Dec. 9, 2011

My Photography's better half.

I cannot say how many times total that I have had said to me after or during a wedding or photo shoot of any kind where people have been involved and Marie has been there with me, “You make a great Team” and then they turn to Marie and say; “You really are great back there making the children smile, I just couldn’t help but smile myself.” Many other times they have commented that “How much do you pay her, I am sure it isn’t enough and probably can’t come close to paying what she is worth.” Other statements like “You are really fun to watch as you make those kids smile”, and “Do you always come and help him? I am sure he couldn’t do it without you.”

 Well all of these statements are so true. Marie has been so fun having with me as we have worked together doing photos through the years. I could not do it without her. She keeps me down to earth as much as she can with limiting the number of photos I take while also making suggestions on poses that add to the number that I take. We have gone from shooting 12 to 15 24 exposure roles of film at a wedding to doing 1200 to 1500 or more digitals per wedding day, 1 to 2 24 exposure rolls for bridals and engagement pictures to 300 to 500 digital exposures. We have also gone from charging nothing per wedding to $900.00 per wedding and she still wants me to charge more. She has been the one to keep me making enough to cover expenses (almost in some cases) and giving me the OK to purchase new equipment as needed but never without a “Why do you need that?” then after I have gotten it and she has seen the need filled goes on to support me in the process.  Besides the fact that she has kept me awake many times as we have traveled to other states to do weddings and around Utah to do Silver Beaver pictures. We have had a lot of fun doing those especially as we have been able to see different parts of the state together as we have traveled. It hasn’t always been fun for her as one time I decided we had a bunch of extra time and suggested that we hike to lower calf creek falls in the middle of the day. I thought I had remembered it as a mile or so into the falls but we just kept going. A family with two heavy dogs never made it as the dogs were so hot and tires that they literally refused to go any further despite the owner kicking them and yelling at them. Well Marie felt much the same as those dogs I am sure minus my kicking and screaming at her. When we got there she simply walked over to the other side of the small pool at the bottom of the falls and sat down. I could tell she was a bit upset at me so I went about photographing the falls until she came over and said “Well I came this far and you had better take a picture of me tp prove I made it.” So I did take her picture and then she helped me get a youth group together and take pictures of them as well and we enjoyed the hour or more that we spent at the falls until we returned the long distance to the car. It was after we got to a turn off above the trail that we found it was 5 and a half miles one way that we had walked to get tp the falls. I have been very careful where I suggest that we go after that.

I have loved being with her as we have stayed in various places and spent time with many people that we have come to love as friends, close friends, and I am sure it is mostly due to how she has lived them during our work with them. Many have called us to come back because we have become friends and they wouldn’t have anyone else (even though I am sure it isn’t always the photography that keeps them coming back, it is Marie.