Mike + Hannah | Charlottesville, VA Engagement
Erin James | Portrait Session Part II
“i was born with an enormous need for affection,
and a terrible need to give it.”
[audrey hepburn]
The tagline for Erin James' new online magazine is "Vintage values for elegant women, chasing the lost art of being a lady." She has made references to Kate Middleton, June Cleaver, Grace Kelly and Jane Austen. Her mind is a landing strip for the "beautiful little things that make life rich." As Erin shared with me her hopes for this new career direction, I knew I wanted to photograph her with every bit of lady from a different generation. Given that in her day-in, day-out life Erin's look is a bit more of a "Carrie Bradshaw"/Malibu Barbie/California Baby I want to display her inner Audrey. These headshots and portraits are more practical and functional (than, say, a black tulle ball-gown), but I love seeing this part of Erin, too.
AJ's Birth Story | Maryland Birth Photography
"I CAN SEE A LOT OF LIFE IN YOU,
I CAN SEE A LOT OF BRIGHT IN YOU."
sufjan stevens
Ever since I got texts, a few weeks apart, that these two best friends were pregnant, I planned the following collage. Two mamas, then two mamas and the first baby born, and then two mamas with the second baby born. 2, 2 + 1 = 3, 3 + 1 = 4. In the picture of the four of them I wanted to have the babies in matching outfits. But these pictures go 2, 3...3. 3 + 1 = 3. No, that's not right. But that's the point: it's wrong. This place we breathe is wrong; death is wrong. Families should never be pulled apart, tears should never fall.
"Yes, weep and grieve until the Spirit is poured down on us from above
and the badlands desert grows crops, becoming fertile fields and forests.
Justice will move into the desert.
Right will build a home in the fertile field.
And where there is Right, there will be Peace.
And the promise of Right: joyous lives and endless trust.
My people will live in a peaceful houses, in quiet gardens.
You will enjoy a blessed life, planting well-watered fields and gardens."
Isaiah 32:15 The Message
"I CAN SEE A BED AND MAKE IT, TOO.
I CAN SEE A FIRESIDE TURN BLUE."
Soon and very soon even the sniffles and empty arms will be muffled and filled. Until then, we have the shade of some sturdy, broad redwoods, covering us and giving us cool rest. Sometimes Justice moves in the crook of your elbow -- "... loosing the pangs of death, giving back life, because it was not possible for him to be held down by the grave." Life triumphs once again, little battles in this Earth War (spoiler alert: Life wins). When a fertile field is a fertile woman, and a quiet garden is a 12x20 birth room at Shady Grove Hospital (where a Baby Fruit was ripe), you only look forward to the destruction of the badlands evermore. Right will build a home, and no child shall be missing.
The look of compassion and care in one best friend to the other. An unruly little tongue. Laughter in between contractions. Kisses on the head from a sensitive midwife. The first push. Grown adults weeping together. Sleepy peepers (coming into this world is hard work, you know). Labor being over. Fat arms. Being known. A very fast labor (less than an hour after checking into the hospital we met a little boy). Hospital ice chips. Grandparents in the lobby. Sharing our very selves.
"You will cry, but your grief will turn to joy.
A woman giving birth to a child has pain;
but when her baby is born she forgets the anguish because of her joy that her child is here.
So with you: Now is your time of grief,
but I will see you again and you will rejoice,
and no one will take away your joy."
I'm grateful for all the things Baby AJ is to me, but especially how he gives me the gift of Safe Joy. I see and hold him, think of him throughout the day, and clearly see his place in this story. He has brought us so much happiness. He's brought with him a bundle of heaven, a gift from Right.
(Becca: you are beyond strong and the definition of kindred love. AJ has no idea what lot in life he got dealt by being able to be raised and loved by you. I can see a lot of life in you.)
The Salamander Resort | Virginia Wedding Photography
"I simply remember my favorite things,
And then I don't feel so bad."
Sound of Music
A few months ago I had the delightful chance to second-shoot for Mona Botwick at the prestigious new five-star luxury resort in the DC area, the Salamander. Since the resort opened barely a year ago, this is its first "wedding season" and wow -- they knocked it out of the park! The entire day was dripping with beauty yet had such an intimate, family-style sincerity. Mona is an absolute gem and she not only worked her tail off, but was notably kind and charming throughout the full day. (I hope to get to work with you again sometime soon! I thoroughly enjoyed myself! Ps. Kate Triano -- it was lovely to finally meet you. You're a sweetheart too.) I don't second shoot very often, but I found myself loving the nitty-gritty work. When the "pressure" is off to capture the main moments, it's creatively freeing and eye-opening to sneak around being a detail-hunter.
Amanda and Bill were a class act, with hearts full of laughter and welcoming. In my recent memory, I can't recall a group of friends laughing all day long as much as I noticed at this wedding. Thank you for having me, Mona! This wedding day was good for the soul.
(I'm not sure what was more jaw-dropping at The Salamander Resort: the venue or the food!)
The Salamander's Ballroom is the perfect mix of romantic and modern. Well done!
