I'd go on explaing how beautiful Jamaica and the wedding was, but I'll let Karl + Kristen's wedding photos speak for themselves. Enjoy! -Brooke

I'll post their wedding soon - along with portraits of Stephen + Lori and our personal photos! In the meantime, enjoy my favorite shots of Karl + Kristen's day-after-session! -Brooke

Matthew + Ali's day was a little bit different than most - with the sun setting before their ceremony even began - but I wasn't one to complain! I love doing photos before the ceremony. T.J. and I did all of our photos before the ceremony, and it was great.. I actually have several memories from our portrait session (!).. the rest of our wedding day was just a blur!

Aren't the colors below just gorgeous? I'll say it again - a beautiful wedding for a deserving couple. Enjoy! -Brooke

Nick + Lindsey will be tying the knot this April and I can't wait. I can't wait to be there, camera in hand, when Lindsey walks down the isle and is given away to Nick by her Dad. I can't wait to photograph their bride and groom portraits and capture all the joy that goes with them. I can't wait to dance the night away at their reception... and let Jeff shoot all the photos. Ha! All in all - I can't wait. And I'm sure Nick + Lindsey feel the same way.

Enjoy. -Brooke

1. Stress : I found out this year that I was doing too much.  I found myself not spending time with Brooke, my family and myself.  Now I didn't just lock myself in a room and work away like Quasimodo in the bell tower, but looking back I wish that I spent some more time doing things that really bring joy to my heart.  This year I am having monthly projects - things I want to do that don't have anything to do with work, like organize the garage, making shelves for the closet and so on.  They aren't big visionary things, but they are things that I keep putting off, things that I know when done, will make life feel more full and Brooke super happy.  I think that if I would have spent more time doing those things I would have stressed less about money, timing, employees and logistics.  

2. Patience : I thought that the store would open, millions of people would flock to it and I would sleep on a yacht for the rest of my life.....not really. I don't like boats. But! I did think that as soon as the doors to the store flung open all my work would pay off, and then I learned a little bit about patience.  The store is doing well, but I think I had false hopes to how fast it would grow. I've learned that the work isnt' done, that doing something big and great doesn't happen overnight and takes time, work and that magical word I have no time for - patience.  I've also learned that with patience comes commitment.  I've had to ask myself, "How big do you want to see these businesses get? and Are you willing to wait however long it takes to get there?"  If you can't say yes to the latter then what are you doing in business?

3. Team Members : This year we added two team members to the photography team and an intern.  We added nine (for the first time ever!) in the walk in love. store.  We now have one photography team member and two interns on the BC team - and seven team members at the store.  When growing your business and adding team members (we call them team members because employees just work for a paycheck, team members work to make things better) things become a lot more challenging.  Brooke and I were so use to doing things our way and we figured out quickly that you couldn't just add extra people to that and expect them to jump right in and be exactly where we are.  We have found, through trial and error, how to work with our team members, which include some of our best friends and family.  It's taking time, open communication and patience to have a team - and those are three things that would not be listed under my strengths. Naturally, this has been one of the hardest parts of the year for me. We've lost a team member from Brooke Courtney and that was hard to take.  We felt like a family member was leaving, but like all things, we have to learn from it.  We have to choose to be better and with a new intern coming this summer we will have the ability to do just that.  The store also lost two team members, but something the store did this year was amazing -  it brought a relative group of strangers together, it gave us a common ground to know each other and share with each other.  Three of my best friends work at walk in love. and one of them works at both.  That is amazing.  Having a team is hard and it requires a lot patience, listening and understanding, but mostly it requires trust.  I have to trust every day that whoever is working at the store or shooting a wedding is doing a great job and that is hard to do, but worth it.

