33 photos from 2013.

This was supposed to be a "13 favorite photos from 2013" post,

but it turned into a "33 favorite photos from 2013" post.

Because all the photos are my favorites.

And sometimes I have a hard time choosing photos for a blog post.

I call it "the photographers curse".

or just indecisiveness.

Ehh, I really can't decide which to call it.

haha. ;)

Jokes aside though, 2013 was another amazing year.

As I was putting this post together, I was reminded of everything God did for me this past year. He provided my renewed passport days (literally, like, 4 days) before I was scheduled to leave for Africa. He provided the funds for me to travel to Mexico, Uganda, New Zealand, and Australia. He placed witnessing opportunities in my path. He gave me more than I could humanly handle, but walked with me through it. For me, 2013 was a year of highs and lows, boldness, learning, living my dreams, and trusting God.

To my 2013 Valerie Beth Photography clients and those who made my world travels possible in 2013, THANK YOU!

Enjoy 33 of my absolute favorite photos from 2013!
PS. all the photos were taken by me, unless I'm in the photo. ;)


To view more photos from the "H" sibling photoshoot, click here.

In June, I went on a missions trip to build a house for a family in Baja California, Mexico.

Isn't this an amazing view?!

The sunsets were fantastic.

I loved that these girlies were such hams for the camera!

They also corrected me when I tried to speak Spanish. haha. :)

In August, I spent two weeks at Boanerges Deaf Initiative in Kawempe, Uganda.

This is my budding photographer buddy, Samuel. Love him to pieces! :)

He took this hilarious picture of me on one of the first days I was in Uganda. Talk about crash-course in Sign Language! :)

My beautiful girl, Sharon. :)

My girls, Sharon, Patricia, and Benitar. <3

To see more photos from Tyler W's senior session, go here. :)

The first of my close friends to get married! Lesley and Mat got married in August, and I had the privilege of being the second shooter! :)

More photos coming soon!

Then I went to New Zealand for 6.5 weeks.

Hello, Auckland! :)

New Zealand is EASILY the most stunningly, beautiful place I have ever been.

It almost made me want to become a landscape photographer!

Did I mention that I got to tour the Hobbiton Movie Set? :)

Hello, Bag End (that's Bilbo Baggins' home, in case you aren't a fan of The Lord of the Rings or The Hobbit).

This is Mt. Egmont (or Mt. Taranaki), in Taranaki (tara-NACK-ee), North Island, New Zealand.

One word.

Breathtaking.

Ohawera (oh-HOW-er-uh) Beach, Taranaki region, NZ.

A place called Te Anau (pronounced similar to Tey/ANNIE-ow), on the South Island of New Zealand. 

Stunning, yes? :)

"S-Sy-Syd-Sydn-Sydne-SYDNEY! It says SYDNEY!" ~Dori from Finding Nemo 

I absolutely LOVED getting the chance to go to Australia.

I've dreamed about it for a long time, and I still can't believe that it actually happened in 2013! :)

My friend, Kali, from YWAM (Youth With A Mission) is Australian, which is how I ended up going to Australia for a week. I had the honor of taking photos for her family (aaand I also managed to jump into a few of the photos, hehe). ;)

More photos from this shoot coming soon!

Me and Kali. I was SO blessed to be able to spend a week with her in October! <3

YWAM friends are friends for life!

To see more photos from Aaron's senior session, click here.

To see the rest of Noel's senior photos, go here.

I also got the chance to do senior photos for my sister's friend, Bethany.

Full blog post coming soon!

And I also took photos for the Walls family! 

More photos coming soon! :)

Here's to a fantastic 2014! <3

~Valerie