I love love…

So, I told Kari I would give her $10 if she could guess what my blog post title would be for this session…and now she has enough money to buy me lunch!  I don’t know why I find it so intimidating, yet so exciting to photograph people that I am close to.  I guess it’s weird for my family to see me “at work” as an artist, because I am usually such a left-brained personality…but come alive behind the camera and swing way right…and I feel like a dork for people that know me to see me in this role…you know, when I say dork-ified things like “yes! that is it!” or “wow, I am really feeling that…” or “oh, there it is…oh my…that was God-breathed…”  I just get in my element and go with it, not noticing things like time, cars in the street, or caring if I am barking like a dog to get the expression that is my heart…blah, blah, yadda, yadda….

BUT…I always cherish the time to edit images of my loved ones and really see them…like I did with Josh’s grandma this summer.  So, my cousin called a few weeks ago and said Mom and Dad would like you to photograph them for their portrait for their 50th wedding anniversary party!  Gulp…a formal portrait?!  I usually do families with small children and pets…not a FORMAL portrait…of people I know!?  I am not a formal gal…really…I wear flip-flops in November, for crying out loud!  But, of course, I agreed…I mean, it’s my Aunt…my kid’s Aunt Nana…that has made all their fabulous baby blankets, and Zachary’s favorite nighttime pillow…and the yummiest desserts at all our family gatherings ever…I mean, could I say, “um, sorry, I am booked…”  Not hardly.  But…I am scared, what if I let them down!?

So, we booked it.  And the day came…and they came…in their formal attire and they were GORGEOUS! Absolutely stunning together.  And we created the formal portraits that accentuated their beautiful style…and it will look amazing at their 50th wedding anniversary celebration!  And I was pleased…and I impressed my friend and assistant Kari, who didn’t know I really knew how to work my studio lights, since we always use natural light…and we rearranged the studio three times…to create the look Kari and I envisioned.

Then it happened…I LOVE it when it happens…He breathed…God breathed…on an image.  I see the expressions in my head – you know how you always remember someone.  Not the posed smiles but the ones that you have seen a million times over – at holiday dinners, births of babies, losses, celebrations, and just hanging out…well, I got it…on “film!”  You see, we did all these posed images – the things that formal portraits are made of…and then I said, “dance!”  And they were like, “here?”  You see, My Aunt Maycene and Uncle Bob are amazingly talented dancers…like the kind you see on top of a music box…so graceful and beautiful…they just float…and when they stood together, and fell into step together, it happened…they relaxed and love filled the room.  Just like that…I felt it…God moved and they danced…and I clicked and captured forever the love that is only created over 50 years of perfecting the dance of life…together.  Amazing.

I am honored to have shared in this time of celebration of FIFTY years of marriage.

I love you Aunt Maycene and Uncle Bob…and am forever grateful for your fifty years of love and teaching us kids what it truly means to vow to love one another through everything.

Me: So what does it take to make it fifty years in marriage?

Her: Close your eyes and hang on.

Him: A good woman.

I love love….