4. Strength: It is there. There were a few experiences that really stretched me this year and made me question if I could do all this, if I could keep it up.  The main one was having the store move.  I remember getting the phone call (telling us we had 30 days to relocate our entire store) and instantly feeling like I was going to throw-up.  I remember thinking that the dream was over - the store would move, people wouldn't find us and all the work, money and sweat we put into it would be for nothing.  I thought that I was going to end up a failure and my friends and family would abandon me.  I know a lot of that is not logical, but it's what accompanied that news.  I didn't think we could do it - lose money on our first location, move and catch up - but that's when I found it.  The strength.  I found it within, through the power of God, that I could push through this horrible news and overcome.  Strength was shown to me in the most by my Aunt Helen.  From the time we heard the news to the time we had to move, my cousin Carmen died in an accident.  She had just graduated high school and was on vacation with her family when it happened.  It came as a shock to our entire family.  Funeral plans were made and we all traveled to western Pennsylvania to say our goodbyes.  It was here, when I watched my Aunt Helen take to the microphone, that I learned a little bit about strength.  Listening to my Aunt say goodbye to her daughter and then watching her sing "It is well with my soul" was the most valiant act of strength I have ever seen in my life.  It was that amazingly, powerful display of strength and courage that has showed me it is possible to push through.  I am not trying to compare the moving of a store to the loss of a daughter, but what Aunt Helen put on display was empowering and incredible.  It is that type of strength that comes through Christ and his spirit and when I remind myself of it, I am overwhelmed with courage.

5. Tomorrow : There were times this year that we were ready to give up, that we couldn't go on, but that's when were reminded of tomorrow.  Tomorrow is coming and with tomorrow comes hope, new dreams and a new chance.  I hope that if you are out there in a hard place, trying to make it you would never forget that.  Tomorrow is coming and there is always hope.

This year's clients were the best ever! And details-wise, this year featured some of the most gorgeous set-ups. From shoes, to flowers, to table settings and even cakes, here are the ones that make me smile the most.

If anyone knows anything about what I love about photography, it's minimalism. When I'm not shooting portraiture and weddings, I'm looking for the best way to capture negative space. One of my favorite things in the ENTIRE world is when I can combine my styles and capture some extremely unique work. That being said, here are a few of my favorite photographs this year. But in all honesty, this year wouldn't have existed without all the amazing people who allowed me to capture their lives, camera in hand. - Jeff

Being an intern for Brooke Courtney Photography this past year has opened my eyes up to style and technique as a photographer. As a team, it is important to hold a similar style, but it’s so cool when each of us can pick out one another’s work: not because the quality is different, but because each photographer’s eye is unique. And that’s something I’m still figuring out myself. Simply, this year as an intern has been a knowledge-packed, creative, and fun-filled one. As a high school student, I could say that I don’t enjoy learning about crazy math equations or the forces in physics, but as a photographer, I can say that I have enjoyed every process in this internship and I cannot wait to learn more.

Here are a handful of my favorite images that I shot in 2011. Enjoy! -Maddie

December was, without a doubt, one of the best months of 2011 for me. I spent the first week editing the final weddings we shot and posting giveaway blogs like a mad woman. By the second week in the December, I spent a solid four days cleaning and decorating the house for our second annual Christmas party. The party was so much fun and I was amazed at some of the dorky outfits people came up with. The day after the party, I drove to Baltimore to pick up my cousin, Kate, and her family. They stayed for the week at my parents house as we all went to movies, played games, ate dinner, went Christmas caroling and more.

My Dads birthday was followed by Christmas eve, followed by Christmas day. Then family parties, a walk in love. shoot, and a trip to Pittsburgh. And now, BAM, it's January 2012. Life was good to us this year. God was good to us this year. I am so excited to be here in 2012. Aren't you?!?-Brooke

I've deleted what I've written three times now because I don't know what to write.  I don't know how to explain the month that just flashed before my eyes.  A month filled with joy, stress, love, parties, photos, food, gifts and so on, so I wont.  I will just leave you with the few images I snapped over the 31 days and let you fill in the blanks.-T.J.

December was awesome. It was so much fun to spend time with my family and not rush Christmas. I don't get to see my siblings that often and those few moments that I do get to be around them are great. And as my first full year in Lancaster came to an end, I can't begin to explain how blessed I absolutely am. From my family, friends, girlfriend, clients and awesome team here at BC, I just want to thank everyone for the best year of my life. I hope everyone has an amazing 2012! Happy New Year! -Jeff

Another month just flew by, good-bye December. This past month was super awesome. One of the highlights of December would easily be the opening of my favorite fast food restaurant: Chick-Fil-A. If you haven't gone there, you need to. Now. This month brought along lots of great memories and get-togethers with friends and family, and absolutely great gifts like my new Kelly Moore camera bag, my iPod touch (so my Instagrams look nicer!), some sweet prints, and my Holga film camera. ...Just to name a few. It's a new year now, and I am so prepared for the things ahead of me and our whole team. As the lovely Ben Rector says, "let the good times roll"! -Maddie

November is over. I can't believe I can say that. This month seemed to fly by faster than normal due to Thanksgiving(s), store preparations, Black Friday, Cyber Monday and more. I spent the first half of November making paper chains, wrapping gifts, painting signs, and shooting our last weddings of 2011!  The last week or two has been full of standing in Black Friday lines at Target, shopping online, cleaning the house and editing. Jeff and I have spent hours in the office this month editing our brains out.  I'm pretty sure that within a 48 hour period Jeff and I edited over 2,000 images combined. It was nuts.

