Morgan Trinker

Oh gosh. Where to even begin… 2014, you were good. Real good. Going back through a year’s worth of photos is a always a daunting task, and having to narrow them down to just a handful of favorites seems downright impossible. But man, whenever one of these posts is finished (just for fun, you can check out 2012 and 2013 too!), I find myself scrolling up and down, over and over again, my heart increasingly swelling with happiness and thankfulness that THIS is my job and THESE are my amazing client-friends. These wonderful people took me to Vermont, Mississippi, Virginia (3 times!), Atlanta, Nashville, Palm Beach, Chattanooga, and, of course, all over Alabama. They invited me into their homes and their gorgeous wedding venues to document the all-too-fleeting moments of the happiest days of their lives. They lifted me up time and again with their trust and encouragement, and it was truly a joy to stand beside them, camera in hand, lump in throat, sharing in the beauty of their relationships. I honestly can’t imagine a more fulfilling career. From the bottom of my heart, THANK YOU for allowing me to have it.

As much as I adore my job and my clients, I’m really proud to say that 2014 was the year I finally achieved a pretty amazing work-life balance. I had to let go of some of my workaholic tendencies (being a social media and blogging machine, checking email at all hours of the day, and saying yes to every single opportunity, to name a few), but honestly that freedom has paved the way for me to be more content than ever with my life. Saying yes to more dinners with friends, shutting off the computer at 5:00 like a normal person, more traveling and days off, more hours spent on side projects and other creative outlets, and just having free time to be AVAILABLE for my friends and family when they need me and I need them… it’s a beautiful thing. And I’ve found that I return to my work with renewed passion, fresh eyes, and more creativity when I allow myself to simply be “away” from it.

In more personal news, this past year we bought and began renovating our second house (just a few streets over from our first, actually!). We’re so happy to have made the decision to stay planted in the city we’ve grown to love over the past four and a half years. The older I get, the more I appreciate having roots. By the same token, we decided that we should continue to make traveling a priority to satisfy our wanderlust, and in 2014 we were thrilled to return to some of our favorite places: Vermont, Boston, Colorado, Texas, New Orleans (twice for me!), and the Gulf Coast with friends. We also survived the grand adventure that was the Birmingham Snowpocalypse and a few months later, Jamie survived an airplane landing in the middle of the scariest tornado warning of the year. We said goodbye to our dear friend Brandon in July and mourned with Megan and her two precious boys. I started babysitting my “nephew” Buddy once a week (the best!), and I also got to see Dolly in concert in Knoxville with my bride-friend Ashley. We’ve grown to seriously love our church family and our home group at Mosaic. And Jamie proved himself to be quite the hobbyist again, this year picking up Legos and apocalyptic zombie games and rediscovering his love for fly fishing (in addition to guns, whiskey, college football, libertarian politics and conspiracy theories- you know, being Ron Swanson). I also doubt you’ll find a more devoted user of VolNation. I’ve loved my 6th year of marriage to this guy.

For a photo recap of our year, you should go follow me on Instagram (pretty much my only active social media account these days!). But for now, back to all the photographic goodness of each and every one of my weddings and portrait sessions this year. And because I just can’t say it enough… thank you. Looking back and reminiscing is fun, but I can’t wait to look ahead to all that awaits in 2015!