It seems like there’s a million possible ways I could make myself and my business better… the trick is finding what fits who I am and what my business is about. I could offer infinite possibilities to my clients and become something like a Walmart style wedding photographer…. something for every common man… but I’ve chosen not to, for the sake of creating a “one of a kind” type of experience. It’s your wedding day. You get one shot to make it everything you’ve hoped and dreamed. You may be on a budget, you may not be. But what matters is getting something, an experience, a product worth saying “Wow.” This has been my perspective from the beginning because I, myself, would want nothing less than to be forever stoked on the choices I make for my wedding day.

So in deciding what I would be offering in 2010, I really wanted to find some serious “Top of the Line” products that would be the timeless and classy chic heirloom I’ve been craving to put my images into from the start. KISS Wedding Books is just that…. timeless… classy chic…. and more than that, it’s beautifully simple. My first KISS book was delivered this week and in all seriousness… it made my week. I knew that wedding pictures were better in print and in albums, but FOR REAL… this wedding album ROCKS! For any of you brides out there who are contemplating not getting an album this year… I would seriously reconsider… it’s worth every penny to see your beautiful images grace the pages of a newly delivered sturdy leather bound “smells like new” album to have and to hold for the rest of your life. Seriously. Reconsider. Albums are AWESOME.

You’re probably itching for a peek at what all my raving is about…. so here we go!

Here’s all the color choices for the leather cover. I chose the “Virgin White” leather cover for this album because I love its clean crisp look.

Each album comes in an awesome slipcover just like this one… this 10×10 album fits perfectly!

KISS Wedding Books boast the use of only 100% full grain natural leather in their books… fake leather just doesn’t have that quality feel and durability that real leather does. And it smells H-E-A-V-E-N-L-Y!

Something that KISS prides themselves in is their “no cut, lay flat” binding, which makes for beautiful 2-page wide spreads that are seamless…. no line down the middle. Each 2-page spread is one big picture print that lays completely flat for seamless panoramic images… (happy sigh…)

And the thing I love most about these albums are the prints. Some album companies print with the type of printers that leave “dots”… like they used a simple home ink-jet printer or something. I hate “dots” in my prints. KISS books don’t have any dots… and the prints are super clean and crisp looking…. Plus, the paper they use shows significantly less discoloration and deterioration over the years… which means these babies LAST!

And in case you wanted to check out the whole album design… you can view it below, thanks to Album Exposure. Enjoy!

I never know how to feel or what to think on New Years’ Eve as the clock strikes midnight. Do you ever have moments in your life when you have so many feelings and thoughts that they all seem to cancel each other out and leave you thinking absolutely nothing at all? Maybe not… but that’s really the only way I can explain what I felt this year when the clock struck midnight. 2009 was a huge year for me…. both in quantity, and in quality. There was so much to remember and learn. So many new experiences. So many trials, defeats… and many triumphs. So many new people I’ve met. So many new goals I have for this next year. How to even sum up what 2009 has been for me? Here’s just a few I pin-pointed.

*2009 was the first full year since my YWAM adventure that I’ve been home in Orange County with an income.

*I started off 2009 working at It’s a Grind, but 3 weeks into the year, it closed due to economic reasons and I was catapulted into full time self-employment… and it’s been a crazy journey.

*I never thought I would have shot so many weddings and portraits in my first full calendar year in business. God is GOOD.

*I had the opportunity to travel to four places I’d never been to before… Brentwood, Portland, North Carolina and Wyoming.

* I almost quit pursuing my dream of being a wedding photographer at least 3 times this year because I was so discouraged. But I didn’t. It’s because of His grace and strength I don’t possess.

*This is the first full calendar year Christopher and I have been dating… and I never want it to end. <3

*I’ve developed so much in my own style of photography, art, and personality… I’m not who I was last year… at all.

*This is what I blogged last year… click here.

This year will be exciting…. I just know it. I have no idea what adventures it will entail, but with all that happened in 2009, I can’t help but be anxiously waiting to see how God is going to move in mighty ways in 2010. I proceed with confidence because just as He provided all I needed last year to do great things, He will continue to be my source of security this year as well. Jesus, thanks for being God and thank you for teaching me (continuously) to see with your measure of beauty.

Without Further Adieu, My Favorite 9 (technically 13 because I couldn’t narrow it down to 9) of 2009….