Durango Wedding

Peter & Olivia

So many things!  I’ve been busy falling in love with what I do!  A couple of days ago I was asked what my dream job was, and I was so happy to honestly proclaim that I have my dream job! It is such a delight to be welcomed into families and be able to create on such a special day! It is for cheer! I am so thrilled to have clients who allow me to live my dream!  Peter, a friend of mine from my Americorps days and his now wife Olivia invited me to Durango, CO to photograph their wedding at the ridgewood event center.  Before I talk about their wedding I have to mention how welcoming both of their families were.  The love was so present there from the rehearsal dinner and throughout the day.  Just magic!  So it was nice to travel west to see more of colorado.  I’ve been thinking a lot of America, what it means to live here and also trying to find out what it means to others.  This first Colorado-American flag photo is a good depiction of where am with these thoughts right now.  It’s kind of a weird photo, but for me and many of my friends from GA, Colorado represented a lofty state of freedom in which we always hoped to explore.  In a way it was the wild west, and I appropriately moved out to Colorado with Americorps in order to see more of the world.   And I did, my move out to Colorado 7 years ago showed me a little of America.. by Americorps’ design we  helped the impoverished, rebuilt houses after Katrina, work with the salvation army etc.  so the honest side of America I saw wasn’t the prettiest, it was raw and stinky. America, like anywhere has an armpit, two even.  Okay, by now your probably wondering why I am talking about this.  Well, I’ll tell you why.  I want to show America, the way I see it ..still Wild & Free.  If you saw my post a few weeks ago labeled Americana, that was part of this project. So there is good and bad here. For me, Peter and Olivia are part of the beauty of America, their day was so filled with constant friendship and love and hugs.  In the setting of the sun kissed mountains of Durango, this was so evident to me. Their love had a constant burn, this internal flame.  One of my favorite frames was after the ceremony, when Peter and Olivia randomly went on a walk during the cocktail hour.  It was so freely romantic, I kept my distance…but I imagine that these first steps they took in their marriage were so forming, I  imagine that the conversation was so honest, I imagine it was the beginning of a journey west, to a place – a marriage Wild and Free.

Thank you so much for having me out, so many favorite images, and big ups to Kelly Miranda for coming along and creating with me that day!

For Cheer guys!