When Things Don't Go as Planned
When Things Don't Go As Planned
Sacrifice.
It is a word we hear all too often when it comes to members of our armed forces and their families. Growing up near Ft. Bragg, North Carolina I’ve had the opportunity to interact and befriend many of these families myself. As a photographer, I have had the incredible honor of photographing some of their most precious moments, and to let you in on a little secret — these clients have been some of my favorite people on the planet.
When Nicole reached out to me this summer and explained that she never had the chance to take photos in her wedding dress along with her husband, I was ecstatic that she wanted me to be the one to capture the moment, and I knew just the location for them, an intimate little tree line right outside town.
Little did I know this location was going to be one for the books. I had been told by other photographers that the land belonged to an old man in the area and that he really enjoyed watching people capture the beauty of the spot, and I personally had been longing for the right couple to come along and share it with.
After about 20 minutes into our session we were interrupted by a very friendly puppy (he wasn’t really a puppy, but everything is a puppy in my book) that was very excited that he had discovered a few new friends to play with. As many young dogs that get over-excited, he began to jump up on me, now I’m a tiny person weighing about 108lbs, so this dog was not making it easy for me. Evenly I tried to push him off, and my hand (my camera hand, might I add) got snagged by his teeth. We ended up getting back in our cars to wait for him to leave as we were scared that he was going to get to Nicole’s’ wedding gown.
After a few minutes, the pup figured out we were not coming back out to play and he disappeared into the woods on the other side of the property. Afterwhich we emerged from our cars to finish the session that — despite our run-in with the dog — ended beautifully with a fading sun in the background.
As for me, my hand hurt of a few days after the session but because no skin was broken, I decided an urgent care visit was unnecessary, seeing as I’m currently typing this a few months later I think I am perfectly fine. I do not regret using the location. I’ll definitely return in the future, maybe with a dog bone though, and I am grateful for these two and their willingness to stick it out with me. Thank you both!
