My Favorite Photos of 2022

If we were to look at Jana Musselwhite Photography’s 2022 in terms of numbers, here’s what we’d see: 16 weddings. 12 engagement sessions. 5 rehearsal dinners. 11 newborn sessions. 44 family sessions. Half a dozen other miscellaneous shoots and projects.

To put it in the simplest of words: It was a lot of photography. And I’m grateful for each and every opportunity. Together, they allow me to be a photographer full-time (a dream come true)!

I’ve found that in the midst of a calendar full of weddings and sessions (not to mention all of the behind-the-scenes work it takes for them to happen), it’s absolutely crucial to remember why I’m a photographer.

I first picked up a camera because I wanted to create photos that emotionally resonated with people. The artistic and emotional nature of it has been and always will be my main motivator. Seeing the beauty of your relationships, your milestones celebrated, and documenting them all creatively with photography is the most perfect career I could ever imagine.

So at the beginning of this new year, I’m reminding myself how important creativity is to me, and taking a look at my favorite photos of 2022. These are favorite images. It’s not a “best of” list, or a year-end highlight, or even a list of favorite sessions and weddings. Some of my favorites didn’t even make it to the post!

These are 21 images that fueled me creatively as an artist and reminded me how special this work is. I shared a few thoughts and the behind-the-scenes stories below each of them.

There’s a running joke inside the photography community that a photographer’s favorite photos and their clients’ favorite photos are rarely the same. That’s probably the case for many of the photos you’ll see below. They were little moments of inspiration, trying new things, and looking at interactions from new perspectives. They’re full of feeling. They might not be the “framers”, but they’re each so special for the interactions and moments they documented.

Thank you for a beautiful 2022. I can’t wait to see what 2023 has in store for us!