Yesterday I was honored to work as an assistant shooter to Jenica of Lemon Drops Photography, capturing a lovely wedding of two beautiful souls: Kyndra and Matt, at Hoffstadt Bluff Center, near mountain/volcano St. Helens in WA.  You will see from the images that the event was a perfection, but I have to tell you a little story first.

At the end of the day, when all was said and done, I packed up my stuff and headed down toward Longview.  The road was passing through steep mountains and a lot of forest.  I stopped at a gas station, got my tank happy and was looking forward to putting my feet up when I got home.  As I got close to Toutle, out of nowhere [it was quite dark], in a moment of split seconds, I saw a deer jumping in front of my car.  There was no time to step on my brakes, swerve to the side or do anything else of sorts.  THUMP… I held on to my steering wheel for my dear life.  First time for everything… I pulled over as fast as I could [remember it is pitch dark outside now].  What to do? I got out to inspect the car–I still had over 25 miles to go to get home, at least 10 of which were on a freeway.  Then God send me an angel.  A local burly biker was riding behind me.  He pulled over to make sure I was ok.  He gave me his name [angels have names sometimes ] and a number and offered to follow me to the Longview exit to make sure I got there safely.  Thankfully the tire did not blow up.  I drove as carefully and slowly as I could without ticking anyone off.

I was even brave enough to pull over at a gas station and snap pictures of the damage to send to my insurance agent. But the morning showed how much bigger the damage was than I thought…

I am yet to look under the hood to see that is going on there.

I feel bad for the poor sucker… I don’t know what happened to him.  It makes me really sad to think that that deer had to lay somewhere on the side of the road suffering. But I’ll leave all worries for tomorrow.  Today I am grateful to be alive.

Now, let’s have fun!

Kendra and Matt

First dance as husband and wife

Spectacular landscape with Mt. St. Helens in the background [still an active volcano]

Lovely details

I have to give a shout-out to my next year’s bride Tiffany [see her engagement images here]. I was surprised to have run into her at the wedding.  Can’t wait for hers–she is a doll to photograph, along with her dapper fiance Greg.

I wish all the best to the bride and the groom!  May the celebrate many years together.

Now I am off to bed and early in the morning I will be getting ready for another amazing wedding.  More images soon.

[I shot as an assistant photographer to Jenica Lemmons of Lemon Drops Photography.]

Here is a quick preview of my favorite images–I will post a few more in a couple of days.

Ian & Krista, best wishes to you! May your dreams come true and may you have a 100 anniversaries to celebrate together.  Good luck with your relocation to VA!

Congratulations, Nina and Carson!  May you have another 99 anniversaries to look forward to!

The main photographer for this wedding was Jessica Lemmons of Jessica Lemmons Photography.

The wedding took place at the Monticello Hotel in Longview, WA.

{loving the hot pink shoes Becky wore}

{Becky was super relaxed and gorgeous}

{Becky getting ready to be called to walk down the isle}

{Becky and Jesse right after saying I DOs}

{greeting their guests}

{finally a moment alone as man and wife}

{enjoying the toast by the best man, who had me cracking up behind the lens, by the way}

{Becky and Jesse’s first dance as husband and wife}

{bride with her father}

{couples at the wedding enjoying their time together}

{this wonderful couple has been married for over 50 years! what a great example to follow!}

Becky and Jesse, all the best to you!  May your happy days together be multiplied!

Jessica, thank you for the opportunity to shot alongside you and for letting me come back after my crazy day at the ER

Their wedding took a place at The Villa at Cape Horn, hosted by gracious owners, Richard and Joan.  Our prayers were answered!  It did not rain!

So, here are some of my favorites of the happy couple, to whom I wish all the best in their marriage! 

Holly got ready in the exquisite Tuscany Suite.

Once Ken and Holly got ready we hurried to catch whatever daylight we had left.  And it all turned out so beautifully.

Close relaxed portraits of the bride and the handsome groom.

The inside of The Villa is equally gorgeous.  While warming up we grabbed a couple of fabulous shots.

And then back to the great outdoors.

Can you believe how gorgeous Holly is?!  Amazing!

And then it was TIME !

And now some gorgeous details and moments.

Holly and Ken, thank you for allowing me to be a part of your very special day!  Thank you for all you do for us and all the best to you!

Why am I excited?  Well, the couple that is getting married, both: groom and bride, are in the military.  The groom will be wearing his uniform… with a sword to boot ! 

I met Ken and Holly last weekend and… WOW! what a gorgeous couple.  They are so in love with each other.  I absolutely adored how Ken was making sure that his wife-to-be was the center of attention.  He is a smart man–he said that he knows that as long as Holly is happy, regardless his rank, he will be the happiest man.  I so agree !

My only hope for this Saturday is that the freezing rain we are promised won’t happen–I pray for sunshine instead.  So, if you are reading this post, please say a prayer for us, I am sure that the bride and the groom, who are serving us with their own lives would appreciate a sunny day as their wedding present.

Stay tuned this weekend for images fromKen and Holly’s wedding.  Let’s pray that we will have an opportunity to get some gorgeous outside shots

Kristina and Bob met on an airplane.  It was a love at first flight … sight, I mean.  She knew he was the man for her… He became her “fellah” and she became his “my girl”.

I got to hear many wonderful stories about Bob over the last several months and only met him, for the first time, on their wedding day.  Christina’s descriptions of Bob were always wonderful, but I found him to be so charming and charismatic that I felt like Christina kept a secret from me .  No wonder that all of her family and friends are crazy in love with him.  Christina’s aunt must have felt the same way when she met Bob for the first time.  She said that the day she met him she started to call him “my Bob”.   That’s the kind of effect Bob has on people.

As I was photographing the day, I honestly felt like I was watching a fairy tale unfold through the viewfinder of my camera.  Christina and Bob’s love for each other is so obvious and so genuine, I felt like I was staring at a bright sun all day long-it was warming and disarming all at the same time.  I saw how they looked at each other, how they whispered and mouthed: “I love you!” back and forth the entire day, and how Christina could start crying and laughing looking at Bob all in the same moment.

I was so fortunate to have been their photographer for their amazing day, as they united their lives forever.  Bob & Christina–THANK YOU!

Here are a few images from yesterday. The ceremony and reception took place at the gorgeous Villa at Little Cape Horn.

Christina has such a beautiful relationship with her father.  Every time she called him “Daddy” my heart melted.  It looks like she melts his heart like that also.

Bob & Christina, thank you for allowing me to be a part of your life.  I am truly honored.  My you have long and loving life together.

So, here they are (and, no, I was not discriminating against the groom, since there are not as many images of him, there are a lot more, but I can blog only so many ).

To the gorgeous couple: May your happiness never stop!  Cheers!

Kyle waiting for his bride…

Ashley and Kyle decided to see each other before the ceremony, and by the look on their faces it was so worth it.

Ashley awaiting her cue to walk down the isle to meet her husband.

The ceremony and the reception were outside.  The weather was gorgeous!

Some fabulous details.

And a couple more of the happy gorgeous couple.

All the best to the newlyweds!  It was a blast!