Sometimes I wonder what I would say if I ever were to write a letter to photography.  You know…a letter expressing my gratitude and emotion towards the art form that changed my life.  I know that I would thank it for all of the amazing opportunities that it has brought me.  I would thank it for igniting an insatiable light inside of me.  I would thank it for making my world a much more beautiful place.  And I would thank it for all of the incredible moments that its brought into my life.  But since I photograph people, through the greatest times of their own lives…it would be those people that I would thank it for the most.

I really don’t believe that any dream truly comes to fruition without an entire cavalry of people standing closely behind and encouraging you every step of the way.  While each person plays their part…they each – in turn – hold a little piece of that dream coming true.

To say that Kristen holds a handful of shares in this particular dream would be a bit of an understatement!  Back in the day, when the camera in my hand was nothing more than the pursuit of happiness…she was there, willing to let me spend hours at a time, using her to bring my inspiration to life!  Her gorgeous blue eyes and stunning smile were the perfect way to infuse passion into my new craft.  We ventured into cornfields and broke down barns.  We enjoyed summer’s long nights and winter’s bitter cold.  We planned…we conspired…we created.  And then there was Aaron – her best friend, her beloved, her devastatingly handsome sidekick for all of our photographic adventures.  While he would flirt with her…the light around them would flirt with me.

Now skip ahead a handful of years to right now…this moment…as I put the final touches on their wedding pictures…

Photographing Kristen and Aaron on their wedding day was so unbelievably magical in its meaning.  To watch her marry the man of her dreams while allowing it all to be a part of mine, was the very essence of coming full circle.  And yet, all the while, what I will remember most about  it won’t even be the images.  It will be the friendship that was born on either side of my camera.  It will be the excitement…the laughing…the pulling my car out of the ditch!  It will be the countless emails shared about life and love…family and friendship…marriage and careers…the perfect playlist and the dress of the century.  What I will remember most will be us.  The us that was created as we chased after that perfect image.

Kristen and Aaron, if I were to write a letter today expressing my dearest affection towards photography…it would be a letter thanking the heavens for you.  For believing in me when I didn’t yet know what to believe in myself.  For taking a chance on someone who still had so much more to learn.  For sharing so much of your lives with me.  For sharing so much in my own.

I would thank photography for creating us…beautiful images and all…