Happy first day of marriage! Here's to many more!
Bobby's Balloons
"HELD ON TIGHTLY AS YOU HELD ONTO ME
AND I BUILT A HOME FOR YOU, FOR ME,
UNTIL IT DISAPPEARED FROM ME FROM YOU."
the cinematic orchestra
If you've been around the past few you months, you know the intersecting stories of Bobby, Ryan and TinyBaby. Three best friends pregnant at the same time with three buddies. Two gone before their time. Janet's Bobby was due on August 20 (which happens to be my birthday -- weirdly enough my Ryan passed away on the day Bobby was delivered. Dates are eerie sometimes.) On his would-be birthday, we gathered together to send balloons to heaven. Watching them wag away made me want to jump on top and take a ride. Go a little higher. Be a little nearer. We sniffled as two parents with an extra spot on their laps soberly celebrated their son. Caleb played violin and the light, bright with glory, appeared over the hill.
Working through grief isn't something to get over, like a bridge. It's a thing to get through, like a river. You're in it forever, but this ain't no lazy-pool with an inner tube (those days are gone). The swim is a fight, especially when your toes can't reach the bottom and it's so cold and you're already beat up. Grief can make your heart feel like a juicy orange, peeled of it's flesh, torn at it's soft spots, left in the desert sun to crackle and dry up. You can become crispy and weak, like burned food -- smoking in a demonstrative attempt to breathe.
But Keep Going sneaks up on you, and gives you some flippers. It can't pull you out -- not yet, someday -- but it can help. The golden cobblestone of heaven can be paved above your head, your very own eyeballs can witness a rose-colored world (without glasses) and the majesty can almost seem as cozy as a soft old blanket on the couch. Hope has a way of finding us, and reminding "You are not forgotten. Look, I'm writing it across the whole sky tonight. I love you."
It was as if we were getting a message from my Mama Bear that the blue and orange balloons had made it safe and sound, just as we will someday too.
I love you Janet, Seth, Audrey, Edith and Bobby Boy. Each and every one.
Hannah Nicole | Senior Portraits in "Paris"
"Maybe you should go to Paris. It helped me a lot."
"I WAS THERE FOR THIRTY-FIVE MINUTES ONCE. CHANGING PLANES."
"Oh, but Paris isn't for changing planes, it's... it's for changing your outlook,
for... for throwing open the windows and letting in...
letting in la vie en rose."
Sabrina [1954]
You know when you meet someone during their years in Paris, and Hannah has just arrived, suitcase in hand. La Vie en Rose means "the pink-tinged life" or "life in love." I think in some ways once you go to "Paris" you never really leave, at least not in your heart, and you're always learning yourself. She's off to Seattle and art school and wet, windy autumn. It will throw open her windows.
In anticipation for this new 'country' of her life, I wanted to photograph Hannah in a way that she hasn't seen herself. Hannah is most comfortable in soft, jammie-type clothes with messy hair and chapstick. She loves cheese, but hates mac-and-cheese, and learned about poise-through-pain during ballet. She has been writing indirectly about her ache, and recently shared more details of her reality.
Dear Hannah,
Oftentimes, in my short experience on earth, people need to think more and pay better attention. Many use words that they don't know what they mean (I'm guilty of this, I've learned -- I try hard to speak accurately) and they create a life of fake happiness and pretend. That isn't to say they don't have genuine joy or care about good things, but so often there is fear and even inability to be honest in their own brains and hearts. Their is a flimsiness to their world. You are unlike these people.
You, young lady, have balanced the truth of your struggle with sincere respect to your family. Life hasn't been "The Hannah Show," no, most of the times it's "The Make One More Peanut Butter Sandwich and Fold One More Towel and Tie One More Pair of Shoes Before Math Problems Show," which can be a very boring show some seasons. But throughout the lonely homework nights, the upheaval, the not-traveling to exotic places, the responsibility, the break-downs, the photographs, the complicated emotions, you have been on a treasure hunt. You have been unwilling to give-up on beauty and you crave the depth that only pain can teach. Your self-awareness and kindness are moving. The adjectives you use when you speak and write are accurate, not excessive or unnecessary (but, I mean, we both want to get better at describing with verbs, right? ;)
Sometimes, if I can offer a word of advice, I think it's time to pause the search and settle in for an embrace. There is much you will be, and there is more that you don't know than you do know, nevertheless you are not average nor are you dumb. But it's okay to 'be' and stand up straight at times. You have maturity greater than most I know (and I look up to you for that.) You are more talented, more wise, more happy than I think you give yourself credit for. I wanted to show you in images what I see in your heart: a knock-out, strong, canny, red woman and you do not fade into the background. Looking under the couches and in the dirt has rewarded you with many gifts; don't hoard them away waiting for the perfect time, until you are all you want to be. Pull them out and use with confidence.
God has made you to speak, sometimes with your fingers and sometimes with your pictures and sometimes with your mouth. He will make others to listen and learn. I love your easy sweetness and how you giggled with your hands over your mouth, shaking your head in disbelief, when you saw these pictures. "I can't even look at them!" you said. "It's...I.. I just look so beautiful." You said it like you almost believed it, too. You are Hannah. You are beautiful.
