Best of 2018

TWO-THOUSAND-FREAKING-EIGHTEEN.

What an incredible, whirlwind, amazing year it’s been.

Trying to sum up this year is next to impossible, but I’ll do my best. 2018 was the year that 16 year old Nicole- fresh off of shooting her very first wedding- started dreaming about. I saw my business skyrocket and achieved almost every single goal I’ve had since the beginning of my career. My personal life miiight have been completely obliterated for most of the year (shout out to my friends and family for sticking around, y’all are the real MVP’s) and I learned some hard lessons about work/life balance, but all of that is lost in the absolute joy 2018 was.

A small snippet of some of my favorite parts of 2018:

• We adopted Luna, the world’s most perfect puppy. I never knew I could love another creature as much as I love this freaking dog. I’ve spent most of the year snuggling the crap out of her/talking endlessly with my husband about how we somehow landed the world’s most perfect dog. We’re very biased but also very right.
• I traveled all over the United States and even internationally to photograph the most perfect couples! 2018 took me to San Diego, Dallas/Fort Worth (4 times!!), Maui Hawaii, Des Moines, Las Vegas, Amsterdam, Iceland, Ireland, Glacier National Park, Jackson Hole Wyoming, New York City, Ames Iowa, Palm Springs California, Atlanta, Los Angeles, Horseshoe Bend Arizona, and Houston. I also traveled over the entire state of Utah including several visits to Zion NP and 2 or 3 trips a month to Moab and the surrounding parks- my personal niche!
• I saw myself grow into my style and work both artistically and technically the way I have always dreamed of

All of these personal accomplishments have been amazing, but by far, without question, the best part of 2018 was the incredible couples I got to work with. This year in stats, I:

• Photographed 28 weddings + elopements
• Photographed 74 sessions
• …and worked with 57 INCREDIBLE COUPLES

These couples. I can barely type about them without getting a little bit emotional. Each of these couples have filled my soul with so much love and light and completed parts of me I did not know was missing. Beyond inviting me to capture their love, stories, and most special days they made me a part of their families, they texted me GIFS, they became some of my very closest and best friends with a relationship that lasts far beyond when their gallery is delivered.

When it comes down to it, 2018 goes out to YOU- each of you that trusted me to be a part of and document your lives. You made 2018 what it was and I am filled with so much freaking gratitude it’s unreal. The Best of 2018 is each of you, and each incredible couple I was privileged to work with is represented below. Picking out just a few favorites from each couple to share was probably the hardest job I’ve ever had (don’t ask me just how long I have been working on this blog post) and if I knew people reading this had endless attention spans each and every image we all shot together would be down there- for now, enjoy this year in review!