I had a wonderful sit down with my cousin and his fiance the other night. They will be getting married this spring, and I know their wedding will be fantastic, because they are focused on the marriage. It's scary how often we get caught up in the wrong things; our focus gets shifted to expectations, obligations, what others do and what others want us to do. It's the way of the world and difficult to avoid.
This is a day in our lives that, if fortunate enough to experience, should be spent focused on the love that brought us to the point of engagement. The connection that brings two people together is something that should be cherished and nurtured and celebrated on the day of the marriage, the day we promise before God to honor one another forever. That connection shouldn't be overshadowed by hors d'oeuvres or a do not play list. How can we stay on track? How can we ensure we don't lose sight of the meaning, the importance?
As a photographer, sometimes I get a little jaded. Things come in waves, trends, ideas, visions, and sometimes everything looks the same to me. We want a dress that looks like hers, and a cake that looks like theirs and photos that look like those. I have had an emotionally difficult year to say the least. My heart was broken by the loss of my mother who is my very best friend. I had to reevaluate my life, my goals and my purpose. What do I really want to do in this life? In what direction do I want my career to head? What type of images do I want to create? The romantic in me wants to capture the embraces, the artist wants to capture the wildness, the mother in me wants to capture the sentiment, the daughter wants to capture the family, but the individual in me, the person who is passionate about weddings, and documenting them, wants to photograph something that has never been seen.
For the past couple of months, this has seemed impossible to me, everything has been done. This week I realized that at every single wedding I attend, if the couple is focused on the real meaning, there is a love that has never been experienced before. A connection that is realized on the day vows of truth are made. If I am able to capture that magnitude of love, that connection, that magic, I will succeed at photographing something that has never been witnessed before. This is my goal. This is my mission. This idea has restored my passion for what I do. The rest is up to the people who chose me and each other to keep their eye on what is important and allow me to document that.
