“If there is no passion in your life, then have you really lived? Find your passion, whatever it may be. Become it, and let it become you and you will find great things happen FOR you, TO you and BECAUSE of you.”
T. Alan Armstrong
Here’s to another year—both for you all and for me—of living life passionately.
See more of Gail’s work at www.gailwernerphoto.com. Become a fan of Gail’s work on Facebook. Follow Gail on Twitter.
1) Year End Lists: I had to laugh last week when I saw my friend, Cole’s, Tweet: “I made a year-end list of feelings I have when reading year-end top ten lists, but there’s only so many synonyms for sheer euphoric bliss.” Oh Cole, I KNOW THE FEELING. I get as giddy as a kid with a wish list for Santa when I see some of my favorite media names posting up their annual selection of favorite books, movies, tunes…you name it. A few of my favorite go-to sources for these are Entertainment Weekly’s year-end best of the best, the New York Times’ year-end reviews in the arts, TIME Magazine’s Top Ten year-end lists, Rolling Stone’s round-ups and finally, Paste Magazine’s Best of 2010 picks.
2) 127 Hours: Much like year-end lists, I go ga-ga for the cinema in November and December. On that note, I’ll say that Danny Boyle’s 127 Hours MESMERIZED ME. Nick and I left the theater with differing opinions: For him, it was too much. When I asked how he could watch horror movies with more gristle than seeing the story of Aron Ralston cut off his arm while trapped in a canyon, he said it was because this was real and those scenarios are…well, not. I respect that, but I gotta say, the way Danny Boyle shot this film makes 127 Hours a total THRILL RIDE to watch. It’s amazing. And James Franco blew me away. Also great? The score. In particular, beautiful Sigur Ros and Dido songs that come at the end of the film and are so perfectly selected, I found myself getting goosebumps. Truly amazing.
3) My new houseslippers: We live in a house with cold floors. And I’m a woman prone to possessing cold hands and cold feet. So having Nick remember I needed a new pair of houseslippers for Christmas this year was one of those small-but-significant gifts. My toes are cozy now. Never mind the fact they look like stand-ins for fuzzy Muppet characters ….
4) The series collection of FRIENDS on DVD: When I opened this Xmas gift from my in-laws, I SQUEALED in delight. (Nick looked at what was in my lap, sighed and said, “Greaaattttt….”) In the words of Chandler Bing, could there BE a better TV show? OK, don’t answer that if you’re not a Friends fan, but me? I am a D-E-V-O-T-E-E. And I’ve dearly missed my fix since it’s been off the air and we’ve been cableless. I popped a random disc in the other day and giggled over the fact it included both the episodes in which Joey wears all of Chandler’s clothes AND Ross in his leather pants. See, there I go, LAUGHING AGAIN.
5) Nicole Krauss’ Great House: Reading a book by Nicole Krauss is akin to walking through an exhibit of your favorite artist at a museum. It’s an experience that deserves to be savored, because her words, her writing, her characters are just so so potent and smart. I could wax on about ‘em for a few paragraphs, but how about I just give you a sample of the beautiful writing: “We search for patterns, you see, only to find where the patterns break. And it’s there, in that fissure, that we pitch our tents and wait.” SEE WHAT I MEAN? Gorgeousness in written form.
See more of Gail’s work at www.gailwernerphoto.com. Become a fan of Gail’s work on Facebook. Follow Gail on Twitter.
What a wonderful year it was for photographing weddings. I took something away from each one of the couples I captured in 2010 and, in turn, gave away a little piece of my heart to them. You might remember from a blog post I shared back in March, but a big change for me this year was in my decision to bring back a bit of my passion for storytelling from my days as a journalist and to incorporate each couple’s story (if they were up to it, of course!) as part of their wedding coverage. Getting to know my clients this way added a whole new dimension to shooting their pictures, and it’s been such a rewarding and enriching experience for me. I can’t wait to do it all again with my clients in 2011!
Until then, enjoy a look back at those couples who said “I do” in front of my lens in 2010!
