Justin + Lacie sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G. first comes l♥ve then comes marriage....haha Okay enough with my elementary school antics. First of all Hello February! February has been a great month and it's almost over. This month I had the opportunity to photograph the future Mr. & Mrs. Toranzo. My good friend
Lacie, whom I am have known since I was in 6th grade asked me if I would do her engagements back in October. I obviously said yes...or else I wouldn't be writing this blog. Anyway Lacie and I had been brain storming for the next few months while we waited for the new year to come and for the weather to not be so chilly.
We e-mailed back and forth about ideas and locations and we finally settled on the location being at this little place called Nelson's Landing. Neither of us had ever been there before but I've seen many images from sessions by other photographers that I know and Lacie had seen some photos of her friends that have been photographed there. Nelson's was a perfect location for this couple. It has that old ruggish vibe that is yet timeless. It is probably one of the best locations I have yet to photograph at. The people there were very friendly and welcoming.
We were a bit spooked when they showed us pictures of what happened to one guy who got bit by a rattle snake down there and another guy who fell into a cactus, so we definitely steered clear of any of that. We also had a very entertaining beginning before the shoot. Lacie, Justin & I all walked around Nelson's to get an idea of where we wanted to shoot and just to see all that they had to offer. As we were walking around we started walking up to this old "abandoned" house,
(keyword abandoned) and as we got closer this guy, who looked like he belonged in the Texas Chainsaw Massacre movie, came walking out towards us and yelled, "Ya'll can't be up here, there is
No Trespassing past that gate." I didn't hear him clearly so I asked him to repeat himself and he then replied, "I said
No Trespassing." All three of us turned and looked at each other and apologized to the man and walked back down away from his house. We all laughed as we discussed how we felt like it was a scene out of a horror movie and that all the man needed was a shotgun cocked and in his hands while he was yelling at us. So we definitely did not go back up in that direction again. After we toured the place a bit we went back to our cars and I got all of my equipment and we walked towards the first spot we chose to photograph at. We snapped a few shots on an empty porch...and yes it was empty, then we walked over to this other old house and we decided to go shoot inside because there was a cool balcony we wanted to photograph on. I was the first up the porch along with Tyson (Lacie & Justin's dog) and as I
opened the door, Tyson went right in and as Lacie & Justin followed something caught my eye on the couch...it was a
Direct TV Remote. I immediately looked at Lacie & Justin and said, "Ummm I don't think this one is abandoned either...I think someone lives here." So we quickly called Tyson and hurried out of the house. At this point I was hysterically laughing because every house looked abandoned and I couldn't believe we had just walked right in to someone's actual house, then literally 5 minutes later while we had finally found actual buildings we could use, a little Toyota truck pulled up to the house we had just walked in. From there on out we no longer walked in to places that people actually lived in and we wrapped up out shoot at Nelson's.
After Nelson's we drove about 5 miles down to where the Colorado River was and we did our last couple of shots there. I must say Justin & Lacie were absolutely amazing. They both were willing and up for anything that I asked. When we got down to the river I kept trying to figure out exactly what I wanted and then I came up with the perfect idea for our last shot. I told Lacie that I thought it would be cute if they both got barefoot and were standing in the river holding their save the date sign that Lacie hand-made, and she was totally down for it. All that was left was convincing Justin and let me tell you even though I thought he'd say no since it was the beginning of February and I wanted them to get in
barefoot when the water was
freezing, he simply said, "If this is the last shot then okay." Lacie & I were both very excited, and as you can see it was totally worth it.
This session was full of entertaining moments and simple fun. The best part about it though was seeing how in love Justin & Lacie are with one another. That for me is the best part of my job. When I photograph a couple I get to witness the slightest gestures of love between them. I will sit back and observe how a couple interacts with one another and that is a part of how I am able to get the most natural and touching images. It can be the slightest gesture that normally no one would pay great attention to and yet I am constantly watching for those moments. Those images to me are more touching and meaningful then simply smiling at the camera.
Last but not least I simply just want to thank you again Justin & Lacie for picking me to be apart of the beginning of your soon to be new life together. It was an absolute pleasure and you two are made for one another. <3
*This is by far my favorite photo of Justin from that day.
