Oh hey there! A post that’s NOT about my son! Slowly but surely folks, I’m getting my groove back! And on that note, I wanted to share with all of you a few recent features along with a few housekeeping items to know about:

Right before I had Dean, I was contacted by my good friend and photography mentor, Melissa Jill. Melissa asked if I’d be willing to be featured as part of her new series on alums of her workshop called “Where Are They Now?” OF COURSE I WOULD! I’ve told Melissa many times that her workshop changed my life (seriously, it did!) and I was happy to gush for her about what I learned but, most importantly, the INCREDIBLE relationships I fostered as a result of those two days in Arizona back in 2009. If you’re a photographer in your first year or two of business, I promise you Melissa’s workshop would be a wonderful investment for you in the new year! She is the real deal and a wonderful person who just so happens to be a talented photographer and savvy business woman. You can read my interview with her here:

After I shared Dean’s birth story, I was contacted by my Colorado friend and fellow photographer Dawn. She recently launched a new online venture called The Poppy Cat, dedicated to birth/newborn and family photography (and named as such after her DARLING daughter, Poppy). Her site also shares insights from mamas out there on the ups and downs of parenting, and Dawn asked if she could feature my birth story. I was honored! You can see that feature here:

It was also fun to see myself tagged on Twitter by the editor of Dwell Studio’s blog, Christiane Lemieux. Christiane and her blogging team had discovered me raving about the Dwell rug we picked up in styling Dean’s nursery (a rug I still adore every time I walk in that room!) and featured my nursery entry over on The Studio Blog. Thanks Dwell team! You can revisit that entry on her blog here:

And finally, the last “cherry on top” to my blog overall, a unique way to view my entries! Ryan from 2nd Street Creative has set it up so you can view the blog through the standard, linear view or the new awesome editorial view. To toggle between the two layouts, just point your browser to the area circled below:

Also, because some people have asked, you may have noticed that certain blog entries of mine (What I’m Loving and Wedding Stories, for example) no longer allow users to comment within the blog. I had to make a difficult decision to forgo comments on these features so I could add the unique, custom stylization to them. Given how much I love the new look of my blog, I know it’s worth the trade-off, but by all means, since I share all my blog entries on Facebook, I’d appreciate if you still kept leaving some love on these entries over there! Find me on Facebook if we’re not already friends — here is my personal page and my photography page.

I hope every photographer takes the time to compile a best-of-the-year collection of images. In doing so, you take the 20 minutes you never give yourself any other time of year to really look at all you’ve accomplished. Here I sit, having pulled together some of my favorite captures of 2011, and all I can think is, “YOU took all of these. YOU made these memories come alive.” It’s easy to get down about one’s talent, to think you’re never good enough or that someone’s work or that next blog entry you spot on Facebook is always better than your own. Lord knows I do it all the time. But it’s this post, every year, that makes me look at the sum of all the “parts”. And then I realize, if I just keep my head down, do the work, and focus on my clients (not my perceived shortcomings), then as an artist, I, too, can truly do something great.

Take a few minutes this season to hit that sweet spot of remaining humble yet grateful and full of wonder at what you’ve done this year. You—and me—have come a long way in 2011. It’s when we take a breather like this that such a realization comes full circle.

And without further ado, a resharing of some of my favorite images of 2011, in no particular order:Thank you to ALL my clients in 2011 who made this year such an incredible one! I appreciate your trust and faith in my work more than you could ever know!

See more of Gail’s work at www.gailwernerphoto.com. Become a fan of Gail’s work on Facebook. Follow Gail on Twitter.

It happened last week. Nick and I were driving our rental car through town after coastal town along the Oregon-Washington border when I sent a text to Jasmine wishing her the best of luck on the launch of Exposed. Thursday was a BIG day and I wanted the happiness I felt for her to be palpable in that message of mine.

When we got home Friday, there was my copy of the magazine, stuffed amidst a pile of junk mail and bills. Shrink-wrapped in gauzy cellophane, there was no denying that it was HERE. And it was BEAUTIFUL.

My friendship with Jasmine is dear to me. I don’t talk about it because, frankly, it’s not something to brag about. To the majority of you reading this, she is Jasmine The Photographer. But to me, she is not a name. Nor a “rock star.” She is Jasmine The Person. The same person I first bonded with last year not at some industry event but over a mutual (read: DEEP) love affair with the written word.

I was a writer before I became a photographer (and still am). I will cheer any person on whose dreams involve putting thoughts down on paper. Or picking up a camera. The fact Jasmine’s dreams melded those two aspirations together? That she happens to be phenomenal at both? Well… that was just kismet.

Flipping through this magazine, actually holding it in my hands and not just hearing Jasmine dream about it over conversation or copyediting segments of it online …. well, it made it all REAL. It also reminded me I happen to be friends with Jasmine The Most Ambitious Woman I’ve EVER Met. Truly.

