Erica & Eric. A Hope Glen Farm wedding.

So, I'm just going to say this right away...Erica has literally been my biggest fan since our initial email. Its every wedding photographers dream to be considered the best photographer out there by clients. Erica was so excited to work with me, she convinced her sister (who was getting married the same year!) to have me be her photographer as well. So, naturally...I will follow up this post with Erica's sisters wedding :) This wedding, though. Yah, there was rain. Yah, plans had to change a bit. The wedding rocked. People had a blast. Memories were made and in the end, an amazing couple shared vows and celebrated their new life together. What a high privilege to witness such things. Thank you Erica and Eric. I don't deserve clients and friends like you. Thanks to my friend, Josiah, for helping on tons of weddings over the past two years. 

A reminder for those checking out my blog these days that I'm doing something different this year. For me, memories tend to surface in my mind in a random, sporadic manner. When I think back on weddings, certain images I captured help me remember the day. I'm trying to post in a non-linear way in attempts to reproduce this sort of flashback. There is definitely a story aspect to wedding photography that I love and try to encapsulate through a collection of photos, but everyone seems to blog this way and why not try something different?  

Alright, enjoy looking back through Erica and Eric's day with me and THANK YOU for your support. Let me know what you think about this way of blogging a wedding. Do you like it? Should I stop? Be honest.       

Nathan + Kristin / Camrose Hill Flower Farm wedding

I felt such joy and relief that this monumental, long planned out day was going to be perfect for Nathan and Kristin. They had chosen a beautiful venue for an outdoor wedding and the weather was forecasted to work out perfectly. I eagerly got out of bed and had a relaxed morning with my family, packed up the car and headed off to Stillwater. Everyone seemed in a great mood upon my arrival and the morning was going as planned. Once again, I thought about how perfect the day was going, including the weather. Shortly after hopping on the trolley that would take us to the flower farm, it started raining. The rain was light and was supposed to be brief, but you could feel the weight of it as everyone considered the implications. Thankfully, upon our arrival the rain ceased and we were able to take in the beautiful grounds at Camrose Hill (Michelle and I met Kristin out at Camrose Hill in the Spring...remember this Spring? Snow. The farm had absolutely transformed since our meeting). We quickly took a few photos of the wedding party and noticed the chairs were still in place outside and everyone had accepted that it might be a tad soggy, but it would work.

That was until we heard thunder.

The type of thunder that causes you to grab something or quickly head for cover. That sound changed things pretty fast. While photographing a wedding, you have to stay calm and collected. No matter what. There is usually a roller coaster of emotions and stress on a wedding day...for instance, the schedule and plans completely change. Hopes a bride had for a beautiful outdoor wedding wash away and what's left? Plan B? The less attractive, less desired plan? Well, at this point there is a big choice. For everyone involved. And for this specific wedding, the choice to be content and accepting of the weather and all the implications was made a lot easier. Cindy and her crew at Camrose Hill had unexpectedly pulled off something just a couple hours prior to the flood. Now, plan B was more like an alternative plan A. The barn storage space on the grounds had been transformed into an elegant, indoor solution just in time for Nathan and Kristin's ceremony. A precious, unexpected gift that helped lift everyone's downcast hearts. So, the ceremony happened beautifully indoors and umbrella's were out for the short walk to dinner. And after all of this craziness, it was time for the skies to break. And they did. The rest of the evening went as planned and the guests enjoyed themselves and stress melted away. This was a great experience for me and I'm so happy I was able to take photographs all the way through. Congrats Nathan and Kristin! You both rock and will have such a great life together.

I wanted to end the post with this photo of Kristin's Grandpa. Weddings are huge events for immediate and extended families. Moments like this between Bride and Grandpa feeling the sorrow over a loved one who couldn't make it truly are priceless and I feel very fortunate to have a job that gives me so many amazing opportunities to record real emotion. This is why I love my job. Making photographs like this.

Equipment Used: Nikon D700's + 24 1.4G, 50 1.4G & 85 1.4D

Mamiya 645 Pro TL + 80 1.9 lens. Fuji 400H film.