50 Years of Marriage
As I drove up the lane of the family farm, it felt like coming home. I hadn’t been there in over a decade, but the instinct to park my car in the “regular spot” and leave the keys in the ignition kicked right in. This is the family of my very best friend and when I say we’ve been through it all together, I mean it.
My BFF, Kellie.
Let me back up to when it all began. This is my bestie, Kellie. Our friendship started way back in our preschool days. My earliest memories include swimming lessons together at the Y (not exactly my fondest memory but not because of Kellie; rather because of my fear of the water. But that’s a story for another time), weekly rides down Nebraska country roads taking the “Bob Barta” route to the high school football game to cheer on my dad (the coach) and later Kellie’s brothers, who all played for my dad at various times. Every Friday night on the way home, we’d plan the best way to ask our parents for a sleepover and usually they’d oblige. Our friendship grew from those weekend sleepovers watching Care Bears (dating myself as a child of the 80’s!) to our teenage years of junior high and high school, learning to drive, first jobs, first boyfriends, first kisses, prom dress shopping senior photos and so many others. We were quite the duo and it didn’t end at high school. College, marriage, babies and kids followed so when I say we’ve been through it all, I really mean it!
When Kellie contacted me about photographing her family, I knew it was going to be special. And when she said it was to celebrate her parent’s 50th wedding anniversary, well, that’s an honor that is going to be pretty hard to top.
As the family gathered to start our session together, I couldn’t help but get a little emotional. Getting to do the thing that I love most - photography - for some of the people that I love most for such a momentous occasion was incredible! And knowing that the last time they had professional portraits taken together was likely at least 20 years ago; well, the session carried incredible meaning for me and I wanted to make sure we captured everything that was special to them. From pictures of the whole family (20 people!) to pictures with kids, grandkids, individual families, Bob & Trish’s beloved cars...we squeezed as much out of the quickly changing winter light as we could.
After the session, it was such a treat to get to meet with them again to pick out their images and help them decide on artwork for their home. We hadn’t seen each other in years, but taking their family portraits allowed for several meetings over the winter break, for which I was very glad!
One of the things that helps clients most when I meet with them after their session is the software I use to help them visualize how their images will look on the walls of their own home or in the pages of an album or book. With just a picture and a quick measurement, I was able to show them exactly what different groupings of their portraits would look like, to scale. There’s no need to guess what size or format would look best, or spend precious time searching the internet for what size you should choose for a wall. I can show exact sizes and dimensions so that we can pick items that will perfectly suit the space.
The software uses photos of the actual space so that clients can see their images at sizes that will work best for display!
I love what they chose for their collection: a matte metal print to go above their fireplace, framed family pictures of each child to replace the senior portraits in their living room, and a collage of canvas art blocks surrounding their favorite image - the convertible shot! - for a large living room wall. We also designed a gorgeous, distressed leather covered photo book with a cameo image on the cover and 30 of their favorite images on the inside spreads, custom designed just to their liking. Each individual family was also able to purchase fine art prints and other products for their own homes. Some other favorites: 4x4 image cubes, a trio of fine art standouts, and a pinwheel collage of canvas art blocks. (Check out this live video I did highlighting all of these different products!)
It was a beautiful collection to celebrate such a beautiful occasion - 50 years of marriage.
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