goodbye 2012.

2012 has been a beautiful year for me filled with adventures, growth, and lots of amazing memories. i feel that i've grown as a person and as an artist. i've gotten the chance to meet so many incredible individuals and create so much art work that i am proud of. i've also accomplished a lot of goals that i had set for myself and i am so thankful.

one of the first images that i created in 2012 that i was incredibly happy with. it is an amazing feeling when you get an idea or an image in your mind and you are able to transfer it to something tangible, and it comes out almost exactly how you pictured it.

in february i met this lovely lady named rachel for the first time. she came up to shoot with sarah, danni, anna, and me for the day. our day was filled with laughter and creation, and rachel has since become one of my greatest friends. she and i are very similar with the way we view the world, and work so well together. i'm very thankful that she came in to my life, because she is a fantastic person =).

the amazing anna, who is a dear friend, and often my incredibly talented mua on shoots. i love when she gives me the chance to photograph her. this was taken on the day of our adventure with sarah, rachel, and danni. 

for a little while in the winter, my great friend danni came to visit me from canada. she and i have been "internet friends" for several years since our habbo days, but have gotten together in person three times now. while she was here she assisted me with several shoots and did the hair and makeup on the models. the photo above features the beautiful stephanie, hair and makeup by danni.

some times i jump on the other side of the camera for other photographers. this was taken by the incredibly talented jeff roberts. he's a genuinely awesome to be around, and is totally going places.

trampoline bouncing on a beautifully warm march day with autumn <3. we spent the weekend listening to old music, taking photos, riding scooters, and just generally being ridiculous together like we usually do.

sam <3. i always love photographing and spending time with her; she is a naturally incredible model, plus she has this ability to read my mind and always know what i am trying to convey when i lack the words.

in april david and i spent the weekend at an amazingly beautiful bed and breakfast. there was a fireplace in our room, a shower with multiple shower heads and tile flooring (the bathroom had heated floors as well - oh my god), a bed that required a step stool because it was so high off of the ground, and possibly the most comfortable blankets and pillows that have ever graced my skin. we lounged on the sofa in front of the fire place with champagne and strawberries, watched movies and enjoyed tv shows that we don't typically see, as we don't have a tv at home. on our days out we rode old fashioned bicycles around town, walked along two different beaches, ate food at local restaurants, and just had the most relaxing and beautiful weekend.

my work was featured in lost freedom magazine, which was the first time that i got the chance to see my work printed in a magazine, opposed to digital. throughout the year i have been featured by a lot of other incredible magazines, such as musetouch visual arts magazine, and eloise magazine. every time anyone takes notice in my art it fills me with such joy, even if it's something as simple as adding it to their favorites on flickr.

self portrait therapy, flowers from my love.

winnie. being elegant and beautiful in the spring flowers. this girl should be in vogue.

rachel and anna <3. these two are like my dynamic duo, and i love being around them. our creative energies mesh so well together and we always have the best times.

on this day we spent about 2 hours gluing buttons all over rachel's body (and talking, as we always get distracted doing). we frolicked through fields of tall grass and dandelions as the sun set. while running through the field we laughed and screamed as the slugs covered our feet.

in june my friends and fellow photographers sarah loreth, diana lemieux and myself held our very first photography workshop. meeting the lovely individuals that were eager to learn from us was so amazing, and i really hope to host a lot more workshops in the future. i really love to teach and help people, and i hope that i can turn that in to something more.

and then there was the midwest flickr gathering. by far one of the best experiences of my life thus far. sarah and i made the 15 hour drive to indiana to meetup with 20+ other photographers/friends/strangers who soon became friends, and family. every day was filled with blistering indiana heat, everyone grabbing props and running off to photograph each other, constant creation, golden sunsets covering the entire farm, and magic. 

it was amazing how quickly we all became friends and bonded. some of us had been friends before meeting, and some of us hadn't, but when we were together, we all felt like family. even the strangers we met at steak and shake wanted to be part of our adventures.

taken by liisa härmson.

another incredible part of the experience was getting to be in front of the cameras that belonged to people that i have admired for ages, and some that i had just found out about, but grew to admire. i will admit, there were many moments where i was fan-girling over the people that i was photographing or that were photographing me. the entire experience was so surreal and like a dream come true.

taken by ethan coverstone.

taken by cierra benavidez.

taken by joshua malik.

taken by shane black.

taken by brad wagner.

all of us <3. photo by shane black.

