Happy New Year everyone! I hope you all had a memorable, safe, lovely holiday. In honor of this night of festivities, I am posting here some pics from a casual Photobooth I set up at a recent party I co-hosted. A little event we like to call “Bacon Formal”. Bacon Formal? What is Bacon Formal? Well, each guest brought a dish that incorportated bacon and we all came in formal attire (well…almost all of us.) If you are a fan of my studio on Facebook, these will not be new, for everyone else – take some Tums, here comes Bacon Booth.

Excali-bacon

Bacon-stash

Gus

I am not very good at “fun faces”. Really my only other face besides smiling is “open mouth”. Paired with a high-five, this may be my best “candid” image.

I asked Ray to top Meredith with the dog. Thus, I give you:

Heather and Reid are intelletuals. They looked up “bacon” in the dictionary and underlined it with a piece of bacon. Very creative.

Reid and his infamous “coat drop”. Ali-oop.

This is TJ. He is the local Jon Hamm.

Bacon launch.

Cheers!

Happy New Year!

Married on a lovely winter’s day here in Texas, Zach and Callie had a perfect Christmas wedding. Callie is the eldest daughter of four girls in her family, so this was a big day for her dad.

Both the bouquet and the garter toss at this wedding were two of the more dramatic I have yet witnessed. A guest wrestled a bridesmaid for the bouquet, and a groomsman literally flew past me in pursuit of the garter. Personally, I do not believe that either hold any intrinsic power that will lead to marriage, but I certainly do believe in drama. To these fine people, my glass is raised.

Eek! Festive.

Congratuations Zach and Callie!

Sweet, pure, and uncomplicatedly beautiful are all words that come to mind when I think of Callie. She is the kind of woman who placed her focus not on the wedding, but more directly upon her marriage. As such, she brought to each of our sessions a light-heartedness that contantly refreshed me. It was a joy to be with her on her wedding day. These are a few favorites from her bridal session earlier this fall.

They met. They dated. They fell in love. Seven years later, they married. Now, prepare yourself, because here comes the crazy. Brian, Liz, and I all went to high school together. Yes, high school. It should be noted that there are few things Brian takes very seriously, so you can imagine my anticipation at the event of his wedding.

The couple was married at the church we all grew up in (for me, the second half of growing up as we all know my early childhood was spent in the Catholic Church). It was delightful to be in such a familiar place with so many of my favorite people all gathered for Brian and Liz. What I love about Brian and Liz is that they are individually two of the most sincere people I know. They are honest, observant, and at most times divinely in tune with the hilarious ironies of life. I felt supremely priveledged to have the trust of my friends to be the professional asked to capture this long-awaited day. I love getting to share this major event in their lives here as well as a few of the threads of my own life’s design.

The pre-wedding high-five. Do not get married without one.

A hug from dad.

The groomsmen can’t help you now.

To who or what Brian was shouting out during the sacred candle lighting, no one knows, but you can bet it was important.

Here are Brian and Liz in front of their new home. Ha! Be serious. Actually, this is our high school. Thank you Lake Forest for having so many mansions the only thing left to do with this one was install lockers and make it a school.

I love clients that can enjoy the little things like being silly on such formal items as place cards.

The toasts were phenomenally hilarious due to Liz’s sisters and their antics growing up.

The pre-dance power stance.

It is true. Cole & Meg are engaged. We spent the afternoon and on into the late dusk traipsing around the vast acreage that is Cole’s family’s property. I love the land because the animals it keeps are not your ordinary fare. There are a number of exotic creatures to be discovered, and discover we did. I will note that the most interesting find for me, was in fact Cole and Meg themselves. We spent quite some time together and the things I found to be true of this couple made me very happy indeed.

You see, I am around people in love all the time. Over time one becomes aware of both the subtle and overt nuances of each pairing. Some couples, for instance, are exhaustive in their outward affection for one another. Others are spontaneously passionate, while others still seem repeatedly surprised and delighted at the love towards them from their partner. Cole and Meg are different. They are different from so many engaged couples I meet and yet something about their relationship seemed so familiar I felt I could almost hold it and call it my own. Even from the first time I met Meg, her calm nature made me curious and I sensed a “knowing” that radiated from her being. As I worked on their images and considered all of these things, the familiarity suddenly stepped right in front of me.

Their love for one another is, before anything else I could identify, deep and trusting. This relationship is not new, as these two have been together since they were young. Meg and Cole have walked through seasons of life together that few couples ever experience. The quality of knowing that exists between them expresses itself not in grand gestures or excessive conversation. Rather, there is a quiet certainty between them that each has found the one their heart loves. The deep satisfaction of finding what one has searched and waited for is familiar to me and seeing it between Cole and Meg makes my heart sing. Like the ripples in the water that are consistent, honest, and utterly refreshing so are the interactions between Cole and Meg. What great things will come from this love are ever unfolding, and I can say that I am delighted to have the honor of being with these two come their wedding day next spring.

The Oryx heard was on the move upon our arrival.

BOOM. Zebra SMOOCH.

Meg is gor-ge-ous.

The beauty and mystery of this wood helped me to understand Wendell Berry’s contentment in spending so many hours of his life in just such a timbered choir.

Cole and Meg, I am so very happy for you two – congratulations!