Can you believe it is already the last day of 2020? This has been the longest slowest year so far. While there have been challenges this year, there have definitely been some wins this year. So I wanted to share how 2020 went for me and Black Queen Photography.

January: I participated in the Metanoia: Transformation Through AIDS Archives and Activism at the ONE Gallery in Los Angeles. For this, I was able to interview and photograph four LGBTQIA+ activists (please let me know if I did not use the acronym right). This was such an honor because I got to not only learn about all the strides that these activists made, but I also got to see my art displayed for others to see.

February: I got to attend WPPI Expo for the first time this year. WPPI stands for Wedding and Portrait Photographers International Expo. This is a major conference/event for wedding and portrait photographers. It was hosted at the end of February (during my birthday). The conference is composed of a photo competition, lots of great speakers, and a vendor expo. I was actually able to attend the expo with Cat of Cat Warren Photo and Que of QueEighty8 Photography. I was also able to meet Tomayia Colvin for the first time. I attended some cool photo walks and got to participate in some great classes. My husband also flew out to celebrate my birthday with me! We ended up going to Top Golf and just had a lot of fun.

March – May: This month is when the shutdown really hit San Diego. This is when I really started investing in my business. I was in Tomayia Colvin’s Mastermind class and she helped us get through COVID-19. She helped us prepare for when the world opened back up. Bruh, when I tell you she got my business life together, all the way together. (Click here to read the blog post where I discuss some of the things that mastermind helped me with.) I am forever grateful that she offered this class. I 1000% recommend it to any photographer that is looking to grow their business.

June: This month, San Diego started to open back up again. This was actually the month where I booked my first client at my new rate. I remember I was so nervous that she was going to think my price was too high. When I told her my price and she was like okay, it was one of the best feelings in the world. I felt like she saw the value of my photography and it was a great feeling. This month was also the month where I started my business financial journey with Prudence of Master Your Mint. This was the start of getting my business finances together so that I could actually have money from my business at the end of the year.

July: This month was pretty quiet for me actually. I had one paying client and I was able to do some fun and creative shoots. I actually captured one of my favorite images of this year during this month. I love being able to see the moon in this image.

I was also able to participate in this cool James Bond styled shoot. I got to work with some awesome models and some classic cars. I even got some branded photos taken of myself.

I was bummed this year because this was the year that I was supposed to be going to Comic-Con this year. I rolled my tickets over to 2021, but I’m still not sure if I will be able to attend due to my 9-to-5…I guess we shall see lol.

August: This month I had four paid clients (which was a first for me). I had the honor of capturing the maternity photos of one of my friends and co-workers. This was her and her spouse’s first child so I was a bit nervous because I wanted to make sure I did a great job. The photos came out great and she absolutely loved them!

September: This was another great month. During this month, I had my very first senior session. The senior actually reminded me a lot of myself in high school. Not necessarily wanting to be in front of the camera, but being a good sport about it. He was a gamer and a geek so I think we meshed pretty well lol.

I also was fortunate enough to be apart of Black SD Magazine’s Black Men Wear Pink campaign. I was able to work with Michael Cox and Black SD Magazine to photograph images of Black men wearing pink in support of Breast Cancer Awareness. It was such a great experience photographing all of these awesome Black men. Michael did a tv spot about campaign that was displayed on the local news. Like oh snap, my photos were on local news here in San Diego!

October: For this month, I was able to take photos for a friend of mine’s book cover. My friend Torrey Butler was getting ready to release his biography and he needed some photos. I was so honored that he trusted me to take his photos. He released his book in December and used one of my images for his cover. His book is titled “Where Do I Go From Here?”. I’m even titled as the photographer on Amazon (that is still crazy to me lol). Check out the blog post here.

I also was able to do this really cool shoot out at Glamis Desert with some really cool models. This was such a fun shoot because we had these amazing dresses. The scenery was just amazing and add in the sun and the shoot was just *chef’s kiss*. This was another session where I took one of my favorite images. Click here to read the blog post.

I was definitely salty this month because I could not attend The Photo Cookout in Chattanooga. This year I was finally supposed to get to go, but COVID was like nope. My feelings were so hurt. I was definitely feeling some type of way about it.

November: This was another quiet month for me. I only had one paid session (which is totally okay). This paid session was actually a repeat client. It was a family session for the client that I did the senior session for. Que actually came out and helped me with this shoot. I am forever grateful for Que because he is absolutely amazing when it comes to working with clients. I definitely try and learn from him every time I am around him.

This was also the first time I cooked Thanksgiving dinner. I made ham, dressing, and mac and cheese. The dressing was okay, but not quite like mom’s so I’ll have to keep trying lol. Hubby’s birthday was also this month. I couldn’t take him anywhere and I couldn’t get my hands on the XBOX One so I was a little bummed, but I did make him some of his favorite breakfast and bought him some Saints gear and an updated computer monitor so it was still a win lol.

I also was able to collaborate with Black SD Magazine and Michael Cox for another good cause. We worked together to get some images for a World AIDS’ Day campaign. This was such a great campaign because it talked about reducing the stigma associated with getting tested. Michael was again interviewed by a local news station and my photos were once again displayed on the local news.

December: Here we are at the last month of 2020. This was another month with four sessions. This month has been a busy month. I was able to photograph a mixture of things. I had a business client where we did some head shots. I was also able to photograph another maternity session (which I love), a birthday session, and even an e-commerce session. On top of that, I also had a Christmas themed session so I could have some Christmas content.

For Christmas, I stayed home with the hubby. I didn’t want to risk accidentally getting any of my family member sick. We exchanged gifts (he got me this awesome galaxy light set). We also video called with family. While it wasn’t a normal Christmas, it was definitely still a good one.

So there you have it. That was a recap of 2020. While 2020 wasn’t the best year and definitely had some disappointments, it still wasn’t horrible. I learned a lot and I know 2021 will be an even better year (knock on wood lol). How was your 2020? Let me know in the comments below!