The weather was perfect, the location beautiful, and to make a great day even better, Paul sprayed the guests with silly string on his way back down the aisle. That was just all kinds of awesome. 

Amy and Paul were gracious enough to endure my requests to ” HOLD STILL….HOLD IT…..HOOOOOOOOLD IT!!!”….during the final long exposure shot of the night, but we got the shot we wanted and all worked out splendidly. 

Add to all of that the home brewed beer that was enjoyed by all during the reception, and I’ll call that a great beach wedding. 

B

Still do.

Not like, David Carradine weird, (what, too soon?), but random things that didn’t make a whole ton of sense at the time. 

Like, oh, being honest with the guard at the Canadian border crossing above Detroit earlier this year. 

This man had zero sense of humor. Me? I was happy. Road tripping with Kirsten Larsson once again, on our way to Toronto to shoot an engagement session for my dearest friends/partners in crime/bff’s Sarah and Adelle. Jacked up on coffee and beef jerky, excited to see what the heck a Tim Horton’s was. ( Donuts. Lossa donuts.)

And I distinctly remember while waiting in line to cross the border, busy hiding my crack pipes, 45 keys of cocaine, the unreleased Nickelback CD and the 2 dead bodies I’d brought along just in case I should need them (noooo, not really), Kirsten looked at me and said, ” Whatever you do, don’t start talking.”

” Who, me?”

” Yes. No jokes, no comments, we’re going to visit friends. That’s it.”

“But…..but…”

” Look at my face. I will kill you if you talk.”

” Yes ma’am.”

And so it’s our turn at the crossing. Did I mention I’d just gotten a passport a few weeks earlier? I did. And I of course thought this was relevant info to the nice man in the booth with the gun on his hip and scowl on his face.

Somewhere in between “What’s the purpose of your visit?” and ” You’ll need to pull to the right so they can pull everything out of your car, luggage, pockets, interrogate you, do a cavity search, and beat you mercilessly.”, I must’ve said something alarming. I’m not entirely sure what it would’ve been though. I remember I laughed a lot, maybe because the guy kept saying, “eh?”. 

It was funny. Really.

A few hours on the road into Canada, Kirsten stopped hitting me and started talking to me again. It was a pretty good trip after that.  Once we actually made it to Toronto, we met up with Sarah and Adelle, cruised around Toronto for their session, ended up at a really great brewpub for dinner, and ended the night with me mumbling something about my lucky shirt, Skype and funny looking Canadian currency.

We bid them goodbye the following morning, and headed on to Buffalo, NY for Kathy and Felipe’s wedding by way of Niagra Falls. Shot their wedding, then hopped back in the car and drove overnight back to Detroit to get Kirsten to the airport in time to catch an early flight. 

A really great trip, some really great friends, and more Tim Horton’s Timbits than I can remember, though my waistline remembers them fondly. 

Sincere thanks to Kirsten Larsson for enduring this trip with me, and lending her incredible photographical skills to this session. 

Until next time, eh?

(See what I did there? *snort*)

Two goats.

One that I’ve technically adopted in Montana, and another I chased through the desert in Arizona like a madman for no other reason than I was trying to take a photo of it with my iPhone.

I know, right?

Like a Russian bartender in San Francisco once told me, ” It’s not as good when you have to think about it too much.”  I don’t actually know what she was talking about, but she was Russian so I didn’t ask. That automatically means she can kill me with her eyebrow if she wanted to.

So when the year -end blog thought crossed my mind, I was briefly tempted to wax philosophical while pondering the life lessons one picks up at truck stops along the way at 3 am and pick out the wonderful, happy parts of the year and run with them.

Only that’s thinking about it too much. And for myself and a lot of folks I know, parts of this year weren’t wonderful or happy. And anyone that feeds you a constant stream of rainbows and unicorns and kittens prancing around on your forehead lives in some alternate reality I know absolutely nothing of.

This means YOU, Rachael Ray. 

Crazy trips. Wonderful people. Beautiful places. Texts and phone calls to a lot of you at random times during the night to stay awake, or to tell you something incredibly crazy I’d just witnessed. (Gas station, New Mexico, fat guy, assault rifle, still getting it’s own blog, I promise.) Another year of trips, weddings, laughter, a few more tears than normal, but a lot more laughter than normal as well. 

Anecdotes for success? I have none. Thoughts on life and love? Be thankful for those you love while they’re around you, they won’t always be there. Make sure they know it while they are. Recipes for great drinks? Sure. 1 shot of vanilla vodka, 1 Smithwick’s beer on top of it in a tall glass. Tastes like cream soda. Dangerous. Sincere thanks to the elderly lady in Key West who taught me that. 

To you, the blog reader (all 3 of you), thank you for sticking around. To the clients-turned-friends-turned-dorks that allow me to keep doing this every year and support me more than I deserve, thank you. Your hospitality, kindness, couches, breakfasts, encouragement and love is completely mind-boggling to me, and more appreciated more than I can tell you.

I’ll leave you with some photos that didn’t make the blog this year, some that haven’t been blogged yet, and some I just want to share with you. 

All the best to you all for 2012.

See you down the road. 

B

Lake Tahoe. It was supposed to take an hour-ish to drive from top to bottom. I stretched that into five somehow.

 

I stopped long enough a few days ago to take some Christmas photos of my sweet babies. Thanks to a wardrobe from Goodwill and bribes with candy canes, it went well.

 

Long exposure, Golden Gate Bridge, creepy lurker guy on the beach next to me playing on his phone.

Key West, a bridesmaid's camera flash went off at the exact moment the shutter clicked. One of the random accidental photos I think are pretty cool.

Nightfall ~ Smokey Mountains, Gatlinburg, TN.

Another from the shoot with my kiddos. God, they're adorable, huh?

