Each year I select a quote for our holiday card and last year, that was it. It was dead on. I won’t lie, this one definitely snuck up on me. 2016 was a bit of whirlwind that kept us busy even through the holidays and glancing over our shoulders saying, ‘Really? It’s already over?’
That’s why I might be a few days behind in rolling out our reflections and setting new goals and intentions for the new year. But in honor of 12 new chapters and 365 new chances we are starting fresh right here in this journal, today.
In 2017, get ready for lots of new posts full of our adventures, work and musings as we catch up during these cooler and calmer months. We have so much to share and with the last year so focused on creating new websites and launching our Print Shop and Render Loyalty things like this journal were neglected. I plan to share more and bring you along for all that we have planned in 2017.
First, let’s take a look back at some of the good in 2016…
We documented so many incredible love stories and adventures all over the world. From Bali to Vail, Lake Como to Michigan and California, we had the honor to share in the most meaningful weddings in the most romantic of settings…
A fresh start for KT Merry! After years of work and planning we finally unveiled the new KT Merry website and brand. We are still continuing to improve our site and client experience and look forward to expanding that further in 2017.
In addition to our new wedding website we dusted off our archives to unveil our KT Merry Print Shop showcasing three main collections of personal work; Journey, Vita and Equus. The collections have been curated from the last ten years of our travels and my career-long passion of photographing horses. One of the series within our Equus Series focuses on wild mustangs and donates 10% of all proceeds to the American Wild Horse Preservation Campaign.
2016 also brought two life-changing trips to Africa… the first, to document the anniversay safari of Vicky + Jon through the Serengeti of Tanzania (which we plan to share here next week). The second was to document the work and threatened wildlife protected by our conservation partners for our new passion project, Render Loyalty. Photographing at the David Sheldrick Wildelife Trust and The Lewa Wildlife Conservancy was a soul-shaking experience. As was witnessing the dedication of their incredible staffs, the people of Kenya and the majesty and urgency of the cause to save threatened wildlife. We launched Render Loyalty in two gallery shows in both Los Angeles and New York City and now offer both collections online. You can learn more about my lifelong passion for conservation and our journey in this film, documented by Chad, here.
Between our travels we spent our summer in beautiful Lake Tahoe, high in the mountains and clean air. It was a strong reminder of how important nature is to us and how much we need it in our busiest times to recharge and gain inspiration.
Lastly, near the end of 2016 we learned that our buddy Axl had been harboring a very large tumor that had pushed all of his internal organs into the smallest corners of his abdomen. With specialists, multiple vets from Lake Tahoe to UC Davis and finally Veternairy Surgicial Speclists in Irvine, they successfully removed his spleen and an 8 lb tumor! It was a scary ordeal but one with the best of endings which is what we were truly most grateful for this year.
What’s in our dreams for 2017? Guiding and documenting adventurous couples planning meaningful celebrations around the world. Collaborations with boundary-pushing creatives looking to create magic together. New friendships and great conversations, preferably over wine. 🙂 And travel and explorations that once again make it a transformative year of risk, hard work and above all creative passion.
We look forward to sharing our journey and work here as well as on instagram. We’d love to hear from you, whether it’s questions, what you’d like to see more of or simply to say hello…
Happy New Year!
“The unknown is where we come alive. Set ablaze your own trail.”
've spent the past decade capturing love and chasing beauty across the globe, and I believe every story like yours is different and special, and deserves to be told exceptionally.
Drawing on years of experience in the fashion and editorial photography industry, my photographs are graceful, honest and boldly natural, while completely intentional. Whether it’s the opportunity to narrate the retelling of once-in-a-lifetime wedding days, or the ability to communicate issues of global importance, or all the stories in between, I look at photography as the method by which I get to leave the world a little better than I found it.
What we’ve spent the last decade learning as we built our business, we share with up-and-coming, soul-driven photographers who want to change the world with their work.