Laughter and Beauty . . .

 

What a full weekend I have had!!! 

Have I told you how much I love my job?  There are so many different moments in life, and I am so honored to be able to capture them – stop them – help hold them!   On Saturday, I was asked to take some engagment pictures of a dear friend and her fiance.  They will be married in August, and I am so sad to not be able to be a part!  Especially after our engagment session . . . .

I have had the pleasure of knowing April for years now, but I had not yet been formally introduced to Ryan until just this weekend.  I guess that is not entirely accurate.  I have seen him and may have said hello on several occasions before, but it wasn’t until Saturday, did I really know who he was.  Have you ever made a judegment about someone – just by looking at them?  Well, I am ashamed to admit, but I have (on occasion) judged a book by its cover.  And, today, I will say, that I had a personality all picked out for Ryan, and within the first five minutes of our time together, I realized that I had judged him wrong.  I had taken him to be the serious one.  The quiet one.  The “I’ve got it all-together” one.  I was wrong.  I was so wrong in fact, that when we were finished taking pictgures, I decided I really needed to exercise my lady-part muscles more, because there were several moments I thought I was going to wet my pants from laughing so hard. 

The poor boy! 

As much as I know April, she knows me; and she thought there might be a chance that I might ask them to remove their shoes. 

And as much as I don’t know Ryan, he doesn’t know me; and he was quite sure that removing his shoes was out of the question! 

Within time, he realized that the rolled up pants and white ankle socks were probably worse than his toes, so he reluctantly removed his shoes.

 

We laughed and joked all morning long, and I saw something wonderful in the two of them.  I saw love – comfortable love.  Because I didn’t know “their story,” I began to ask a lot of questions. 

The thing that I found the most fasinating was their moment – their moment when they thought to themselves,”Who is this person?” 

They met one another randomly.

It wasn’t planned.

But when they met, something inside of them caused them to say to themselves, “I really want to know this person more.” 

For Ryan it was her beauty.

The beauty in her eyes.

The beauty in her conversation.

Her beauty is what intrigued him.

But for April, it was something else – it was the way he made her laugh.

As I watched the two of them together, it was his gentleness with her; his sense of humor; and his smile that made her comfortable.  He brings out the best in her – comfortable love.

Now – something else, I have to add.  As a photographer, I am always looking for the next best place to take that next best picture.  Well, there is this tree.  This tree that I love.  This tree, that when I look at it, I see something amazing.  I see this: 

Lots of times, though, I don’t always think about what it will take to get that sweet image. 

 

It takes work.  It takes getting over your fear.  It takes a whole lot of laughter and trust in one another.  Thanks Ryan and April for letting me be a part of beautiful love story.   

To view all of their engagment pictures, click here for their slideshow.  Enjoy.