These BELOVED sessions are so on my heart right now, I just feel the need to dialogue a bit more about them. I think THIS IS THE PROJECT I've been searching for in my years as a photographer.
Most of the portraits or even candid photographs that are taken, in everyone's family, happen at key moments in our life (as they should)...our wedding day, our birthdays, the birth of our children and their birthdays and so on. This is what we document and look back on as "our life." At our funeral someday, these will be the images that will linger in a slideshow or in frames around the house of future generations long after we're gone.
But, to me, it seems that the majority of our life was really lived in between these monumental events in the everyday relationships that took place. If you've been with me long, you're saying, yeah, heard it before Misty...and that's true -- I've always been more interested in photography of the everyday. BUT, have we chronicled our love story throughout the years as well? Don't we want our grandchildren and great grandchildren in the future to know where it all started? Don't we want our love to be chronicled as well? And not just on our wedding day.
I am always intrigued at the differences in people's relationships that I have the pleasure of photographing. The camera does not lie (photoshop does though! - a little photographic humor), but the rawness of relationships really comes out when I'm doing any kind of shoot where relationships are in the mix. It frequently brings me to tears to photograph a couple who has been together 5, 10, 50 years and has seen it all - the good, bad and ugly. But that's where the unconditional love lies. Yes, wedding days are priceless and the wide eyes of wonder are exhilarating, but to photograph two souls who have been together for years and years and connect on so many levels is deep. To capture that authentic, nothin' but real moments that two people share is awesome and yet humbling.
So, that's what BELOVED is all about. Really telling the story that exists...not posing. It's not actually a photoshoot, it's an EXPERIENCE. It's actually an invitation for you to connect or perhaps reconnect with each other. It's an invitation to experience joy in each others presence, not to smile and look at the camera for a beautifully lit portrait. In fact, where this session takes place would hardly matter. The scenery is not even noticeable, coordinating clothes are not necessary. All that's required is that you bring yourself and your beloved and be willing to accept whatever experience it may bring...and that's enough.
I realize this may seem too intimate, too vulnerable (especially for you testosterone folk) - but I promise within 5 minutes of the session, you will relax and enjoy the session. In the end, you will walk away feeling more in love, more in awe of that person, more aware of the relationship that exists, more in touch with what God has given you than you were before the session. And as a bonus, you will have unique and amazing images that you and your family will cherish for a lifetime.
I really feel that God has placed this on my heart for this time in my life. I hope that THESE are the images that are at our funerals, the ones that show the true love stories that we have.
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