*Okay, I know I’m 2 days late on this. But I was shooting a wedding on New Year’s Eve, so I have a good excuse!

2011 was a great year for me, much in part to the wonderful clients I worked with. My love of photography continues to grow. When I first got into the business, one of the tips I received was the specialize, and indeed I first started taking photographs because I was interested in wedding photography. Each time I’ve worked in a new segment, such as families or newborns, I’ve felt a little nervous. Is this something I would enjoy shooting, and can I produce results to my clients at my own high level of standards? I can say at the end of 2011 I don’t feel any particular need to specialize right now. I love shooting everything and I will continue to do so for some time, perhaps branching out in other areas. Well, except pet photography. I don’t think I’m ready for that ;)

The new year is a good time to reflect and think of room for improvement.  Last year I took a number of workshops and will continue to this year to improve my skills. Lighting is one of the most complex skills to master photographically and I’ve made great strides this year, but there’s always more to learn. Stylistically I’m happy with how my photos are turning out. When I first started, I used a lot of actions, but now I prefer to get the image as close to perfect in-camera, and use Photoshop to make subtle tweaks. I also plan to work more on posing and interaction; I love working with clients on engagement sessions and wedding days, and I plan to hone my vision to create more dramatic photographs.

This is the last photograph I took in 2011, at Vanessa + David’s wedding. I certainly wasn’t thinking this at the time, but this is a good photographic summary of how far I’ve come. I saw these pretty lights hanging from the hotel tree and wanted to show the effect while lighting the couple in a spotlight fashion. I was able to use off-camera flash to bring my vision together and couldn’t be happier with the final photo.  There is no way I could have attempted this photo when I started my business!

Happy New Year! I hope 2012 is a wonderful year for everyone!

I love Christmas! It’s my favorite holiday season. From the decorations to the songs to the movies I watch…it’s such a fun and festive time of year.

I’m not really a Christmas cookie type of person, but for some reason, this year I decided to take a Saturday and make a bunch of different recipes. These were all so yummy!

These chocolate chip cookies are now my favorite! I know that’s a controversial statement, much like saying “my favorite mac and cheese recipe,” but really, these are to die for! I think it’s the 3 types of chocolate in the cookies that does the trick :)

I’ve never made lemon bars before and these were very easy and quite good! Lemony and not too tart :)

Chocolate mint cookies – very tasty! My favorite part is right after you take them out of the oven, you place an Andes mint on top and let it melt for 5 minutes, then spread across the cookie with a spoon. Yum!

Cranberry cake – I’ve made this a couple of time, via my mom’s recipe. It’s really easy and also very good! I’ve never been one to partake in cranberry sauce at Thanksgiving, but this cake is so sweet that the cranberries’ tartness is a perfect complement.

These chocolate covered cherry cookies are tied with the chocolate cookies for my favorite!

For someone who claims to love Christmas so much, we don’t really have a lot of decorations…just the tree, stockings, and a table runner. I picked up this glittery wicker tree last year. It sure makes a pretty photograph, huh?

And, in a true departure from my non-crafting ways, I actually made something this year. I’ve often joked my Pinterest board is just a record of things I will never do, but I saw this wreath, and it looked so cool and didn’t require anything special so I decided to give it a go! I almost gave up because I had to go to 3 different stores to get all the supplies, but I couldn’t be happier with how it turned out! I originally found it on Whipperberry.

I took this picture of our Christmas tree today out-of-focus – pretty cool, huh?

In the spirit of the Christmas season, how amazing is this story? Kind people are paying off layaway charges at Kmart. It’s these types of things that make me happy to be part of humanity!

This has been another great year and I’m thanking my 2011 clients with a canvas contest! I’ve created a contest on my Facebook fan page, and the client with the most amount of “likes” by December 11, 2011 will win a 16×24″ canvas! Please see the link below to go to the contest and good luck!

Courtney McManaway Photography End of Year Canvas Contest!

I thought about my grandmother a lot yesterday. It started with my cousins coming to Thanksgiving dinner. Kevin and I have never hosted Thanksgiving, yet when I found out my cousin Jesse was moving into town, I couldn’t be more excited to host. I have another cousin that lives in Newport Beach, and Thanksgiving is about family, right? So I started creating my menu. When my cousin Mackenzie told me she was bringing piegorgies, all the memories came flooding back. I started thinking about mashed potatoes, ambrosia, and meatballs.

All my grandparents have passed. But I have great memories of Thanksgivings and Christmases at Sweetie and Grandpa’s house; my mom’s parents. I know the layout of their basement by heart; small bar, fireplace that had a “fake” log, pool table we would cover with a large wood plank to place all the delicious food for holidays. There was the table where the parents sat (with huge vinyl pillows we would slide along the linoleum floor afterwards), the kids table, and toys my grandparents always had on hand. There was a small piano and life-like marionettes I remember vividly.

I thought about my grandmother mainly because as I was looking through my single oven, small kitchen, I wondered how she fed 30. My grandparents grew up during the depression and were incredibly frugal; yet looking back, I felt spoiled and loved every time we went there. It really is a gift to grow up so close to family. Sweetie (a name I gave her when I was a toddler; I heard her calling my grandpa sweetie and so I called her the same) was such a warm, sweet spirit. I remember her laugh to this day.

I called my mom today because the recipe she gave me for Sweetie’s meatballs didn’t quite work out. They fell apart as I was cooking them, and we discussed HOW my grandmother fed so many. My mom shared that whenever one of her siblings would have a baptism or confirmation, they would have as many as 80 family members, and my grandmother would cook tirelessly, often sending pre-cooked dishes to neighbors’ refrigerators until they were needed.

It’s odd to look at this picture – 3 people have passed since 2008 – but I am SO THANKFUL. I am thankful to have grown up with so much love, to have such rich memories, to be so rooted to my family. I’m lucky. Happy Thanksgiving.