How beautiful. There was some concern among the family that Katie and Ron, who aren’t exactly extraverted, would feel uncomfortable in front of the camera. Pah! We walked around, we joked, I dropped my lens in deer dung. We had fun. Ron surprised everyone by breaking out an early-twentieth century Japanese formal pose. I loved it and I begged him to do it again and again. We had a brilliant portrait session which produced perhaps my favorite portrait of all time. Can you guess it?

The ceremony was set in a stand of trees on the way to no-man’s land. It’s the future site of the family home, but that’s in the future and at the time that Katie and Ron picked the spot there wasn’t even a road in. Well Katie’s dad built a road and hauled a water tank in and out throughout the summer so his daughter could walk down the aisle on green grass. Katie’s grandfather presided over the ceremony, and his sermon implied that he knew the history of every tree surrounding us. The place felt special and familial. After the ceremony we moved into a tent city for the reception, where everyone finally felt warm enough to take the hand warmers out of their shoes and underwear.

Thus ends the 2009 season. Katie and Ron were the perfect finale, and now I think I might read a book. Read More »