If I didn’t have you…

My photography, my heart, my life – would be nothing.

A little dramatic?  It should be.

My lovely wife turns a year older tomorrow and as we gather a few friends to celebrate, I find many of them are friends we’ve made along our journey in photography.  Colleagues, mentors, peers and clients.  One is even coming from hours away to celebrate and we have the pleasure of a portrait play-day this weekend.

Megan and I celebrated our anniversary last week as well.  We didn’t go crazy because in that same week we had 3 image premiers, a senior portrait consultation and lots of image processing and marketing to work on.  So while I made sure to carve out that evening for just her, I also note she sacrifices so much to be a part of something I love.

And she is growing to love creating art for our clients as well, her eyes lit up when we told her about the latest idea we concocted for one of our seniors…she loves to get wild-n-crazy with the hair and she will have full reign with this one.

I can’t help but think, what would this journey be without her?  Perhaps I could be more selfish and dedicate more time to my portraits.  But what would they look like?  Would I have found the perfect field 2 years ago for a senior who wanted to wear her prom dress in a field?  Could I have gotten the perfect smile from an aspiring male model when he was unsure and stiff?

Would I look at the work I created with the same passion and desire to do better?  Would I even value it the same?

I am completely lost in a love affair with photography.  I eat, sleep and breath it on every day that ends in “y”.  But I couldn’t do it without her, the one true love I have above all others.  She lights up a session with just a smile,  a funny comment or sneaking away with my camera to snap a quirky outtake.  Our clients not only respect her work as a stylist, but enjoy her ideas and interacting with her.

No, I couldn’t do this or love in the same way without her, and not just behind me, but right next to me.

Thank you, Megan – for understanding this passion I have and sharing in it.  Happy birthday and I love you!