After a fun filled, reality tv-esque Christmas in Chicago, I made the wise choice to go to San Francisco for New Year’s Eve. Obviously it is gorgeous there. The above Instagram photo I took on NYE. San Fran can be kind of braggy with her sunsets and twinkling city lights. Anyhow, I love her for it. It really was a terrific night – even though I am having a sort of blue moment in the image below (both images below were taken via iphone by my lovely friend Erin). Nightclubs are sort of swanky (if you didn’t know) and as you can see, I basically just blend in to all that swank in a completely effortless non-awkward way. What can I say? It’s a gift.

Additionally, because I am a firm believer that if you have an image of yourself that is mostly blown out where you are looking deliriously happy and maybe slightly cross-eyed, you should post it – I give you the image below. Life is meant to be lived – we can’t all be classy all the time, it’s just not fair to everyone else. ;) Happy New Year everyone!

Life in all its fullness. This is what we are after on our good days. We dream that all the pieces of our lives will come together to create an image of a life well lived. But what if the pieces are only to be gained in some far off place – some place full of unknowns, abundant in turmoil, and lacking in the familiar comforts we hold so dear? Well, adventure you must and leave your comforts behind. For John and Jamie, this meant moving to Beirut, Lebanon, and leaving some of their comforts to me – namely a gorgeous set of velvet chairs and one slightly bland Ikea couch. Thank goodness they chose Lebanon. For three years they lived in the heart of the city and got to know the language, the culture, and most importantly the people that make up this extraordinary city. Jamie gave birth to her first child – Elise – within the city walls and it went, shall we say, not as planned. But all three triumphed and this piece of their story was born. Now we look to the next piece as John and Jamie are expecting their second child. What joy awaits with all her newness of a fresh life. To John and Jamie – I love how you say ‘yes’ to each new venture with a whole heart and that you consider not only a full life for yourselves, but even for strangers half a world away.

Eyelashes or baby swan feathers? Either way I’m in love.

We took a few tumbles along the way and I can not imagine a truer picture of what mothers are.

There is something so warmly nostalgic about dialing a person up by their number from memory. Since the advent of cell phones in all their wonder and cleverness, we have had to reserve very little memory for silly wretched phone numbers. Google doesn’t even show them anymore – a simple “Call” icon is what remains. Typing those 10 digits to reach someone is practically legend in its archaic practice. And yet it signifies a deep familiarity with the one to be reached, and perhaps a kind of constant that connects the present to a quieter, untethered time. Today I dialed one of only three numbers I know by heart and have known since I was a child. It was like the day one steps into the field house at the high school to read the names of who has made it, who is on the Varsity team. To see your name there, eyes wide and heart wild in its rhythm is to know. To know all of this play you have been at – the running, the tumbling, the endless practice, the fun, the pain, the hours no one sees – is unto something. You’ve known it all along, that you are heading somewhere, to some end that makes your heart sing. But now everyone knows. This is not just about play – it is about excellence.

To me, ISPWP is one of less than a handful of wedding and portrait organizations that is consistently presenting images that take my breath away. Images that make evident how high the bar can be set when it comes to documenting ordinary people and one of the biggest events of their lives. Of course the images ought to be excellent – reach out and grab your humanity excellent. Over the past few years I have gone through ISPWP’s contest galleries and  just sort of floated away in wonderment at the beauty, mystery, and hilarity of life. The work presented pushed me to work harder, expect more, and demand a concentrated focus in making images at weddings. And here we are at present and I am quite undone that in this most recent contest so many of my images have been awarded. Collectively, they gathered up for me the title of Photographer of the Quarter. Oh, how lovely! I am thrilled simply to compete among the incredible talent that represents at ISPWP – among my mentors, friends, and greatly admired colleagues. What is more, to be recognized among them – I am simply overcome with delight. It was with that same shrill voice of my youth that I proclaimed most ardently this afternoon to the familiar, click, “Hello. Kathryn?” “Dad?! Dad. I’ve done it. I made the team. Varsity.” How magnificent to pursue excellence and lay hold of it.

Many, many thanks to all of my clients for inviting me in to your wedding day and the months and weeks that lead up to it. It is a joy to capture you in all your beauty, mystery, and hilarity.

Here are the images that placed. To see all of the remarkable work from this quarter, please take a look at all of the galleries here.

What is loveliness made of? Oh feathers and netting and probably satin. Eyelashes, finger tips, and baubles that catch the evening light. But camo and canvas? Certainly not. Or maybe, in just the right amount and quite mixed together, loveliness can be the perfect balance of all these things. Myka’s alchemy is just such a complex formula. These outward trappings are simply the whispers of an inward existence that is as perplexing as it is memorizing. For who is the woman that can bear 5 inch platform heels during the relentless days that are Monday through Friday and then hunt wild hogs and build a house from scratch Saturday and Sunday? Women such as these are few and far between and to the man who managed to steal this dear girl’s heart – I salute you. Love her and keep her, for she is undoubtedly most lovely and one of a kind.