2019 was my first year as a Dad. I still have trouble thinking of myself in that way. When we left the hospital it blew my mind that we were allowed to just take her, that no one had to sign off on us being reliable parents. It didn’t seem to matter though – Hazel has just celebrated her first birthday and we’ve figured it out along the way, like all parents do. I deliberately booked this year slow to give myself time to adjust, which turned out to be the best decision. The year has flown and I would have missed so much by balancing that with some of my past years’ work.

2019 was the culmination of the longest long-term plans Liv and I have ever made. For years we talked about the lifestyle of having a family. Being able to take time when we needed it, not having to get annual leave approved, being able to travel together when I booked a wedding out of town. This year delivered on all those hopes, and not a minute too soon. Health issues within our families meant we spent a great deal of 2019 visiting hospitals, when that flexibility was so desperately needed. Hazel brought smiles to everyone around her even as we endured some of the hardest times we have experienced.

2019 was my ninth year photographing weddings. As the numbers go, I ended up with :

• 33 weddings
• 23 portraits
• 7 days second shooting with friends
• 2 LGBT weddings (in the same week!)
• $1m+ in lifetime business revenue
• 1 industry award (thanks Sony)
• 12 entire months with ONE camera system
• 70TB of new storage space (continuing my record of zero lost photos)

As always, I want to thank all of my incredible couples. Every year I am able to continue doing this job is the definition of success for me. The feedback I got from my last wedding delivery was that my photos “really tell a story, rather than just photos of us in fancy clothes.” I can’t describe how satisfying it is working with couples who value all of those in-between moments and trust me with the memories of their once-in-a-lifetime event.

2020 will involve more family time, more chances to click ‘like’ on literally every Betoota Advocate article, and a few more weddings. I’m moving the needle back to 40 next year and I still have 12 spots remaining if you’d like to be one of them. Thanks, Ben