At the memorable Cameo Heights Mansion, you know, between Tri Cities and Walla Walla. Hillary’s and Brett’s vision for the day: about a dozen guests, no fuss, an intimate ceremony and dinner party, and a hell of a lot of wine. Let me tell you how relaxed it was: Driving back from some portraits in Walla Walla, Brett says to Hillary, “You wanna get married at 4:00?” “I’m thirsty. Let’s do it at 5:00,” Hillary says. Awesome.

I confess, I felt horrible during this shoot. My first wedding following hernia surgery (I wouldn’t tell that to anyone but you, reader), and I was weak at the knees. The extra lenses slung against my hip were Jovian gravity. And I’m a tad embarrassed to admit that the little pushup demonstration I sometimes make available to the bridesmaids got up to only 7—exactly half of what I normally do to impress the ladies. However, I don’t think these bridesmaids could’ve been more captivated, as they agreed with hardly even a deliberation to let me switch to girl pushups beginning with number 4.

Anyway, I felt horrible, but it struck me sometime during Alice’s and Zack’s portraits that the miasma had somehow completely washed away. I wasn’t just putting on a good face, I was absolutely enjoying myself and didn’t want to be anywhere else. That can happen when you love photography, I guess, but I think it happens more often when with the kind of extraordinary clients I somehow luck into. Alice and Zack may have been previously married to each other (am I not supposed to broadcast that, guys?), but the experience they were sharing (immediately before their ceremony) had no twin. And it was part of my incredible job to witness it. I couldn’t help but smile.