You are beautiful because you write me tear-jerking texts that I never respond to and you write again. You are beautiful because you have laid in dark rooms on various couches, unable to sleep. You are beautiful because you love your father and you love your mother and you love the family they've given to you. You are beautiful because you enjoy comfort food, and you meet the Comforter in His meals. You are beautiful because your eyes. You are beautiful because you sat in my house, engaging my dad and my little sisters and my baby boy, with sincerity. You are beautiful because laughing hard brings tears to your eyes and your desire is written all over your face: You're looking forward to the next time that happens, hopefully in a couple minutes. You are beautiful because you take the time to listen and take the time to write. You are beautiful because you are generous. You are beautiful because you're brave and you're beautiful because you're scared and you're especially beautiful because you know they go hand-in-hand. You are beautiful because you savor mango salsa. You are beautiful because you're peaceful.
Go off to Seattle and be yourself and please keep sharing with us, because learning from you has been one of the most clear 'goods' of this year. La Vie en Rose, my friend.
Admiringly,
Kristen
"ONCE UPON A TIME THERE LIVED A SMALL GIRL.
AND LIFE WAS PLEASANT AND VERY, VERY SIMPLE.
BUT, ONE DAY, THE GIRL GREW UP AND WENT BEYOND THE WALLS OF THE GROUNDS
AND FOUND THE WORLD."
Mommy + Buddy Portraits | Maternity + Family
The Little Ladies | Portraits
“behind every beautiful thing, there's some kind of pain.”
bob dylan
Just about two years ago I took my sisters out for portraits on the beach. They moved away to Florida, so when I came to visit I couldn't help but to steep in their beautiful childhood. Being away and then being with gave me artist's clarity and I wanted to photograph them "as they were." Mom watched on glowingly. We ran around the sand until the sun set and once it was dark we ate tacos and laughed. They were free, funny, best of friends and shockingly engaging (I crave their social skills). The setting of a twilight beach was utopian and timely.
But now, they are different. They are older and they are wiser and they ever-more engaging and they watched their mother deteriorate before they're innocently round eyes at only ten and twelve years old. As they traveled with us across the country on a recent road trip, I was able to "people watch" them in concentrated doses and I had the itch to document them again -- how they are now. All trip I talked about doing a shoot but it was never 'right.' As we drove through Wyoming, with it's hard, repetitive, self-shrinking constance, I knew it was time. We had driven through the night and for 16+ hours, but as soon as we arrived to our hotel I threw them dresses and we ran out to the neighboring pastures.
These little girls have held cold, mottled feet and wept into the chest of an unresponsive mother. They've caught the stomach bug and cleaned themselves up alone, wishing to crawl into bed with the best nurse of all. They've witnessed the various outbreaks and processes of other grieving family members, which is sometimes scary. And they sing along to "The Lonely Goatherd" like sparkling buffoons, purposely off-key and definitely amused. And my goodness: do they know how to savor and dissect a delicious meal (especially Chicago deep-dish pizza.) The mix of severe and whimsical I see in their faces, watch in their actions is powerful to me. I am a proud big sister and I am moved to present my silly, smart, sad, strong, shockingly engaging, happy, all-too-grown-up sisters:
(I think Mama Bear still looked on glowingly.)
Lake Tahoe + My Family | Personal
Mamas + Cubs | Portraits
inspired by huffington post's recent publishing of ken heyman's photographs of mothers. an idea like this had been in my brain-idea-bin for a while, and this finally gave me the motivation to follow through with it.
Dear mama and mama-figures (whoever you may be),
Thank you for your hips...
... your cheeks,
... your forearms and the crook above your elbow.
Thank you for your time,
... (your night-time
... and your day-time) -- for a lifetime.
Thank you for monster socks,
for lots of yummy yogurt because it's my favorite and makes me nice and chubby,
... and for your patience.
Thank you for loving me even more now than you did then...
Thank you for calm,
and for your exhausted,
for your proud,
and for all that you've memorized; for all only you know.
Thank you for confidence,
thank you for fluffy towels,
and thank you for being so brave.
Thank you for sharing your house with me,
...your humor with me,
...your body with me.
Thank you for helping me learn life basics,
keeping me safe,
and also clean (the best you can).
You are comfort.
You are the last of the day.
You are where I say good-bye.
You are a queen without a crown.
You are reinforcement, "You can do it!," and proof that: your joy is my joy.
You make me feel like I am the apple of your eye.
You are "I will never let you go"...
... and a shoulder to rest on.
All the "up-up!"s, "hold you?"s, "one more story?"...
... and attention to little and long ideas don't go forgotten. Maybe unnoticed, but never forgotten.
You are beauty. (And a total weirdo)
You are strong. (And you cry the best sadness.)
You are hope. (Even when I'm not with you.)
