Shutter Go Click Photography | A Year In Review 2022
FUCK LUCK
Wow what a crazy awesome year 2022 has been. I love writing these self indulgent end of year retrospectives, I always have. I've created them every single year for nearly a decade now. The last few can be found on my blog right here. The older ones are unfortunately lost to the internet void after switching sites a couple of years back. I always begin by taking a look at the previous 'Year in Review intro' to see what I was feeling then. What my hopes or ambitions were, what I was rambling about. To try & recollect a little of the depths of my noggin 365 days ago like a shit time traveller & compare that to what I'm doing / feeling now.
Last year was fundamentally about being present & I have to say this year it's been more of the same. Perhaps it's getting older. I'm at the wrong side of my 30's now. A father & content. I'm still a dreamer who's imagination I'd like to think is magnetised by the common magic of every day life. This world I call my own.
It's always around this time of year when I'm compiling favourite photos, refreshing the website, condensing 365 days into a single post that one dude & his Nan will read that I think to myself "Fuck me I'm lucky to be doing this job." But let me talk about that word 'lucky' that us creatives get thrust upon us from strangers now & then when you tell them what you do for a living. That word lucky that we've had thrown at us since day one of having an idea & making it real. It wasn't really luck at all.
10 years of grafting & clawing at a passion that you've sacrificed so much for to make your living. The lack of friends, lost relationships, tears at your desk. The never ending to do lists, unpaid invoices & 16 hour work days. It was never luck that allowed you to carve out a pocket of this floating blue marble in space amidst 7.837 billion other humans. It was never luck that gifted you with a space & a place that fills your belly with simultaneous soft cuddles & eletricity that burns on into the night.
It was you. You did it.
It was me. I did it.
& it was also every single one of you that made it so. The couples, the families, the people I know & love. It was you that helped allow me to create what I wanna create & make what I want to make. I might have a job that allows me to empower imagination but you guys are the real tangible humans that make it so.
Fuck luck.
Well done you.
2022 I've loved you so damn hard XO
BEFORE YOU READ ON. REWIND TO OTHER TIMES.
CHECK OUT SHUTTER GO CLICK PHOTOGRAPHY. A YEAR IN REVIEW 2021
WEDDINGS
I feel like I say it every damn year. (Side note: Apart from 2020 😂) But 2022 was without a doubt one of my all time favourite wedding seasons since I first picked up a camera. Speaking of beginnings, 2022 also marked a decade of photographing weddings for Shutter Go Click & that absolutely blows my mind. If you'd have told past Ryan that I'd not only have held onto a job for 10 years without getting fired or quitting, But also that job would fulfil me in every way imaginable, I'd have laughed in your stupid idiot face!
I celebrated 10 years of photographing weddings with a giveaway of an entire days photography to one set of lucky humans. Their reaction when they won just melted my cold dead heart. I travelled to France to dangle over balconies like Michael Jackson's baby. I created some magic in the Baltic in Newcastle (A dream venue for me without a doubt) I also got to photograph a heap of same sex couples & their most spectacular of days which literally means the world to me. Not that it should need saying but it has always been my absolute honour to pride myself & Shutter Go Click as a constant supporter of the LGBTQ community. Love is love.
Thank you to all my incredible couples in 2021 & over the last decade for putting their trust in me & the weird ideas that fall out of my brain box before unleashing them at your wedding. Your never ending support & love is what keeps me keeping on.
In the words of Michael Fassbender in the movie Frank.
"Put your arms around me
Fiddly digits, itchy britches
I Love you all
I Love you all
I Love you all
I LOVE YOU ALL..."
This is our 2022 in wedding photography.
SEE MORE WEDDING PHOTOS!
SEE MY WEDDING PRICING!
FAMILIES & PORTRAITS
This year I've photographed so many incredible families. Some of which I've been photographing for 5 years plus. What greater privilege is there than having the opportunity to document a couples wedding then watching their families grow year on year. Not just in size but the growth in them as people. I have always adored photographing families. But it was with the birth of my own son that it has held new meaning for me. Those fleeting moments of change pass before your eyes like the changing of seasons. Will you remember the way things used to be?
It has also been a year of photographing some incredible portraits for my glorious Fiancé (No we haven't got married yet haha) Paige & her amazing company Mysticum Luna. I loved shooting a couple of collections for her this year. In no small part because I got to photograph Paige herself looking absolutely sublime amidst Autumn colours. What a babe and what a never ending talent & inspiration she is in my life.
To the couples & families. You're the backbone to my dreams.
This is our 2022 in portrait photography.
SEE MORE FAMILY & PORTRAIT PHOTOS!
SEE MY FAMILY & PORTRAIT PRICING!
WORKSHOPS & MENTORSHIPS
I've had a huge amount of sign ups recently for new Shutter Go... Workshop dates & I'm aware I've been a little radio silent on the subject for a while. 2022 saw an awesome Theory of Creativity workshop over at the Tetley in Leeds & I'm still as of writing this post holding back on launching a 2023 one. That's not to say it won't happen but I'm happy to be taking a little break from them for a while. The reasons I won't go into too much here. But just know that as much as I adore hosting them, they take a lot of work, a lot of commitment & sometimes i'd rather be doing the actual job than teaching it. I'll keep everyone updated if & when I decide to throw a new date of creative escape out into the universe. Watch this space.
YES TO NORMAL
Those regular readers of my yearly retrospectives will notice that my 2022 Year in Review is significantly shorter than usual. There weren't any huge events or incredible milestones. No massive announcements or career defining challenges. 2022 has been a year where everything has been somewhat normal.
But normality isn't something to be seen as a negative. In the last couple of years I've seen a worldwide pandemic bring my industry to its knees. I've had a baby, got engaged & struggled both mentally & physically to keep my head in the game.
This year has seen me focus time on the things that are important to me. I've travelled to four different countries with my family. Rested when I needed to rest. I've distanced myself from the things that bring me down to feel reinvigorated by what I do best.
Bringing those memories home.
This Retrospective is shorter for all the reasons mentioned above. I have other things that deserve some of my time. It's a Casey free date night tonight & I wanna get my glad rags on baby 😂
I'll be sharing my "This is My Love Letter to Life" yearly retrospective very soon with a look back at the last 365 days of my family, my heart, my everything. I've taken more family photos on 35mm film this year than ever. To me that shows I've spent more time for myself & my family in 2022 than ever. So here's me signing off on another 365 days of Shutter Go Click.
2022... you've been a normal 365 days filled with routine & fat baby smiles.
Long may it continue
