When we meet with our clients, we almost always tell them that we want them to choose where to have their engagement session. It's much more fun for everyone that way. We like doing new and different things and we really like when things are personal for the people we're shooting for... which is why we've been excited to shoot for Lauren and Matt for a really long time. When we first met (well over a year ago) they mentioned that their plan was to buy a house and wanted to shoot in the house while it was still empty. Such a cool idea. And it turned out to be a ton of fun, mostly because we didn't really have to go outside in the cold at all! Here's a few of our favorites...

It's hard to believe 2011 is over. As I was writing the title of this blog, I had to double-check to make sure it was actually 2011 that we were commemorating. It's been an absolute whirlwind of a year. We did some things we had never imagined, met some people we wish we had met years ago, and ate much more food than any human actually should. But now with all of our shoots wrapped up, it's officially time to share our annual slideshow of our favorite photos from 2011. But before we do...

Amy and I owe you guys a huge debt of gratitude and thanks. This year, we hit the 5-year mark with our business. Back when I started the business, my father-in-law shared a book with me that had two stats I've always remembered since: 80% of businesses fail within the first year. 80% of those that survive fail before the 5th year. For those scoring at home, that means that we're officially part of the other 4% now... and it feels great. But it really has very little to do with us.

From the beginning of the business until now, there are a few things that have stayed the same. While we've grown, expanded and improved, we still have never had to pay a dime to advertise anywhere. And we owe all of that to YOU. If we're being honest, we owe this whole business to YOU. From the get go, we learned just how amazing our clients are. The fact that you guys take your time to look at our work, share it with other people and recommend us to friends still blows our minds. We have some people (other than our parents) who have been looking at our blog for almost 5 years now... and that was an UGLY iWeb site back then. We honestly cannot thank you enough times for what you mean to our lives. YOU have given us a career that we love, and made us so happy to do it for you. From the bottom of our hearts, we say thank you.

2011 really was a remarkable year for us. We had 148 shoots (that's one more than last year if you're scoring at home), delivered around 50,000 finished images and met hundreds (maybe thousands?) of new people. We shot everywhere from our own living room to Munich, Germany, for newborns and in hospice facilities. made our way across the country a few times and even out of it... and next year promises to take us even further away!

So without further ado, here's some of our favorite shots from the year. We're sorry in advance if we didn't include some people/favorites. We had to at least attempt to keep this to a reasonable length... I recommend you watch on full screen in HD mode :)

If you're curious, the music was (in order): Mat Kearny, Count on Me • Breanne Duren, Gold Mine • Brooke Fraser, Something in the Water • Josh Garrels, A Far-Off Hope

From the bottom of our hearts, we thank each one of you for the very important role you play in our lives. God has blessed us tremendously by having you support our work and we can't thank you enough for that. We hope everyone had a great 2011, and we can't wait to see you all in 2012!

For the past few years, we've been running a contest called Shoot Me for FREE!. Although the results have changed over the years, the concept has remained the same: to allow people to enter to win a free shoot, no strings attached. In year 1 we gave away 2 free photo shoots based on stories that people sent us. In year 2 we changed it up and awarded winners based on who had an idea for the most creative shoot. Last year we changed it again and we had the wonderful privilege of having 35 winners for The Portrait Project.

Well, I'm happy to announce that this year will raise the stakes in a HUGE way. If you've been following this blog, you know that this spring we're holding The Genesis Workshop (our annual photography workshop) in Las Vegas. That's where YOU and the Shoot Me for FREE contest come into play...

The winner of this year's Shoot Me for FREE contest will win an absolutely free trip to Las Vegas. That's right. We will be choosing one couple to come to Vegas during our workshop, all expenses paid! This includes flights for 2 to Las Vegas, 5 night's stay in one of the workshop mansions, food with the workshop crew from our own private chef and a whole bunch of amenities (pool, pool tables, ect..).

Here's your part: We need a couple that will model for us during some of our workshop sessions on March 20-22. We will fly you out at least a day early to do whatever you'd like with your spouse/significant other. Then you can model for us for certain sessions throughout the week. The rest of the time is yours! And of course you'll be able to keep digital versions of any photos we take while we're there. So in exchange for us using your pretty faces you get a 5-night all-expense paid trip to Vegas with someone you love as well as all the photos we shoot of you throughout the week... all for FREE!!!

To recap, here's what you get:
2 round trip tickets to Vegas
5 nights stay in one of the workshop mansions
All meals
Photos from the shoots during the whole week

Here's what we get:
2ish hours of your modeling talents for shooting in the morning and 2ish hours in the afternoon on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. The rest of the time is yours!

Here's the Rules:
- Contest entries start today (12/27) and end on Friday (12/30).
- You must be a couple to enter.
- You need to be available to travel 3/18-3/23
- You should be outgoing and very much in love.
- We'd love to choose a couple we've already shot for, but are absolutely open to anyone!
- No purchase necessary... duh.
- Bribes accepted

VOTING IS NOW CLOSED! THE WINNERS WILL BE ANNOUNCED SOON!

We get around. And we like it that way. We've shot engagement photos in parks, museums, monuments, broken down factories, condemned houses, kitchens, baseball stadiums and about a million other places. But we've never shot in a bowling alley... and there's never been a bowling alley as cool as Lucky Strike in Philly.

Jill and Craig are getting married next year and have quite a history with the sport of bowling. Well, at the very least they really like doing it. It was actually a pretty awesome place to shoot, kind of like Jill and Craig... awesome.

(Also, you should be proud of me for talking about bowling and making no references to Kingpin or the Big Lebowski. I would never munson myself like that.)

It was quite a beautiful week. We were excited to see the bright blue skies, wear shorts, play golf, and all the things we love. We love warm weather and everything it brings, just like most people... except Meg. She LOVES winter. It's pretty weird. So we're happy for her and Andrew. The next few months will see their wedding, a great vacation and many other cold-related things (us freezing for one). So here's Meg and Andrew on a nice warm day... Wedding photos will follow very soon and will be much colder, lucky for Meg.

Earlier this week we found ourselves in what is quickly becoming one of our favorite places, Washington DC. We spent the afternoon with Concetta and Ryan who are getting married down this way next year. We got to see their lovely home and a bunch of Ryan's handiwork. And we strolled around their neighborhood for a while before ending up at the capitol. It was a great day to shoot, here's a few that we liked...

Since we don't have the 'Coming Next' feature on our blog anymore, here's a little peak at what's on deck tomorrow... Shot at the Capitol building in D.C.