I saw this powerful short video that was shared by Artifact Uprising about Joe Bucholt, a grandfather who wrote a book full of notes and pictures for his grandchildren called Legacy. In the video,  he mentions he will not be leaving much money for his grandchildren but rather, he will leave them his most valuable possession-his photographs and the stories those photographs tell.

He said, “the differences that siblings and cousins feel and experience should always be balanced and viewed in the context of long lasting and shared experiences and family ties…”

His beautiful words reminded me that maybe pursuing my goal as a wedding photographer to be less ordinary goes beyond recognition or wealth.

This year has been a blessing but it didn’t come without hardship, both financial and personal.
Taking a less traveled road can be quite scary even when you believe in it with all your might.

It’s easy to second guess yourseIf and sometimes it is obvious that doing the opposite of what you are doing could be much easier. Shooting weddings is already a really hard thing to do regardless of how you do it. So, it is much easier and safer to have a repertoire or to recreate a familiar story which you have seen a hundred times, as you shoot weddings.  However, it is important to find the story that lies beneath the surface. The story that hopefully holds something else, something new,  and something more real. This can exist outside of a repertoire.   

So, I thank God for my stubbornness, and for the vision I have been given because I truly believe that weddings are an opportunity that we cannot afford to miss out on. It's an opportunity to share, experience and live moments with every person we love. Brides, grooms,  the wedding industry and definitely photographers should not take this lightly.

This is why I love Joe Bucholt's video and why I no longer believe in what I used to believe in. I no longer want to take the same kind of images I used to take. I no longer want to be some famous photographer other photographers can admire. I just simply want to capture stories that matter and as Joe Bucholt implied in his video, I hope to add another layer to the story of people’s lives. It's a layer that hopefully can be shared, and experienced while it bonds families, friends, grandparents with grandchildren, and lovers forever.