Thank you for every wrinkle, ache, heartburn, cramp, nap, car ride, prenatal vitamin, hug, lunch, tear, vote of confidence, high-five, eye-contact, long night, laugh, iPhone picture, cheer from the stand, Christmas gift, stretch mark, sip of water after bedtime, coupon-cut, back rub, conversation and moment.
With as much heart as you've given me,
Your cub.
The Sherrill Family | Dallas Family Portraits
"it’s been a long hard ride (we've got a ways to go),
but this is still the place that we all call home."
dierks bentley
“Suddenly it seemed to me that I looked back from a great distance on that smile and saw it all again - the smile and the day, the whole sunny, sad, funny, wonderful day and all the days that we had spent here together. What was I going to do when such days came no more? There could not be many; for we were a family growing old..." Jetta Carleton
I have nearly ten good friends who are now wives and mothers. When I met most of them they had neither "a guy" or "kids." What a meaningful and fascinating experience it is to watch someone else grow, overcome hard new things, nurture a brood, bring new relationships into the world, develop, and happily thrive. Jessica (Shae) and I met with weirdly similar life goals, and similarly weird current-life circumstances. "It's the oldest story in the world. One day you're 17 and you're planning for someday. And then quietly, without you're ever really noticing, someday is today. And then someday is yesterday. And this is your life." It's wonderful to look at a short-legged, fat-footed, brownie-eyed, watchful, puppy-boy and see my friend looking back up at me. At least parts of my friend. His eye-shape is the same as hers when he smiles, and just like his dad's "at rest." Her dimples, his eyebrows. Her goofiness, his need to figure out how things work. A whole, original, never-before-and-never-again human who was wondered about in parks and Chipotle's all over the east coast. I love knowing a talented, quietly sassy, determined woman and then meeting the new characters in her story -- finding out where her story all along was written into somebody else's. This is the man. This is the child. Here is her family!
Josh is a friendly, smart partner for Jessica, and she is a lively, tough match for him. Judah is clearly and affectionately loved by them both (I think every time we've hung out together Josh feeds/changes/cleans-up Judah. Caleb and Josh have special bonding time over their sons' stank! haha) Being with them is easy and warm. I love this little family, mostly because I know how much joy they have in each other.
Erin James | Portait Session
"Whether you are four or forty-four or nineteen,
it's always wonderful to be elegant,
it's always fashionable to have grace,
it's always glamorous to be brave,
and it's always important to own a delectable perfume!
Yes, wearing a beautiful fragrance is in style at any age!”
c. joybell c.
Lydia Jane Portraits | Butlers Orchard Photography
when the leaving is hard but you go now
and you feel what you drag across the floor
because something with these trails are just different
since they shook the earth in 1904.
tallest man on earth
Before I can photograph anyone, I need to study my subject. I don't always get to spend time with brides before their wedding day, so I've had to learned nuance and focus hard to pay attention: what does the bride do for a living? What is her e-mail address (a university e-mail, an old childhood e-mail, a "first name last name" gmail?) How big is her bridal party? Who is the ring-leader amongst the bridal party? Is the bride the introverted one? Is she loud but introverted? Does she escape off to apply make-up alone, and return to the group once she's had time to herself? Is she stereo-type A? Is she late and doesn't seem to realize, or is she late and losing her marbles under the couch? How much jewelry is she wearing, wear is it from, and what is it being stored in to transport to the wedding? What kind of shoes does she have -- practical or glamorous or a hearty effort to achieve both? There are dozens of minute-by-minute displays to study so I can better understand, and therefore better photograph. I'm well-trained in processing small details quickly and giving myself a general answer to the question: Who is this person?
So, when my "bestie" of almost 14 years stepped in front of the camera I had an odd moment of panic. I couldn't be more comfortable with her -- even the her that has changed and is changing. I trust her, we've analyzed our oddest and best body features together for years (I'm much shorter than her, but my legs are inches longer! She has a Victorian neck with chiseled collar bones, and I have a tree stump.), I know the stories intimately that have brought her here, and vice versa. We both lament the problem of being young -- using words we didn't understand, wanting too badly to be an integral part of a grown-up world, trying to be taken seriously! We've been transformed as people on a dual-year basis: each of us at 16, 18, 20, 22 and 24 are at core levels different women, and it's unsettling to look back and think "Oof. Once I was a little girl who thought I knew what I was talking about." It's unsettling because we know how particularly intent we were on being mature, smart, well-spoken. It's unsettling because we realize we'll in a few more years we'll look back on today and think "Oh, what immaturity. We thought we knew so much." Change is hard for her, compassion is hard for me. She can be overly dramatic, I can be overly stoic. She's very ordely, I'm very scattered. I know this friend well. But the reason for my odd moment of panic is that I know her so well, connect to her so quickly, have so much information about her, I wondered if I could document who my friend really is today in her life.
