The presents are bought, cookies eaten, things wrapped, and I’m beat. Looking forward to finally relaxing tomorrow after the blur that has been the last month. And, much like I say every year, I am vowing that next year will be different. More genuine, more homemade, more heartfelt. That’s not to say this Christmas won’t be enjoyable…
Happy Holidays! Here’s to slowing down, enjoying the moment, and being with the ones you love.
If, like me, you are feeling stressed out, overwhelmed, grouchy, and completely missing out on what this time of year is supposed to feel like, watch this:
I watched this, tears streaming down my face and felt those warm fuzzies I’ve been missing for the past few weeks.
My favorite part is the guy with the flowers. 
I hate this time of year. I feel like I never get to enjoy the holiday season in the days leading up to it. I always have a few days off after Christmas, but at that point everything is so anti-climactic, my previous resolutions tend to fall by the wayside. As of this writing, 3 days before Christmas, I still have shopping to do, Christmas cards to get out, and one wedding left to finish proofing. Dear Santa, the only thing I want for Christmas is more time…
In spite of my complaining (see above) I HAVE taken a bit of time out for myself. A lot of it has involved Lester A. Walker, Sidekick Extraordinaire, for 2 reasons:
1. Polaroid, and film in general, is beautiful and I can never get enough of it;
2. There is no post-processing involved whatsoever. (HA!)
Here are a few of my favorites from a walk through one of the woodsy areas I love to go, “Chicuarita Creek.” You can see past explorations of the ‘Creek here.
These were taken a couple of weeks ago, at the beginning of December. My apologies to all who are snowed in right now. I swear, I am not gloating.Â
It’s been raining steadily here all morning. Which means it is cold. And wet. And I hear sirens every so often signaling yet another traffic accident, as southern Californians have no idea how to drive in anything but perfect weather. Luckily for me, I am home this morning, waiting for a service repair person to come out to the house. I am also eating soup, piling on my sweaters, and listening to the rain. Awesome.
I spent a little time this morning photographing some miniatures for a personal project and the dogs came over to investigate. While Sasha got bored rather quickly, Shadow stayed and stared out the window. I snapped a few shots of him as the light was dramatically beautiful. I wonder what goes through that old, fuzzy head of his? Out of all three of our dogs, Shadow is the oldest and slowest, but perhaps wisest as well. It was good to spend some time with the old man, staring out at the rain.
You know how I said in my last post that so many of the images of Bonnie and Sean’s wedding were among my favorite wedding images ever? Well, then you’ll excuse me the length of this post, right?
Bonnie & Sean’s wedding was an amazing dinner party in Phoenix, AZ. They gathered their closest family and friends and then went to town with the venue and details and food. The ceremony was one of the sweetest and most heartfelt I’ve ever witnessed. And in spite of a dust storm, high chance of rain, and a last-minute change of location (from outdoors to indoors) they never once lost their sense of humor or their cool. They were so excited to get married, I don’t think anything could’ve happened that would have made them less excited about the day.
I have to give a shout-out to Andy DeLisle, my second-shooter. He’s a fantastic photographer and is great to be around. Working with him for several hours feels a lot more like hanging out with a good friend.
First, I dropped by Sean & Bonnie’s house to hang out with the guys for a bit and watch them get purty…
Then I was off to the ceremony/reception site – The Farm at South Mountain. Since I was unfamiliar with Phoenix, I figured our destination would feature a lot of cacti, succulents, and other dry-climate vegetation. But this place was incongruous to the rest of the Arizona landscape. It was a farm in every sense of the word, with chickens and livestock and lush flower beds and beautiful trees. It was an ideal place to have a unique wedding.
Some detail shots…
The lovely flowers were done by Kristi Pohly at Fleur Decor. I especially loved the velvety green leaves and those fiddleheads!
Then it was Bonnie’s turn to get ready. Can you believe her mom made her dress?!!
Bonnie and Sean decided to do a “first look” before the wedding to take advantage of the natural light for portraits. (Too bad Mother Nature didn’t stick with that plan and sent a dust storm our way when we got everyone together!)
A few of the bridal party, who escaped most of the dust storm…
Then it was the moment we all were waiting for… time to get married!
If you remember how awesome Bonnie and Sean’s engagement session was, then you KNOW I was excited to get some shots of them as giddy newlyweds…
The rest of the evening, as described by the bride, was a “sexy dinner party,” with a little bit of dancing, lots of laughing, and close friends and family. I’ll let the rest of these images speak for themselves…
Thank you, Bonnie & Sean for letting me be a part of this wedding. It was intimate and unique and so very special… just like the two of you. Much love and happiness to you always!
