Happy New Year everyone! Before I can set my sights on what 2013 has in store for us, I like to reflect back on the year we just had. As I thought back on all the wonderful memories, I came up with my top 10 SKP moments of 2012 (not in any particular order).

Top 10 of 2012

1. Two successful adoption mini session marathons: It was such a blessing to be able to use my gift and love for photography to raise money for our upcoming adoption. We busted out 11 mini sessions over the course of 2 days and raised almost 20% of our fundraising goal from those alone!

2. Staying within my range of 15-20 weddings. We ended the year with a total of 16 weddings!

3. Shooting a wedding in Estes Park, CO. Since I first visited Estes in 8th grade, I have had a soft spot in my heart for CO. It has been on my wedding ‘bucket list’ along with Hawaii, Ireland and other fun, exotic places. While I still have the other locations on my list, I am happy to say that I was able to cross Estes Park, CO off the list. Although I’m pretty certain I could shoot there all year long with no complaints!

4. Photographing my niece’s senior photos. My first-born niece Kaylee is a senior this year. I remember when she was baby like it was yesterday! When she asked me to shoot her senior portrait session, I was nothing short of honored :).

5. Collaborating on the Western Glam Styled Shoot. Christina Clark, Ashley Mullins and I collaborated on a styled wedding session with a western glam theme. The two of them put so much time and effort bringing our vision to life and I was thrilled with how it all came together. I love doing sessions like these that push my creativity and gives me the opportunity to work with such talented vendors. As an added bonus, we were featured on The Desert Bride blog!

6. Photographing our best man’s wedding. It doesn’t get much better than photographing some of our best friends’ big day. Chris was the best man in our wedding and getting to document him marrying his wife Carrie was definitely one of the highlights of my year!

7. Launching theWORKSHOP. I love exploring new areas of the business. Among my new ventures this year was the launch of theWORKSHOP.

8. Launching Beauty Boudoir. This has been a long time in the making. For a long time I went back n’ forth about adding boudoir to the SKP repertoire. I knew I had a heart for making women feel beautiful so I decided to take a new spin on the boudoir industry by launching my Beauty Boudoir line. Definitely a major highlight of 2012!

9. Hosting Zach & Jody Gray’s IN CAMERA/LIGHTING Workshop. Among the many reasons why we love the photography industry, one of the biggest would have to be our fellow photographer friends we have met throughout. We have had the blessing of getting to know Zach & Jody Gray and proud to call them friends. In March they set up shop in our house for 2 days and rocked out their InCamera & Lighting Workshops. Having them here was a total blessing and honor :)

10. Attending WPPI/Showit United. This conference is always a highlight of our year. It’s a time to get away, hang with photog friends from across the country and get pumped up for the upcoming year. We are sad to say that we won’t be making it to United/WPPI 2013 but for good reason. We’ll be hanging with our newborn son which I’m guessing will be the highlight of all highlights! ;)

There were so many great moments from 2012. What a great year! I wanted to take this time to thank ALL of my clients for making me love my job every single day. Specifically, I wanted to send love out to my 2012 wedding couples. Thank you for being such amazing clients and for treating Joe and I so well. We truly are so blessed by each and every one of you. Thank you for trusting us with one of the biggest days of your lives. Being there as a witness to your love and commitment continually blesses our own marriage and brings joy to our hearts. We wish you all a happy, health and BLESSED 2013!!!

Lots of love to ALL my 2012 clients. Thanks for making it a great year!! xo, Stacy Kokes