At the end of every wedding I shoot, I always get a photo of myself with the couple who brought me along to document their day. It’s one of my favorite moments of every wedding, and I love that I have an ever-growing archive of these fun pictures.

The wonderful couples who brought me into their weddings in 2011 helped make this an amazing year for me. Because of them, I was able to leave my job at the newspaper where I worked since 2002 and fulfill my dream of being my own boss, working on my own as a full-time freelance photographer. It has been and continues to be the hardest work I’ve ever done, and I wouldn’t trade it for anything.

So I’d like to extend a huge thank you to Camille and Doug and Christine and Chris and Leslie and Ryan and Ashley and Joseph and Steph and John and Athena and Anthony and Sunita and Brian and Lindsay and Rob and Bridget and Amadeo. You guys are the best.

On this last day of the year, I’m looking forward to all the wonderful couples I’ll meet in 2012. I can’t wait to see what your wedding is like, and I can’t wait to show you my photos of your day.