2010 WEDDINGS
Michele and Eric’s Wedding — 3.13.10
Jen and Josh’s Wedding — 5.1.10
Kinsi and Jeff’s Wedding — 5.15.10
Nicole and Jason’s Wedding — 6.5.10
Hilary and Tim’s Wedding — 6.19.10
Sarah and Adam’s Wedding — 8.21.10
Ashley and Justin’s Wedding — 10.9.10
Allison and Grant’s Wedding — 10.22.10 Part I & Part II 
Emily and Kevin’s Wedding — 11.20.10
A big thank you to ALL my wedding clients in 2010!
See more of Gail’s work at www.gailwernerphoto.com. Become a fan of Gail’s work on Facebook. Follow Gail on Twitter.
Sureeeee…we photographers love putting these year-end posts together for our blog followers. But we’re kidding ourselves if we don’t admit that a big reason we spend time pulling ‘em off is for reflection — to remind us of what we’ve accomplished in any given year.
For me, the end of 2010 has brought about a kind of peace that’s come with newly gained confidence in my photography skills. The first year-and-a-half of my business, I showed up to every session painting a brave smile on my face but, on the inside, worried at all the “what if” scenarios (what if it rains? what if we can’t find a cool spot? what if this child doesn’t want to cooperate? what if this couple’s timeline gets all screwy…what if …what if… WHAT IF…) Six letters that can paralyze many photographers. It’s only when you push past the mind games that you can let your inspired side take control, get to work and have fun in the process, no matter the elements or circumstances. Looking back at all these portrait shoots puts the biggest smile on my face because it reminds me of just how far I feel I’ve come in 2010. This was the year Confident Gail told Debbie Downer Gail (Yeah, I’m talking to you Miss Hypothetical Scenario, you!) to go sit in the corner. Because while that Gail still comes around for her occasional say, it’s the best feeling in the world knowing she no longer dominates the creative conversation.
2010 PORTRAITS (drumroll please :) )
Tina and Jay’s Engagement Session
Sarah and Adam’s Engagement Session
Eileen and Chris’s For REAL Engagement Session :) 
Melissa and Andrew’s Engagement Session 
Kelly and Garth’s Anytime Session (I love this session to the moon and back, I’m tellin’ ya what)
Erin and Adam’s Anytime Session
Jennifer and Brandon’s Engagement Session
The Murphy-Haywood Family Session
WHEW!!! WHAT.A.YEAR!!!!! No wonder my camera shutter needs a little TLC from the Canon folks! To all of my 2010 portrait clients, I say thank you—from the bottom of my undeserving heart. I carry a little piece of each one of these sessions around with me now and each photo takes me right back to that moment it was being captured. I hope to see ALL of you in front of my lens again at some point in time!
And for those interested, I’m now taking bookings for spring/summer/fall 2011 portrait sessions. It’s never too early to ask—don’t wait until you want your photos taken to schedule them. Make it a New Year’s resolution to have your family photos taken and to get them on the calendar sooner than later!
Tomorrow: WEDDINGS!!!!!!
See more of Gail’s work at www.gailwernerphoto.com. Become a fan of Gail’s work on Facebook. Follow Gail on Twitter.
Hope all my blog readers had an awesome holiday break! Whew… I don’t know about you all, but I ZONED OUT for the past 6 days! When family get-togethers happen, I let loose and relax 100 percent, visiting with everybody, eating, gabbing, watching cable, reading books, eating, knitting, gabbing some more…. And a lot of times, I find myself NOT taking photos (something I need to work on in 2011!) But I remembered to grab my point-and-shoot for our trip down to visit Nick’s family for their Christmas festivities on Sunday and Monday. Today, we took advantage of having snow on the ground, little nephews excited at the prospect, and a free day to go SLEDDING!!!!
As a kid, I used to sled on my cousin’s hill next door every time there was more than a few inches of snow on the ground. My girlfriends and I would be out for hours at a time and come in with chapped cheeks and dump all our clothes in the dryer so we could put ‘em back on all toasty and warm. When I was making my 101 list, I realized it had been years since I’d last been sledding. (The last time was my junior year in high school…we had a blizzard that kept us out of school for an extra week in January and a bunch of classmates came over to sled all day.) Nick grew up in hilly Brown County, Ind., and he likes to tease me about trying to sled growing up in northern Indiana, where the land is so flat you can see for miles. So it was fun this year to make this happen on his home turf. Hope we get to do it again soon! 
See more of Gail’s work at www.gailwernerphoto.com. Become a fan of Gail’s work on Facebook. Follow Gail on Twitter.
