In the freelance world, December can be an interesting month. With the multitude of corporate holiday parties and get togethers, there can be a ton of event-related work available during the weeks leading up to Christmas, but usually the work tapers off quite dramatically during the holidays. As this was my first December after a full year of full time freelancing, I really loved this balance of crazy busy work for 2 weeks, followed by 2 weeks of nothing (actually…more than 2 weeks of nothing as you’ll find out in the January 2013 recap!).

Photo-wise, December was full of high profile restaurant openings including Thierry Rautureau’s Loulay, Jason Wilson’s Miller’s Guild, Jason Stratton’s Aragona, and Linda Derschang’s Tallulah’s. Phew–could I name drop any more big Seattle chefs in there? In terms of concerts, there were actually 2 large arena shows and 2 huge holiday music festivals during the first 2 weeks of the month, definitely enough to keep busy with. The last photo element came in the form of holiday parties. I was originally  planning to shoot 4 of them, but since all 4 of them were on the same night, I only did one. I guess there are only so many ideal party dates in December.

The two week rest period has been essential for recharging my batteries and preparing for the tax season to come. I was pretty dumb and did close to no bookkeeping for the year, so my two week break has been a mad scramble to get all of my expense reports together in time for January’s WA state tax deadlines. Fun is the last word I’d use to describe that experience. And of course there was breaking in my early Christmas gift to myself–a new Crock Pot! While using it to craft some delicious holiday recipes including my Christmas day meal, I’ve found the Crock Pot to be great cost saving device that produces delicious food. In other words, it’s an essential device for the busy freelancer’s life.

Here are some photography highlights from the month of December for this here freelancer:

 

Travel: None 🙁 The furthest from Seattle I got this month was Everett, WA

Music

Deck the Hall Ball

Jingle Ball

Macklemore and Ryan Lewis with Sir Mix-a-Lot

Drake and Miguel

Restaurant

Din Tai Fung – University Village

Tallulah’s

Hello Robin

Aragona

Loulay Kitchen and Bar

Miller’s Guild

Liam’s

Kaisho

Ada’s Technical Books

La Bodega

Chef in the Kitchen with David Varley @ RN74 Seattle

Meeru Dhalwala of Shanik

Freelance

Stockbox Grocery

Wanz @ KIRO – If Wanz from ‘Thrift Shop’ only had $20 in his pocket, where would he eat?

Former Seattle Seahawk John Moffitt @ KIRO – What it took to maintain his 315lb weight

Coates Design Holiday Party @ Bainbridge Island Art Musuem

 

Ever wonder what the average day of a freelance photographer looks like? Well, rather than bore you with a blog update every day, I’ve decided to do monthly recaps to illustrate the trends of freelance photography here in Seattle. Of course, my projects and findings aren’t representative of every freelancer out there, but it’s a snapshot into the freelance lifestyle. Tune in at the beginning of each month for a recap of the previous month!