Vietnamese wedding, Pensacola, Florida. The kid was fascinated with the big bald dork with the camera.

My son, belly laughing. I love this photo.

Aspens, Lake Tahoe. And part of the reason it took me 5 hours to drive a 1 hour drive.

Jeremiah Spray. Great friend, incredible photographer. We'd shot a wedding in Denver together and then decided to go find snow and do headshots for him. There were several great ones, but this captures the entire day pretty much. Laughing like idiots, freezing our butts off in the snow. Good times.

One of my favorite towns, Missoula, MT. I'd climbed up to get a night shot of the town, and for whatever reason, they started setting off fireworks. I didn't mind.

One of my favoritest kiddos. I'd asked her for a serious face, and she kept giggling. Her solution for a serious face was this.

From a recent engagement session. Because there's no creative funk that a portable generator, fake snow, Christmas lights and a crazy cool couple can't fix.

Possibly my favorite shot of the year. This face lasted for 2 seconds, between laughing and being silly, then running around with the balloon. No clue what inspired this face, but it earned a place on my office wall.

Long exposure shot, Saint George Island, Florida. To every couple I've screamed, " STILL!! HOLD STILL!!" at, I'm sorry. Kind of.

Long exposure shot, Golden Gate Bridge. If you're ever around me in person, ask me about the story that goes with this shot. Make sure we have beer.

Boats on Lake Tahoe

Jamie and Rob's Destin, Florida wedding. Had a little rain that day, ended up with a rainbow for their wedding. Loved it.

Aspens, Lake Tahoe

That sounds like a lead-in to a joke, doesn’t it. I’m actually serious. 

It was a really cute goat though, if that helps. 

Natalie and Tim were married on their ranch outside of Missoula, Montana. Missoula is that quirky, awesome little town that is on my top three favorite places to shoot list, the other two being Lake Tahoe and Key West. If I have any remotely decent reason to go there, I’ll go. And if someone calls and tells me they’re getting married on a ranch with goats and yaks, and do I want a baby goat and some vodka as well…….then that’s a big, fat yes. Actually. 

I honestly had every intention of bringing my baby goat home, but somewhere between buying a crate large enough for it, and explaining to the hotel clerk on the way home why my dog went ” Ba-a-a-a-a-aaa” instead of ” woof”, I figured it best just to be a foster parent and send him money once in awhile. It works out better this way, as I get random updates on him and have a picture he drew with his little hoof prints on my office wall. 

The wedding was at an incredible location, the food was outstanding, we laughed pretty much constantly throughout the entire day, and I somehow ended up in the water again taking pictures. Go figure. To end an incredible day, we all took turns with a Colt .45 and did some target practice on an ill-fated stump. The last photo in this post is Natalie’s dad, and a very, very lucky shot of catching the bullet in the frame. I can now say I caught a bullet at a wedding.

One highlight out of the day was the neighbors that randomly drove past on their horse-drawn wagon and ended up giving the bride and groom (and some crazy photographer) a ride.

Did I mention the cake was from Bernice’s Bakery, complete with huckleberry filling? I have a dirty love affair with that place. It’s kind of amazing. 

Sincere thanks and utmost admiration to Jeremiah Spray for spending a few days on the road with me and shooting the wedding as well. You, sir, are a madman and a great photographer. 

Seriously, though. My goat. He’s awesome, huh?

B

And before all of you knock your coffee cups over trying to open your email so you can write and respond to that statement….let me clarify the reason for that statement and say that I usually post a lot of engagement sessions. Lots. I love engagement sessions. And it’s actually been a few months since I have. 

That said, I met up with Jen and Brad (and Nelly) outside of Destin, Florida a while ago. A quick stop at Eden Gardens State Park, a random field, a brief break for some ice cream, and ending the night in the town of Seaside. Completely sweet couple, super fun session, and Nelly and I got to spend quality time together ( I can hold a leash and shoot at the same time. I did not know this about myself.)

Throw in a marvelous reaction by Brad to whatever Jen whispered, and I’ll call that a great session.

B

Then it gets awkward, so I change back into normal clothes and continue the shoot. 

Ok, actually, this time around Jamie was wearing the dress, and a really awesome dress at that. We spent a few hours at Eden Gardens State Park outside of Destin, Florida and came up with this session. 

Beautiful bride, beautiful dress, awesome location. Couldn’t ask for a better day. 

B

Even better, they were all as delicious as they look. 

Chrissy and Jonathan were officially hitched at Skelly Lodge in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The location is beautiful, and the details of their wedding were absolutely stunning. 

Each guest table had their own uniquely flavored caked, beautifully created and provided by Three Sisters Kitchen.  The floral arrangements and decor were all provided/created by the mother of the bride, who did an incredible job.

Beautiful location, cakes galore, and a completely sweet couple who were a blast to work with.

I’ll call that a great wedding. 

~B

And it was awesome. 

Stay tuned.

B

Except for that night in Vegas with the glitter and flying squirrels, but that was all a huge misunderstanding.

Really.

My friend Brian Watson of Myrtie Blue floral design, however, is as fabulous as can be. I’ve had the fortunate opportunity to work with him on several occasions, each time being amazed at the work he does. If you’re getting hitched anywhere near the gulf coast of Florida, check out his work. (Hint: It’s fabulous.)

Shana and David’s wedding was held at Cabana Blue in Destin, Florida. Absolutely beautiful day, wonderful location complete with string lights over the outdoor area, and a beautiful dock which made for great photos with the couple after the ceremony. It’s a great location, complete with an in-house bakery that provided the very cool cake. 

Throw in music courtesy of  Gulf Talent Services, and a grand exit in a vintage car provided by A Bride’s Ride, and it was pretty awesome all around. 

Shana and David, thanks again for letting me be part of your day!

B