It’s easy to lose sight of the, “why” of our jobs, to get caught up in the busyness of it all and forget what makes it matter to us (and hopefully to others) in the first place. The priceless refresher course for me? Photograph people I personally know.
Every summer I head out on an annual camping trip with my boyfriend Paul and a group of his longstanding childhood friends. We spend nearly two weeks on a picture perfect little island in the middle of an Adirondack mountain lake. Typically there are a ton of friends around at any given time, but for whatever reason on this particular evening, it was just Jenny, Dave, Paul and me. The sun was getting low in the sky and Dave asked if we wanted to go out in their boat to watch the sunset. For whatever reason, we declined. Fast forward an hour or so and we welcome Jenny and Dave back to shore. Jenny is literally shaking and a sparkly new ring is resting on her finger. Had we taken them up on the sunset cruise, who knows what/how that all would have went down, but here we are.
Jenny and Dave were one of those, “we don’t want a fuss” couples when it came to planning their wedding. They wanted little more than a small, laid back celebration with the people closest to them. As a photographer, I’ve been REALLY lucky. My friends never ask me if I can, “just bring along a camera and snap a few photos,” and Jenny and Dave were no exception. And since they didn’t ask, of course I volunteered. AND I’M SO GLAD!!! I’m happy to give my friends the gift of photos, but I’m also selfishly grateful for the experience of seeing pictures of people I care about behind my own lens. It honestly changes things. I pride myself on capturing my clients personalities, capturing the dynamic of their families and friends, but as an outsider, I’m never really sure if I have told their story properly. You try to SEE people, like… really SEE them. Showing clients how you see them is really one of the great joys of this profession. But when it’s your own people, it opens your eyes to how much we as photographers really do see in others and how important the moments we capture really are. Little facial expressions or hand gestures, some day those will all be gone, but the photographs that allow those intricacies to live on, that’s what it’s all about. And I’m SO glad that these memories from Jenny and Dave’s wedding exist. If these memories matter to ME, then it also serves as a striking reminder of how special the photos must (I hope!) feel to them!
At any rate, enough sappy photo stuff, without further ado, a few of my favorite photos with my pals Jenny and Dave on their wedding day! We started the day outside their house, a charming garden cottage in Buffalo, with a little bit of rain to keep things interesting.
From their house we headed over to Hydraulic Hearth in the Larkinville neighborhood of Buffalo. An outdoor ceremony was planned, but we were rained out and so we gathered inside and got cozy instead. The sun finally made an appearance after the ceremony ended and we were able to enjoy the rest of the day outside, eating delicious bagel sandwiches from Breadhive Bakery, playing shuffle board and attempting tandem cycling. Thanks Jenny and Dave for a super fun day! We all wish you the best!
