sam & mai

This wedding wasn't a job. This was a weekend spent in a place that means more to me than most, among friends and a new family that we welcomed into our own. It was interesting being a participant in and photographer. It was revitalizing and refreshing and completely overwhelming. Sam and Mai married at the infamous Beddow / Rotegard family cabin-- a cabin i've spent much time over summers past. I had never met Mai or her family and it was this really interesting and beautiful celebration of new and old, stranger and friend. I've never taken to a person as quickly as Mai. It was so easy feeling like family immediately. I can't think of better summer nights-- it's like time stopped that weekend. It wasn't like holding a breath, more like one big long exhale.

I'll end with a toast I delivered to the two-- post-night swim, post-whiskey shot:

"I want to toast to bravery. to jet lag, to first days. I want to toast to sisters introducing sisters. To taking chances. To conversation that flows easily. To the thought of someone lingering in a cluttered part of the brain. Lingering for four long years until they become all you're able to see. Like an Icelandic crescendo. Like cherry trees in spring. Like coming home. 

I want to tast to compromise. To keeping meaning in your words. To staying present. To always coming back to this moment. To patience, to not having all the answers and to taking your own advice. 

Build. Build a structure and keep it safe. Let it grow, let it change shape, let it see light. Let it breath wing-tipped winds. But build. Even if that means just your arms around each other, holding on."

I love you guys. 

 

“I hope you all find yourselves sleeping with someone you love, maybe not all of the time, but a lot of the time. The touch of a foot in the night is sincere. I hope you like your work, I hope there’s mystery and poetry in your life— not even poems, but patterns. I hope you can see them. Often these patterns will wake you up at night and you will know that you are alive, again and again.”

— eileen myles, "universe cycle"

leah & terin

Saturday morning I got a phone call from Leah. She barely got out that she had received her wedding photos before choking up. She said they had gotten through two photos before the tears started coming. I think I'll go out on a limb and say that is the absolute best feeling a photographer can feel after delivering some images. There is a lot I could say about Leah and Terin. There is a lot I could say about the two days I spend at the Audubon Center of the North Woods with them. I'm going to make this short: I spent every minute that I was awake with a camera in my hand attempting to put to image the feeling and mood that is present every time Leah and Terin walk into the room, hug their family, or look at each other. This was a special one and I'd like to let the photos speak for themselves. 

andy & nicole

When I talk to other wedding photographer friends it's often that we trade stories of the good clients and great weddings we've attended over the season. Andy and Nicole's wedding will be the one I talk about for years to come. Not only was it a photographers dream (there were four guests and I was the only attending audience...) but we stopped at Dairy Queen, a new (and phenomenal) distillery, and a couple other places around town to snap some casual photos.

Here is the story of the day:

adria & ben

here are some of my favorite shots from Adria & Ben's backyard picnic wedding! All the decorations (holy Pinterest) were made by Adria and her mom. I couldn't stop taking photos of all the cute details that made this family gathering so special. See for yourself. 

eaux claires festival

I was super honored to photograph the inaugural Eaux Claires fest with some really talented photographers this year. A lot of friends put an immense amount of work into making this festival a beauty. I only hope I captured some of what was an extraordinarily emotional and powerful experience. It really is exciting when people create beautiful things in such a special place. Here's to them.