If you were to meet my bestie, you would notice about her the exact same things that drew me to her when I was 11 years old. You'd notice her brash sense of humor, her "How did she come up with that?!" weird yet spot-on analogies, her extroverted need to be in the middle of people as often as possible, her vocabulary. You'd hear her various, constant laughing. You'd want to be close to her energy and buzz. You'd be interested in her deeply emotional and sincere opinions. Whenever I've photographed her in the past my instinct was that mouth-wide-open, amused, laughing Lydia. She is still that, but as she's come into herself ever more, I find myself seeing her confidence, her chin up, her experienced strength, her empathy, her boldness, her quietness. I've come to her house at midnight to sit with her while she wept on the floor. I've toured her college art show, admiring her higher-education work. I've watched somebody else become her very best friend, just like she watched the same thing happen to me. And very soon I'm going to watch her leave behind her childhood, family, client base, and foundation to move to a new city and life with very little security. As we photographed, I had the Courageous yet Kind Lydia Jane in my heart and mind. I love you, old friend.
(Pssst! Go see her beautiful new logo and website ---> l y d i a j a n e . c o m)
Five Years of Winkfields | Personal
"they can't understand the magic of your wonderland."
the fox + the hound
They were apartment neighbors, he saw her coming home from work, he tripped down the stairs , she laughed, they met, and when they got engaged they booked me for their wedding. Ashley and Kyle started as perfect strangers...
... and somehow in the weird merge lanes of life, we became friends -- and I have been able to document some of the most significant experiences of their lives. When I moved into my first apartment, they invited themselves over for dinner, arrived with gifts, sat on my tiny wobbly chairs, and made me feel like I lived in a palace. Before I even started dating Caleb, they wanted to meet him. We had lunch at Chipotle with their new puppy in Kyle's sweatshirt pocket. They were at my wedding as friends. And a couple of months later Ashley texted me: "We're having a baby! In June!" and I answered her back: "WHAT! Congratulations! (We're having a baby, too! Also in June!") She responded back: "WHAT! Congratulations!" So we were pregnant together, went stroller shopping together, ate Nando's chicken with our feet on the booth together. We both knew we were having daughters. We both were wrong. Their son was due on June 7th, mine was due on June 6. Their son was born on June 7th (ON HIS DUE DATE. Who does that?), mine was... late. I photographed Jack entering this and their world. They came to meet Rowdy at the hospital. We had the best baby boys together. When my mama was becoming more ill, they came over with more food (like cilantro-chicken soup and cornbread.) When my mama passed away, they were at her memorial service. When she found out I had miscarried Ryan, she sent me this text (she miscarried twice before Jack): "As painful as the loss is, you will now see a slight difference between yourself and other women who haven't lost. They don't love their children any less; there's just a difference. It's slight, but it's there. Your next pregnancy will be different, and your subsequent doctor's appointments will be more apprehensive. But. It makes the healthy heartbeat more miraculous. It makes each uncomfortable kick and wave of nausea that much more 'welcome.' It makes each 'good appointment' that much more exhilarating. It makes things like 3.5 months of bed-rest *slightly* more manageable. It also makes your cry more sporadically over things you wouldn't normally cry over. It makes you more. And it makes your relationship with your husband more. It makes your family more. It makes those earthly babies more. It makes life more." This mother's day Ashley gave me a hand-painted Polish mug (it looks like something my mama would have bought.) On Jack's first birthday, we were there to eat ribs and mac-and-cheese (and apparently duck...!) and celebrate life. One more year of life, one more photoshoot, one more day, one more cake, one more laugh, one more time.
Though I'm particularly blessed with close friends, I'm so glad God let me have a few more.
(ps. Ashley: you're up! This world needs another caramel-pudge-cheesecake-child rawr-ing at the shower. Plus, how cute would Jack look holding his little baby sibling? ;)
Titus Turns One | Child Portraits
Rowdy on The Rio Carousel | Personal
“We walked always in beauty, it seemed to me.
We walked and looked about, or stood and looked.
Sometimes, less often, we would sit down.
The place spoke for us and was a kind of speech.
We spoke to each other in the things we saw.”
wendell berry | jayber crow
He saw it, for the very first time, on its inaugural day. Last year we walked the local man-made "lake," passing the shops and restaurants of the outdoor mall. Our baby was due in days, we walked and walked. The year before we brought our spreadsheets and wedding folders to review over steak fajitas, and when we were done we walked and walked. And the year before? The night after our first kiss we had sandwiches at Corner Bakery, saw The Help at the theater, and walked and walked. Nearly sixty years ago, my grandparents walked and walked a new park in their area -- a park named Disneyland. "The story of my life..." Rowdy's face, not just jaw but his while face, dropped when he saw the carousel for the first time. He marched it's direction at a swarthy speed (only distracted by a balloon tower.) He's a focused fellow and doesn't give away smiles freely, but one of his surest signs of happiness is when he's still. He clasped the metal pole, sat upright, "oooooo"-ed. Cogsworth and Lumiere and Mrs. Potts welcomed him as their guest through the speakers. He waved good-bye when the ride was done. He danced to the violins, eagerly introduced himself to new friends, he scaled the play-park, but also sat still on the steps. If we could have one night to walk around heaven together, it must be something like last Saturday night.
Ps. If you're in the Montgomery County area, go ride the new Washingtonian Rio Carousel!
