Things are going to be different – Derby Wedding Photographer Simon Dewey

This year, some things are going to be very different. For one, I’ve recently been made redundant. For the last few years I have worked a call centre desk job and hated every minute of it. Still, despite feeling relieved to be out, redundancy still sent me into a panic. The day job had been a safety blanket, ensuring we still had an income – will we be able to survive without it? The answer is, I still don’t know. But if we knew what was going to happen next, it would be boring, wouldn’t it?

I’ve had tremendous support over these last few weeks. First and foremost from my beautiful wife, Hazel, who has been tolerating my almost bipolar attitude. My friends and family for their constant support, encouragement and the odd business loan (in bunny ears). Also from Kirsten Medder at True Grit Marketing, who stepped in to help out with my Social Media, Zoe Rose (who filmed me an entire YouTube SEO tutorial) and everyone over at the Guild of Photographers and Ready Steady Pro.

And of course, thank you to everyone I’ve worked with this year – it really has been a pleasure and a constant adventure and solidified the belief that this is where the future lies.

In a lot of ways I’m really looking forward to the next few months – with January already shaping up to be a bustle of weddings and meetings, Gary Lashmar’s Dare workshop in March and a summer so busy that I’d have probably quit the day job anyway.

I’ll leave you with a collection of my favourite images from the year – a mixture of personal and professional, weddings and weirdness.