Two Newlyweds, a roll of film, and an wonderful old chair.

I will be posting a not-so-small blog tomorrow talking about a new film project we have recently launched. And I do not mean “film” as in a movie…I mean regular old and outdated photographic camera film. Yep…they still make it. These are the photos from our first attempt at one of these sessions, and I think that you will really like them. But for now…the couple!

We met Chad and Jamie while volunteering at a local event on Easter weekend (https://www.conner-photography.com/eastertime/), and we thought they were a great couple. Chad is a golf pro at a local golf course, and Jamie works with children dealing with autism. They are newlyweds like Shannon and myself, and they have been married for less than a year. They did not have proper wedding photos when they were married (which is always sad for us when we hear that people missed out on that), and we had talked about maybe doing some photos together sometime.  Once we decided to rush and do this new film project before our bridals shows, we knew that we needed a couple to photograph, and we needed them very quickly! Thankfully, we were able to get in touch with the two of them, and we were able to make it happen.

The day of the session, were driving to work and we saw this old chair that had been sitting out by the trash cans at a house (had been sitting there for a few weeks, actually), and we decided to snag it and use it for the photos. It was a little dirty, but after sitting in the 95+ degree heat of the past few weeks, whatever smells might have been there before were totally gone. Sweet. I cannot believe someone was throwing this thing away. It is SUCH a cool antique chair, and it is actually in great condition. I am a big proponent of recycling, conserving, donating, and anything else that 1) keeps usable things out of landfills and 2) enables someone else to receive a good item for free or low cost. Yeah, it might not have been perfect, but it still had great value. Now, it will be a permanent addition to the Conner photo prop collection.

We loaded up everything that (hot) afternoon, and went to shoot one roll of film. We had such fun. Jamie and Chad were a delight to hang out with, and it was so nice being with other newlyweds. They both were so willing to go out on a limb and do things (such as laying in very tall grass without a blanket) that many people would not. They were totally on board for all of it, and I think it shows. Here are the results of that session. Below, you see every single photo that I shot that afternoon…nary a one was thrown out. Actually, I have never ever shown 100% of what I shot in a session because there are always “imperfections.” There are always going to be shots that are not exposed just right or are a little out of focus or just not that creative. But, I am growing to see great value in some of the things that are often seen as throwaways. Why is something being “perfect” the only justification for keeping it around? The 102 year old house we live in has issues, but it is a great place. Shannon is not perfect, and I love her. I sure as heck am NOWHERE near to perfect, and she still keeps me around (and does not get too angry at me when I forget to pick up my socks). I think I am wanting to spend more time seeing value in the imperections that are around me, because I have the feeling that I am missing a lot of beautiful and wonderful things. Who knows? Maybe tomorrow I will come across another beautiful old chair on the side of the road that someone else failed to see for what it truly is.

I hope you enjoy the photos as I sincerely enjoy them.