Rowdy + The Lake | Personal
“anything that works against you can also work for you
once you understand the 'principle of reverse.'”
maya angelou
To see some more pictures of neatest 11-month-old on the eastern seaboard, as well as a few thoughts the heart, head on over to our family blog ---> We Are The Family Morris .com!
Erica + Eric | Linganore Winery Carnival Wedding
out of the tree of life i just picked me a plum
still, it's a real good bet,
the best is yet to come
frank sinatra
(Linganore Winery was the dangerously gorgeous setting for this wedding day. Oh I love this place.)
She's proven herself responsible, competent, independent. Erica is an organized dental hygienist, and it makes complete sense. She's not a hot mess. She's not frazzled. She's not "all over the place!" She's not quirky-goofy-silly-boppy. She's kind. She's kind. She's focused. She's a go-getter. I could nearly imagine her as one of the first women graduating (at the top of her class) from a university in the 1930's. (She'd be wearing pearl stud earrings.)
I've been photographing the Smart Family for years, and Erica is Jessica (before marriage: Sherwood) Smart's little sister. Last winter their mom asked me to take a few pictures of the whole Sherwood clan and it was during said shoot that I met Eric, Erica's boyfriend. He had accidentally slept in (and felt horribly about it), came screeching into the parking lot, and was finishing off his breakfast: a bag of Doritos. Trimmed, neat, prompt (actually, early!) Erica was taking it in stride, and laughing. Throughout the session the two of them seemed to wander behind or whisper during frames. I hoped, right then in that moment, that this wouldn't be the last time the two of them were in front of my camera. Eric had kind eyes, he seemed to walk hand-in-hand with Erica out of her comfort zone in healthy ways (minus the chemical chips), and seemed to respect her well-developed strengths. Oh. And he made her laugh. Thank goodness they decided on forever.
When I took this picture the gentleman in the wheelchair, Erica's grandfather, was quite sick. He sweetly enjoyed the wedding, but not soon after he moved worlds. I care deeply, passionately, about my work and the high-honor it is to record families together on days like these.
The gasps and responses to Erica making her way to Eric are some of my favorite in the history of my career. Truly the definition of sweet.
Along with the sounds of water, the smell of completely new babies, and the taste of fabulous cheese (especially melting) I think some of the best things in life is confidently, securely happy people who love to laugh.
And... kiss. Drew Barrymore shares a similar idea boldly: "Kissing - and I mean like, yummy, smacking kissing - is the most delicious, most beautiful and passionate thing that two people can do, bar none."
My soul is fed when there is fun energy. It's crystal clear when groups of people have an air of stuffiness, vanity, or superiority instead of carefree, happy fun. Photographing these people was so easy because they were sincerely happy. Every of of them. Ah! That's another thing! Sincerity. That's the word. I've been writing this post trying to clock this nail on the head: they are sincere. Good, sincere people. You can see it in their eyes; their body language.
Erica, with help from her guy and family, pulled off the perfect mix of "young fun" and "classy" with their carnival at the vineyard reception.
Thank you for being best buds, and life-long teammates. Thank you for having me photograph yet another special event in your family's life. Thank you for getting married at Linganore (OH. MY. MY!) And thank you for being patient with my slow-blogging-new-mom year last year. On that note: congratulations on your little guy on the way. He's going to have a great life alongside the two of you. "The best is yet to come..."
Ps. This may be my favorite "Smart Family Shot" yet ;)
Four Buddies | Child Playtime Portraits
"love is what carries you,
for it is always there, even in the dark,
or most in the dark!
but shining out like gold stitches in a piece of embroidery."
wendell berry
Two Mays ago I babysat the three musketeers and grabbed a few pictures of them. Since the original shoot I was married, we added a Rowdy and a TinyBaby Kless (due in a few months!), and we lost two grandparents and two siblings. The documentation of "the passage of time" has become particularly important to me over the last 24 months. Years feel more like school-quarters, months go by in days, days can be brief minutes... but in all that time crazy stuff happens. Crazy stuff including growing, changing and developing. My two best friends have been annually photographing ourselves at a local park (we're scheduling year nine!) and the pictures are important to me. I love this new traditions with my friend's kids.
(If you haven't seen the previous shoot it's worth browsing through really quickly! It gives these pictures more punch -- even though a group of cute kids can totally stand on their own.)
The Ring-Leader // Audrey, of the Remsnyder Tribe, is the oldest. She has had a quirky personality, clear communication skills and incredible weirdness since she was born. She looks like her mama, and dresses like a lady... but she is a sassy, intellectual, creative bombshell.
The Big Boy // Behr is the first boy in the group, and has been the longstanding only boy in the group. He is perfectly made with a set of sincere emotions and a vibrant imagination. He is a sweet little dude, is curiouser than the cat, and says the funniest things. You can't help but watch him as he pudges around, declaring announcements about all he does! We love this young Kless.
