Because I am submitting Leona and Landon’s wedding to certain publications I am unable to post too much from their amazing wedding at Trois Estates in Fredericksburg. However, I just couldn’t resist giving at least a sneak peak at some of their stunning portraits. This particular location is probably one of my absolute favorite venues to date and I am so excited to have the opportunity to photograph there again just next month. God willing, the light will be just as perfect then as it was for Leona and Landon. Keep an eye for the entire post soon.
Last month I had the amazing honor of being invited to speak at the Central New York PUG meeting in Syracuse, NY. It was an all around amazing experience and I will forever be grateful for my gracious host, Alice Patterson, who is not only a kind soul but an amazing photographer to boot! Oh yeah and she comes with an incredible family who welcomed me into their home for Super Bowl Sunday and though there is truly no place like home, it was a VERY close runner up. Being from Texas and shooting the majority of my weddings in sunny California I just couldn’t resist the urge to photograph in the snow. Here are a few of my favorite images from a quick shoot I did with Alice’s sister Beth, husband John, and their daughter Abby with her high school sweetheart Charles.
“Love is that time when when the mirrors in my mind turn to windows, and instead of seeing the reflection of myself, I see you…” Unkown
Here it comes. I’ve seen this tens, if not a hundred times. I can quote it word for word…”Look at us. I’m frozen and you’re dead…and I love you.” Best lines. Ever. And as if on cue, I cried. I always do…
Often I am asked where I find my inspiration. Inspiration comes in many forms but you must never set out to look for it. Inspiration can not be found. It, quite simply, finds you. Most often when you least expect it. It can not be contained, or boxed in, or written into an equation to be followed. Inspiration is completely personalized, almost intimate. A kiss between our hearts and our minds. Such was the case when I was relaxing earlier this evening watching one of my all time favorite movies, Vanilla Sky. So much in fact that I just had to share this inspiration with someone. This scene in particular is one of the most inspiring three minutes and eighteen seconds of my life. The Goodness – in a leading role. The colors. The framing. But most importantly the way I felt when I watched this scene. The line “I will see you in another life…when we are both cats”. So. Good. Surely I’m not the only one who has been inspired by a movie, a song, a poem. I would love to hear where inspiration has found you lately! Feel free to share in a comment.
”So why did you decide to have portraits done again?” I asked as I climbed down from the ladder. Berk gave me an inquisitive look, shrugged his shoulders and replied “Well…um…just because?”. I gave a little laugh and went about putting on the finishing details to the shoot. A little to the left here, a tad higher there. Your pocket needs something pretty. Those boots are aaamazing. There. Perfect. At the time I didn’t give it much thought, after all I had a job to do and the sun waits for no man. No, not even for me. Then thirty minutes later I had just released the shutter as the golden, buttery light of a perfect sunset flared from behind a tree in the distance when it hit me. So this is what “just because” looks like. At that very moment I found myself wishing that every session was a “just because” session. Every client a “just because” client. Every beautiful sunset, god’s way of shrugging his shoulders and saying “just because”. And I smiled. So often I find myself documenting some of the most important moments in a person’s life. A marriage, a pregnancy, a birth. But to be there in a wide open field, the cool winter wind gently blowing through Leslie’s auburn hair, the perfect Anthropologie dress, and most importantly with two young people who simply love each other and want to be able to remember this day for a lifetime. No immediate plans to get married. No babies on the way. No one going off to war, or returning home safely. They are here simply because they want to be.
After finishing up this edit, I locked up the house, turned out all the lights, fed the dog, and crawled into bed with my baby. We snuggled into the late night and spoke of how we first met and how drunk I got on our first date because I was so stinking nervous. We laughed. And we congratulated ourselves for making it this far despite all we have been through together. Then we snuggled some more. Oh how I wish someone was there to take a picture because like Berk and Leslie, it is the small moments in our lives that are really the most memorable…
“If you live to be 100, I hope to live to be 100 minus 1 day, so that I never have to live without you…” Christopher Robin
Every kiss is different. Some tender, some passionate, and well, some just plain awkward. All beautiful and no two alike. There is the kiss of welcome and of parting. The long, loving present one. The stolen one and the mutual one. There is a kiss of love, of joy, and of sorrow. A kiss that seals a promise. A kiss that breaks one. Oscar Wilde once said “A kiss may ruin a human life”. Oh to be ruined! It is not the touching of lips that brings us to our knees. Its the very moments just before. The moments when she is thinking “I love you. No, I need you. You have found me and I can’t wait to grow old with you. I will tell you of my inner most fears and you will save me from them. You have saved me from myself.” All the while he too quietly whispers to himself, ”You are my girl. You are beautiful, and sexy, and when I look into your eyes I see the faces of my children. I am just a man and I will most certainly make mistakes. But you will forgive me and I will be better for it. I can not wait to make you my wife.” Yes, it is in those moments that many a life has been ruined. Kissing is like drinking salt water: you drink but your thirst only increases! This is what I love most about being a wedding photographer. I get to experience every kind of kiss vicariously through the amazing couples who have graced me with the presence of their love. Thank you universe.
It is the kiss that inspired me when building Mandy and Ben’s engagement album. Their kiss was soft and gentle, like a secret. Normally I would post an album in the form of a slide show. However I wanted you to be able to take your time and enjoy their album at your own pace. And when you get to the part where they kiss, don’t forget to sigh, and smile, and thank the universe for the Goodness, because after all, that is the best part…
