mind the extra hours!
The following day me and my mum visited the Horsemanship Showcase, which for me was a totally magical (and sometimes emotional!) experience. Finally finding a whole weekend of training with gentleness and the horse’s happiness at it’s center was just beautiful.
That week I then had a shoot with Pursuit all the way down in Cambridge, followed by another one here in Shrewsbury 2 days later.
Then into the first weekend of December, for the Saturday I had my festive equine portrait day, with 2 viewings in the late afternoon to follow it all.
November was very much a foot to the boards, sixth gear kind of month!!
And now we’re into December, a month which, for me, generally doesn’t involve so much time shooting, but a fair amount more editing, arranging viewings, sorting out last minute Christmas orders, and prepping all of my content and to do lists for my Christmas break.
I always take 3 weeks off over Christmas & New year, into January. January is my quietest month, so I take advantage of it with how intense the rest of my year is and enjoy an extended break, taking time to see friends more, go on new walks with Bob, and spend more time with my horse - it’s wonderful to just have a little period where I can take things slower before ramping up for another whirlwind year of beautiful shoots, new and old clients, travelling, and drinking in the wonders of life.
I hope you’ve enjoyed this year’s “year in review”, seeing my year through photos, and also watching how my work has evolved even just over this year.
Here’s to an utterly magnificent 2024, but not before some cosy time at Christmas with our loved ones, eating and being merry!