If I am totally honest with all of you I would say that November was one of the most stressful months of my life.  It was the first November with the store which meant that we were investing a lot of money and resources into the store and that is both scary and stressful.  I spent most of the month at my computer running numbers and trying to figure out what to order, when it would get here and how much we would sell by then.  It's been a hard month for me to just trust that God is in control, but through out the month we had the "thankfulness" wall in the store with the smilebooth and everytime I went in there to check on something I was reminded by all that I have to be thankful for.  It was a month of giving up fear, learning to trust and remembering what I really have to be thankful for.  Towards the end of November, after all the ordering and details were finalized I started to get really excited about Thanksgiving and Christmas.  I absolutley love Christmas and am so excited for the season! - T.J.

November was my favorite month so far this year. After finishing up the wedding season, I've been hard at work completing all my edits left for this year. I did quite a bit of traveling recently, including a family shoot in New Jersey, flying to Georgia, road tripping back to Pennsylvania with my girlfriend, then driving back to Jersey for Thanksgiving. It was all too much fun as I got to see many people I haven't had the chance to, including my family. November always forces me to reflect on the past year and be thankful for all of God's blessings. It also is a time to assess my accomplishments and achievements. 2011 has been a remarkable year for my soul. Now, I'm just anxious to see some snow and give gifts to all those I love.-Jeff

Looking back at the month of November transition is one of the huge things that God brought me through. The beginning of the month started out with the big move out of my house. It has been totally awesome living in Lancaster city, being a five minute drive from everything! For those of you who know me in any capacity know that I love sushi. It's pure heaven in my mouth, plain and simple. So, of course when Tyler and I were invited to make homemade sushi how could I resist?! I know it might seem a little sketchy, but it was delicious! Definitely something adventurous and so fun to do! November was filled with lots of awesome portrait shoots and I even had my cousin who wants to be a photographer help me out on one of my sessions! I think I have seen more mind blowing sunsets in the last couple weeks than in the history of ever! Sunsets are one of those God things that make me just lose my breath and stand in awe of His amazing goodness. That even after a long rainy day He ends it with His sweet promises, painting the sky with a creativity like none other. Yes, I admit, I am one of those people that would never get tired of capturing a sunset in a photograph. The month also brought a new friend into my life. Ernie is my roommate Christi's kitten. He was scared of me at first, but we've finally come to the point in our relationship that he admits that he really does like me! It was also my first time going downtown for the famous Christmas Tree lighting down at the square in Lancaster.

God I always teaching me something throughout the seasons of life and I feel like with November we automatically think-thankfulness. But I think along with thankfulness God has been teaching me humility. With thankfulness comes humility. And learning all the joy that comes from a life that speaks humility is something I strive for. So in this season I've learned to be thankful in the empty. Cause only when I'm emptied of myself can God fill me with his uncontainable, forever-overflowing-love-grace. -Amber    

November is over already? Whaaaat? I swear, if I didn't have Instagram, I'd never remember half of what I did this month! Easily the highlight of this month for me was Thanksgiving. In fact, I got to have TWO Thanksgiving meals. YES. I had one with my super awesome coworkers and the other on Thanksgiving day with my lovely family. I think Thanksgiving is a cool holiday because you are kind of forced to stop, think, and thank God for all in your life. As you can see from my Instagrams, this month I've been especially thankful for family, skyping with the brother in South Korea, Netflix, polka-dotted tights, friends, late night McDonald runs, and much, much more. Now I just can't wait for Christmas. You know what they say: It's the most wonderful time of the year! - Maddie

We first met them at Chickfila, obviously one of the best places in America and they thought the food was delicous - and it was. :) After Chikfila we went over to IKEA so Jeff could buy himself a nice desk for his apartment. We walked around and chatted about our love for photography, culture differences and our family's holiday plans. One of our favorite things about them was their accents! They kept having these moments of "Okay.. how do you say it in English..." as they'd describe something to us that we don't have in America. Also, they'd never heard of Hershey's Chocolate. At. All. WHAT!!! Note to self: Mail a giant gift basket of Hershey's products to everyone in the Czech Republic.