with amazing experiences comes tragic ones. upon returning from indiana my family and i lost a dear friend and loved one, my baby scamper. he was with us for 20 years, which is practically my entire life, and an amazingly long life for a cat. my mom called to tell me that he wasn't doing well, and that she was worried he was passing away. of course this is something that you expect, especially with a pet, as their lives are more fleeting than ours. but despite expecting it, you can never be prepared for it. scamper was healthy his entire life, and even toward the end, he was never sick, just simply started to slow down about a week before he went. whenever i would imagine his passing, i would always hope that it would happen the way it did: comfortable in his home, peaceful, and without suffering. scamper was one of the brightest aspects of my entire life, and i can honestly say i loved him like i would any other family member, if not more. he was such a big part of our lives, and it still feels bizarre not having him around. i still expect to see him at the door when i go to my mom's house. although, i still feel him here with me, and i think that i always will. losing scamper in the physical sense was the one thing in my life that i always feared happening, and it truly did break my heart. but i can sincerely say that he made my life better. a lot of people take animals for granted, or claim that they are not as worthy as humans are.. but to me they are just as important, and often better than most of the people that i meet, as they always love you unconditionally, and are always pure. my dad found scamper for me when i was just 3 years old. he was abandoned by his mom (or so we assume) in the woods, soaking wet in the rain, when my dad happened upon him. he brought him home, and we fed him food with an eye dropper. he's been with us throughout our travels and hardships, and i will never ever stop loving or missing him <3. rest in peace my baby, i miss you every single day.

in late july i began my second 52 weeks project, as i needed something to help motivate and inspire me. i especially love these projects because it inspires me to create more self portraits, which are incredibly therapeutic for me, and are typically my favorite pieces that i create.

my 24th birthday was spent with some of my most favorite people in the world: my mom, my sister, david, autumn, and natalie. we spent the day taking the ferry to peaks island, riding bikes, and exploring beaches.

flowers left on our door step, delivered from david's sweet parents, for my birthday.

over the summer, natalie and i got the chance to meet each other for the first time. natalie is another friend of mine that i met years ago online on habboforum. we drifted for a little bit years ago, but when our friendship picked back up, we remained close ever since. meeting her in person was amazing, and we instantly felt comfortable with one another, which wasn't much of a surprise. 

fall came and went quickly as it always does; the leaves were knocked off of the trees due to all of the rain that we had, which made me feel a bit sad,

but i enjoyed seeing all of the beautiful colors while they were here.

massachusetts adventures with anna. we ventured down for our friend michelle's wedding, did some thrifty shopping downtown, ate a delicious brunch at sound bites, all the while experiencing near death from a crazy cab driver who barely spoke english. 

autumnal drives with my love <3.

on this weekend rachel spent the night at our place. we managed to pack 6 different photoshoots in to our weekend, one of which required rachel to have yellow paint dumped over her head in the middle of the road at 6am (her idea, i swear).

the first frost of the year!

david and i eating panera, and watching the planes land and take off.

during hattie watson's trip across the u.s. she and her boyfriend stopped in maine, and i had the pleasure of working with her. anna, rachel, and brenna also came along for makeup, jewelry, and hair. hattie is an incredibly sweet person and super talented at what she does. i can honestly say that i loved every image that i took of her. this one here got accepted to vogue italia =).

colette stone was back in maine for a bit, and came down to portland to shoot with anna and me. a lovely lady from australia named jessica brennan sent me some pieces of clothing to shoot with, and one of them is being worn by colette above. you should seriously check out her designs, she is incredibly talented. on top of that, colette is incredibly talented as well. she is currently out in california pursuing her dreams of becoming a full time actress/model, and she is seriously going to be huge, look out for her.

david and i on the eve of our 4th year together <3. we walked around downtown, and picked a place to eat at random that we had never been to before, tried new things like using chopsticks and foods that we hadn't ever tasted. we visited a bar (which we rarely ever do) that had a big fluffy dog, adventured around town, and ate gelato despite it being cold outside. i love him so much, and it's crazy that we've been together for four years now. he brings me back to earth when i am being crazy, makes me laugh, tells me to stop procrastinating and work on my photography, and loves me for who i am, as cliche and cheesy as that sounds. he's always there for me, and i am so thankful to have him in my life.

christmas <3. one of my absolute favorite times of the year, and my favorite scent (christmas trees). the older i get, the more i love winter. i adore snow, and cold weather. snow makes the world quiet, pure, and beautiful. i am so happy that it has been snowing a lot so far this year.

last but not least, something extremely exciting for me that i have been wanting for a long time: one of my images was published on a book cover! on the inside i was screaming with excitement when i found out, though in reality i was speechless and teary eyed. this book was published in spain! so cool. the models here are the lovely sam casey and kacey wilson.

overall 2012 has been so amazing, and i cannot wait to see what this year has in store for me. thank you to everyone that has supported me or been in my life in a positive way. i love you all.

- Savannah

www.savannahdaras.com