The Terminator // Audrye's little sister Edy, also known as "Crunchy" (among other things), has the girliest-lightest-song-bird voice, with velvet brown eyes and charming curls. And she's a beast. She's by no means the left-out third in the group. She holds her own and doesn't back down to a challenge. Her beast-mode has been a defining quality of hers since birth, but it only becomes more special as her tender side comes out more and more. In one foul swoop she can finish her (large) plate of lunch, hit Behr in the head, pat him and carefully cradle a baby doll. Boom boom "aw." That's Edy.
The Little Big Boy // Rowdy Man loves his friends -- even if they don't get to play together as often as we want. And he doesn't skip a beat. He absolutely believes he is as old, capable and strong as they are. He has been an early "mover" -- rolling at six weeks, crawling at five months, walking at nine months -- but his activity isn't just action. He pays close attention to the people and environment around him. He puts "two and two together" and picks up on things quickly. He's a happy baby, but he's a serious one. I love how he reminds me of his dad ;)
There are many ways to experience love -- all different, important, and valid -- but one of my personal favorites is the love of and the love between children. Even this morning, on the four-month anniversary of my mama's passing, I was filled with laughter and refreshment as oversaw these knuckleheads play on bed.
Allix + Trevor | Dallas Wedding
"alabama, arkansas;
i do love my ma and pa,
not the way that i do love you."
edward sharpe & the magnetic zeros
It all started with a ruby -- a Trevor Ruby. A son of gun, with a crooning smirk and doubly-dangerous dark eyes and dark hair; apparently a bit of a hand-full, a rascal. A boy who sure who some growing up to do, but was nonetheless smart, charming, interesting, and loveable. Years later, a few months before Toy Story hit the big screens, a second daughter was born in the deep, quiet country of Texas. She was, and still is, the baby of the family. A princess-loving, folktale-believing, sweet-gusto of all-stereotypical girl. While Young Ruby was somewhere else in the world, being refined and shined, little Allix was, well, being little. Playing, writing, reading, arithmetic, magic, grass fields, songs, and lipstick.
But she grew up, too. She didn't stay in her crib, or tiny shoes, or middle school. She made best friends, started business, worked in an office, saved money, booked clients, and watched her life garden begin to grow. Ever the romantic, her "somebody" was never far from her mind. Ever social, she loved making new friends through her longtime friends. Especially in a small sweet town like Bogata, it's refreshing to meet new faces and hear new voices and begin new friendships. So it was an obvious "yes!" when Allix was invited to come along with her very-best-friend Rachel to a conference a few states north. Isn't it wonderfully weird how one small "sure!" can change your life forever?
Because, well, as is perfectly obvious in the context of this writing, she met a somebody at that conference, and not too many months later that somebody gave her a family heirloom ruby, and became her only. Now, of course there is more to the story. Of course. The story about how and when and why he was scared and quickened into growing up. The story about how awfully bashful he and she were in person. The story about how when they began to talk and listen and ask. The story about moving states to be together, buying a house to live in after the wedding, the first date to a taco shop, the first Valentines in a tree house, about her grandmother marrying at 14 years old, about holding each other in a pick-up truck and praying in-between tears. Of course there is more to the story,
And that's the clear wonder of a wedding day. It's a stunning mark in the story, with hundreds leading up to it, and hundreds coming from it. It's a story in and of itself, but it's a passage way for the future and the past. It's a time where all those stories collide into one emotional, sincere, unforgettable date on a calendar. It's a "the end" and a "once upon a time" and "therefore" and "yet to come." It's where little women who have lived in the same house, in the same town, with the same people her whole life, put on some literal big-girl shoes and walk out the door into an brand new adulthood; where they hug their old life, their ma and pa, metaphorically good-bye and greet a new era of their existence.
Wildflowers -- not quite perfect but absolutely perfect, and dead trees surrounded by living ones, and blind-folds, and sunshine, and running to each other -- it's a nice summary of marriage.
More than any event or other emotion at this wedding, what most touched me was how loved Allix and Trevor are. I don't know if it's because I'm a mother now and I think about "Someday when my son gets married..." or if it's because I myself have had a wedding and begun a marriage ("Oh, I remember how much and yet heart-warming it was to see all the people in my world come together to bless us on August 9th, almost two years ago! Wow. How special.") or if it's because I sharply miss my own mama, but I'll never forget the community -- near and abroad -- that has stabilized the storm. We were made to love and be loved, to know and be known. The Ruby Wedding was quite a testament to the power and joy of being loved. I was one of very few hired vendors. Nearly all my questions where answered with "a friend," "so-and-so in the family," or "my mom." "Who is doing your hair?" "My friend!" "Who is doing the food?" "My aunt!" "Where are you getting the rentals?" "The church is letting us borrow them!" "Who is making the cake?" "My grandma!" Who is coordinating the day-of?" "My mom's friend!" "Who is making the decorations?" "My mom! And I! Together!"
