Essential Stuff

No, spring hasn’t sprung in Spokane.  Still snow on the ground.  I’m just going trough all my old files from the summer and came across Amanda and Dayln’s engagement portrait session, and I thought I’d post a few here.  It was a great session, mostly because of Amanda and Dayln.  They wanted something outdoorsy, not too formal, casual, warm, comfortable.  Much like they are themselves.  So we chose Plante’s Ferry Park in Spokane Valley.

They were absolutely delightful.  There was no awkwardness in front of the camera, no nervousness, nothing uncomfortable about their expression of delight in each other.  They laughed, joked, hugged, kissed, carried each other around on their backs, and laughed some more.  I really didn’t have to give any instructions at all.  I just stayed back and shot away.

Eventually, around sunset, we headed out for some train tracks.  We don’t think we broke any laws getting there (we jumped no fences and it wasn’t a BNSF rail  road).  And we lucked into a spectacular sunset.  Delightful redheads, these two are.  And their engagement session was one of the highlights of last summer.  There are a few more photographs for the engagement session in this gallery.

Well, you can tell it’s wedding season by the infrequency of my posts here.  Sorry about that.  I plan on a few more posts in the next few days, but I also have 3 weddings in the next 8 days, so we’ll see.

Anyway, I did manage to get a Trash the Dress shoot in with Kayla and Lucas, whose wedding was just a few weeks ago.   We decided on a farm shoot, plus a bit down at Liberty Lake.

We scheduled it for last Monday.  Locals will tell you that on last Monday, one of the most spectacular storms rolled into the Spokane area, a storm of biblical proportions.  Okay, I exaggerate, but only slightly.  5500 homes lost power.  The dust in the air (and smoke from fires) made the air quality the worst that day than it had been in over three years.  The rain that fell that night (starting while we were at the lake) was the first in six weeks, the 6th longest span Spokane has gone without rain.  It had been 104 on Sunday.  On Wednesday, it was 68.  So yeah, it was a big storm.

The benefits?  Some cool dress-blow-in-the-wind shots, beautiful undulating grass and reeds, and a sense of drama.  The disadvantages?  Crashing light-stands, dust in the eyes, ant hills (okay, the ant hills would have been there either way), and, at the lake, tree limbs floating past the bride and groom.

Actually, things were so crazy at the lake, that I didn’t get the kind of shots I wanted.  I have one on this page so you can see how neat the reeds looked (and how gorgeous Kayla, and handsome Lucas, looked);  but the gallery includes shots just from the farm location.

So after Kelsey and Doug’s wedding–after the ceremony had ended and the portraits were done–the newlyweds and their families stood around outside the church, talking, joking, celebrating. While I was taking pictures, I found myself smiling. I enjoyed watching Kelsey and Doug interact. They had an easy, playful manner along with a clear affection. It occurred to me that they would be perfect for an idea I had been thinking about for a while: a “trash the dress” shoot.

So on a whim, I asked Kelsey if she had any plans for the dress. She said she didn’t. They were about to run off to their reception, then honeymoon, but I said I’d email them a proposal.

When they arrived back from their Hawaiian honeymoon, jetlagged, she wrote back (at 1:40 AM!), eager to give it a try. They were as excited about the idea as I was and were game for whatever I suggested.

So a week later we headed out for Bear Lake, north of Spokane, at around 6:30 in the morning. We shared the lake with a fisherman or two and many singing red-winged blackbirds. Kelsy, Doug and I all went into the lake–not as cold as we feared–and we had a great time (photographic proof here). I know that sounds like a standard line, but it was an experience that I’ll carry with me for a long time, and every one of my memories will be happy ones.