A look back at 2015

Where does the time go? It doesn’t feel that it was that long ago when I was writing my best of 2014 post, and now here we are one year later doing it all over again.
Making a “Best Of” post is definitely a Love/Hate exercise. A huge amount of work is involved in gathering together the selection. Looking through each and every wedding I’ve shot this year is one thing but going through all of my own personal work is just as much of a challenge. However, It’s always well worth it and there is a real sense of pride when it’s completed – I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve looked back through my old best of posts just to reminisce.

Surely one of the best things about being a photographer has to be the ability to look back at what you’ve experienced and captured for all eternity. To remember all of the amazing people you’ve worked for and the privilege you’ve been given to comes into their lives, even if it’s just for a day – given access all areas to one of the most special moments between two people and to witness and capture all of the brilliance that it brings.
For me though – it’s the powerful moments that matter to me more than any other. During the year a fellow photographer asked me jokingly – “Tell me Dave – how do I make them cry?!”. I laughed and blushed at the time and joked it off. Later though, I sat and thought about that and thought about how my photography has definitely changed over the last couple of years. I want to capture the real emotion in a wedding day. True, raw, powerful emotion. Epic landscapes are cool – they look awesome. To me though – they are just that, epic landscapes with two people standing in the distance. I feel nothing when I look at an image like that other than thinking “That’s nice”. What I want to feel though, and what I want my couples to feel is like they have been lifted and dropped back into their wedding day. To remember what they were laughing at, feeling nervous about and when the tears are there – what they cried about. I have had people open up in front of each other when it’s just been the three of us. I have stood in a hospital ward after a bride has visited her dying father who couldn’t make her wedding day and just become so overawed with emotion that we all hugged and cried together. Being part of a private moment of someone’s life is what makes this job as special as it is. As my good friend Eric Savoie says – Epic is overrated.

You know that saying “Do something today that scares you”? Well 2015 was definitely the year I did just that. I was honoured when Jay Doherty asked if I would present a talk at the first Learning To Fly workshop. Public speaking has always been a massive fear of mine but after a lot of thought and a bit of soul searching I accepted the challenge and I’m so glad I did. Those two days in Donegal were as powerful for me as I hope they were for the attendees.

On this blog you’re going to see a lot of wedding images – but you’re also going to see a lot of personal work. And shots of Boggins I used to share my personal work right here on my site however last year I made a change and decided to put everything onto a tumblr blog so that I could be less restricted in what I show. So, I’m going to be as open and as honest with you all as I can. As I’m pretty sure I’ve said before at some point – These images are not the best in the world – but to me, the people in the them and to the people connected to them, they’ll mean a lot. And really isn’t what what it’s all about.

I want to thank everyone who invited me to photograph them last year and just as big a thank you to those who I’ll be photographing this year! Free hugs all round.
Let’s dive in!
To save you some serious scrolling, I’ve made a video of the entire set. So, kick back, turn your speakers on as the sound is important and enjoy. Thanks for watching.

Best Photography of 2015 – DAVID McCLELLAND from David McClelland on Vimeo.