After Jeff made his desk purchase, we took Martin + Zuzana down to Center City to shop at Urban Outfitters. Zuzana said it was one of her favorite stores they'd discovered while visiting New York. Just before we headed home, we stopped in a Starbucks to get out of the rain and grab some coffee.

It was so cool to be able to meet two people who without our blogs and Facebook, we probably wouldn't have ever met. You can view some of their work online at Everbay Photography.

And, to Martin + Zuzana: Please come visit America again. You can stay with us in Lancaster (woot woot!) and we'll shoot together. :) Thank you again for your geneours gifts and travleling all the way to New York and Philly to meet us. You are wonderfully genuine people. It was awesome to meet you. -Brooke

The ceremony was held in the ballroom, which was then converted to the reception room during cocktail hour. Friends and family laughed and told stories over drinks and hors d'oeuvres. And before you knew it, Matt + Allison were being introduced back into the ballroom and shared their first dance as husband and wife. Following their first dance, Allison and her Dad had one of the best father/daughter dances I've ever seen to "Shake, Shake, Shake Senora"!

The morning after the wedding, Matt + Alliosn met up with T.J. and I at a local park to shoot their bride + groom portraits. Although it was pretty cold out, the light was fabulous and we had a great time. In fact, the second image of them (vertical photo, kissing) has already made it into my top 10 favorite images of 2011. I love it!

Enjoy the photos. It was such a beautiful celebration. Let us know your favorites! -Brooke

Brooke, Maddie and I were so honored to be a part of their day.  It was such a beautiful occassion with two wonderful families that treated us so well.  Laura looked beautiful and the details were great.  I know I say it a lot but I am so thankful to be a part of such a special day in two families lives. Enjoy some of our favorites from the day and let us know which ones you like the most! - T.J.

She immediately stole my heart with her sweet laugh and adorable freckles. Then she goes on to tell me that she went hunting last weekend and got herself a full blown turkey! AND her family made a pre-Thankgiving dinner out of him. This girl, I like! I only wish I had the go-git-er enough to wake up when it's still dark and put on three layers of clothing, only to trek into the woods and sit in the cold for hours hoping, only hoping, you might spot something and get your shot at it! Nope, it's not for me. I've always like the idea, but it quickly stops there. I guess all that is the adventure of it all! 

Samantha was one of those simple joys. It was one of those shoots that makes you come alive and get all giddy inside cause nothing could go better if planned! She was everything that describes adorable. 

I just love shoots like that. The ones where I find myself forgetting that i'm working and it's all about getting to know each other as friends, and sharing laughs about random things. That joy is where true creativity comes to life, where it's real and deep. I find my passion fully alive when I am investing in the source of creativity Himself. And by investing, I am loving, and by loving, I am touching peoples lives. So I sit here in Prince Street cafe finding myself nothing but so thankful. Yes, I love beautiful people, but not just on the outside, even more so beautiful in the heart. So, thank you Samantha. Thanks for passing on your joy for life. Maybe next time you can share some of your freckles too! You're beautiful inside and out, treasure that. Much love! -Amber 

I'd LOVE to know which ones are your favorites!!

So what better place to go for her photoshoot then the back yard of her grandparents house?! I love the country landscape and open fields where I grew up, so it was perfect for adding the sentimental and memory filled touch to her photos. 

Addi is involved in the marching band at solanco and is looking forward to going to college. I can't wait to see where God takes you Addi! Trust His heart for your future. Thanks for being adventurous with me! -Amber

Their bridal party was incredibly nice and they all danced the night away at the reception. So much fun! -Brooke

Hannah, I loved getting to know you and walking around, playing with leaves and using that awesome chair from your house! You know how to work it! Also, I've figured out the, “I-want-your-house-problem”. Your family could just adopt me; then we'd be sisters, the best of both worlds-problem solved!! Have a great rest of your senior year! -Amber

Enjoy the photos and leave comments... in English. :) Just kidding! -Brooke

Have a great evening everyone! Leave comments + enjoy! -Brooke

Alisia and I had a good time ooohing and ahhhing over Caleb trying to get him to look at the camera. :) It was fun.

Let us know your favorites! -Brooke