[I rarely post formal family photographs, but I needed to for a few reasons today. First off, sometimes I get asked if I even take these pictures (the answer is: yes! absolutely.). Second, it's a brief encouragement to future brides to have your formals done in a well-lit area (not necessarily the front of the alter.) Lastly, and most importantly, I needed to find a way to sneak my baby boy into this post. He was personally asked to be a picture with the bride and groom. It's a big deal in his life, and I'm his mom so it's a big deal to me. (wink)]
Since my husband played his violin during the ceremony, we had to arrive early to the rehearsal to allow he and the rest of the musicians (friends! of course!) to practice. I'm so glad I was able to see the space before friends and family got their hands on it. We pulled up to a sweet, small, white country home. And that was it. They had a beautiful yard, but after a big rain storm the night before there were mud puddles and strewn wooden limbs, and victim leaves about the property. And no distinctly "wedding" anything. And yet, between 3:00 pm on Friday and 3:00 pm on Saturday, magic -- and elbow grease -- happened. At the handiwork of people who love, support, and celebrate Allix, this venue turned into a masterpiece; it went from "nice" to "marvelous." The kitchen was piping, the grounds were cheering, the music was singing, and the love was overwhelming. Down to the bunting -- the 550 yards of bunting - that wrapped this wedding in it's embrace. Allix's ma made it out of her old dresses, her mother's favorite napkins, her grandmother's best sheets (she remembers sleeping on them as a little girl.) As family members admired the scene, they started to recognize small triangles: "The Easter napkins!" "Oh, Darla's graduation dress!" "Mom's tablecloth!" Hearts were full, and the human connection was pouring over. There is no better way to begin a wedding ceremony.
Throughout the ceremony there were five hymns, drippy tears, a bold sermon, a small hook in wood that slightly tore her dress, and fascinatingly changing-light -- dark shadows with only spots of light, electric almost after-rain clouds, interrupting yellow, peaceful shade. Again, not to over cliche' a setting, but it made for a powerful introduction to marriage with a picture of all these elements at the same time, while surrounded by a great cloud of adoring lineage and witnesses. Happy, happy moment indeed!
I will, in particular, never forget the kindness of Rachel, the maid of honor who just so happened to be the one responsible for Allix and Trevor meeting. As soon as the wedding was finished she grabbed Allix, almost more excited than Allix herself, and waxed "Oh, that was the most natural thing in the world! I stood there and watched and thought 'Why, yes! Why, of course they are getting married.' I thought it might seem odd, but it wasn't! It was the most natural thing in the world! I'm so happy for you!" That vocal, soft, caring attitude was Rachel all day, all week, apparently all-friendship long. But Rachel couldn't hog Allix for too much time -- there were so many others who wanted to exclaim and squeeze for the exact same reasons... And most of all of them, were the brand-new Ruby's.
"Holey moley me-oh-my, you're the apple of my eye. Man oh man, you're my best friend."
They have a self-proclaimed Noah and Allie relationship -- drive each other up the wall ("Why are you being so annoying?!") and moments later they're snuggling and face-smooching. Can't get enough. He can't believe his best friend is such a princess-girly-girly-girly-girl. She knows he's slightly (more than slightly?) on the short-attention-span side of things. And she understands that brief increments of fast "get things done!" with frequent breaks in-between is the best route to take. While he's rather stoic, she found the dopey-playful piece in him. While she's rather dramatic, he found the steady piece in her. Let me go home, let me go ho-ho-home. To look into someone's eyes, and not just find them pretty or mesmerizing, but to find in them a steel-connection and knowledge of you, well, it's rare to come by. And worth keeping forever. As I've gotten to know these two, I've enjoyed hearing their descriptions of each other, and then seeing those words in real life. "Oh wow, yes, that is exactly what he is like. She knows him!" "Ha! Yes! Precisely! That's Allix for you." Spending most of the day together, most days, helps that natural knowledge, no doubt. But it is obvious that they have spent many hours talking about many things and those they have paid attention to the other person in the conversation. Home is wherever I'm with you.
Come! Let me go home! Home, home, home!
There is quite a wealth aside these two linked hands. Business knowledge, creativity, daring, thoughtfulness, life-experience, life-naivete, passion, motivation, home-based careers, shared hobbies, different hobbies, commitment to the Lord (and thinking through, debating, even, and discussing convictions, truth and ideas), laughter, quiet, and, now, it is all united together. In some ways these two remind me of my own parents. My dad came to the Lord in his twenties, after quite a "past," while my mom was a "church mouse" who eagerly obeyed from toddlerhood. They made quite a pair, and life was never boring. Between the two of them -- one well traveled and one more of a town-body, one very comfortable in front of large groups and one more shy, one extremely creative and one extremely entrepreneurial, one blunt and direct and one sweet and sweet -- their skills pantry was full. Together they had much to offer, together they could understand and identify with so many people, together they could collaborate and build with greatly complementary ideas, together they could help the other -- as they were so different, but such dear friends. I love imagining would could be with you, Allix and Trevor. What your paired visions, your paired hearts, your paired lives could do, and stand for, and create. Have so much fun. The best is yet to come! And may you only multiply the kindness your loved ones have for you, as you set out on your own adventure. While the digging may be hard, may the gems you find on your way be only brighter! better! and even more worth the effort. Thank you for having me, you two Rubies. It was a joy.