Do yourself a favor and pick up a copy while they are still available. (My favorite story involves Jasmine’s friendship with one of her mentors, Mike Colon — what an incredible guy). I promise you, you’ll love it. Not to mention how great it’ll look tucked away on your coffee table. :)

Jasmine, I am so so SO proud of you! Tears-in-the-corner-of-my-eyes proud. YOU DID IT!!!! Go pop that bubbly now! :)

See more of Gail’s work at www.gailwernerphoto.com. Become a fan of Gail’s work on Facebook. Follow Gail on Twitter.

When I was out at WPPI earlier this year, I talked with a friend who told me about a nightmare scenario in which the mirror fell out of her 5D camera while shooting a wedding (I hear this referred to a lot as “blowing the shutter” but not exactly sure if they are one and the same….Anyone?). Her experience put the fear of God into me, so I asked the Canon representatives (who are EVERYWHERE at WPPI…bless their souls!) and was told, “Yeah, it’s basically not a matter of ‘if’, it’s a matter of ‘when’..and no, we cannot tell you when that when is going to be.”) (conveniently, this is the same thing the Apple Genius guy told me a year ago when I took my iMac in when a busted hard drive).

I was glad I heard this story and carried around that newly discovered knowledge if only because it prepared me for when that very “worst case scenario” happened to me. It was during a wedding last month and, as I pressed down on the shutter, I heard a sickening crunch and then all I saw was black. Uh-oh…it’s the mirror. It’s got to be the mirror, started playing through my mind on repeat.

Thankfully, this happened at a point in the day when I could quietly slip away, remove my 70-200 lens (which was on there pretty tight..I think it got “stuck” for a minute as a result of what happened), assess the damage (Yep, it was the mirror) and continue on with the rest of the night’s shoot with my back-up camera (which I’d already had out anyway) safely in hand, nobody any wiser as to what had just happened.

So, I guess the lesson here folks is kind of three-fold:

1) It’s going to happen to you at some point too: Whether it’s a blown shutter or a lens that falls out of a bag, every working photographer is going to encounter a scenario at some point in his or her career where they have a piece of equipment malfunction on them. Yes, everyone. (I’m picturing Annie Leibovitz blowing a shutter during a shoot for Vanity Fair and already feeling better about this very notion….)

2) Be prepared: If you are photographing ANY person’s wedding, you better have a back-up camera in hand (especially during the ceremony and parts of the day you cannot miss) or in your gear bag at the ready. (preferably of the same model so you’re not dealing with any confusion over settings or technical issues on top of the frustration of having something break on you). If you are a professional shooting more than 5-6 weddings a year, you should make it a priority to own a second back-up body (and a third if and when you can afford it). If you are an occasional wedding photographer and/or do not have the funds yet to own that second body, you best be renting that camera body at every paid shoot you are hired for. When I need a camera body or lens rental, I trust and turn to BorrowLens.com. Also, if you are a professional who is not yet  a member of your camera maker’s professional photographer service, DO IT ALREADY. I joined Canon Professional Service (gold status) and it has been a life-saver in increased turn-around time on fixes, free shipping and major discounts on repairs.

and finally, just because I didn’t know this until it happened and I thought it might help others to know it too:

3) It’s covered up to 100,000 clicks: This is pretty specific to my situation, but if you (like me) own a Canon (specifically a 5D), there’s peace of mind knowing that Canon will cover the cost of repairing a busted mirror if your camera body has fewer than 100,000 clicks. I wasn’t sure how many clicks my camera had, so it was incredibly reassuring to get that email from Canon letting me know I was covered and the repair was underway! (Here’s a bit more from a Flickr thread on this subject too).

See more of Gail’s work at www.gailwernerphoto.com. Become a fan of Gail’s work on Facebook. Follow Gail on Twitter.

I noticed them in the mirror this year. Lines. Lots and lots of fine lines. On my forehead. Around my eyes. The bridge of my nose. I’d squint and think, “So this is how it starts, huh? What comes with my status as a soon-to-be 30-year-old?” And then I stocked up on moisturizer and tried my best to shrug it off, thinking about how those lines are most prominent when I laugh. So, that’s how I decided to look at them. Fine lines created by a few decades’ worth of laughter and smiles.

But then, as I looked at some images of late of me shooting (captured by my lovely assistant photographers), I couldn’t help but chuckle to myself. Because, well, there they were AGAIN. Turns out, I’m a squinter when I shoot. A BAD squinter. It’s so automatic that I’ve been doing it for years and never noticed it until I had photographic evidence in front of me.

Which leads me to the conclusion that maybe these fine lines aren’t just the product of laughter. They’re also the product of doing something I love. Laugh lines or love lines. Either way, I’ll take ‘em as signs of a life—so far, at least—that’s been well lived.

See more of Gail’s work at www.gailwernerphoto.com. Become a fan of Gail’s work on Facebook. Follow Gail on Twitter.