thankful.

There was a time that I thought wedding photography was lame.  A camera in the hand was a sacred thing to me and I was determined to do something grand and adventurous with it.  I was certain that I would be the next James Nachtwey… dodging  bullets, jumping out of airplanes and sipping tea with the Dalai Lama.  Truth be told, this job has taken me to some amazing places and I’ve been able to meet some of the most genuine people on this whole earth. Tonight I sat editing one last wedding before I make the rush home for Thanksgiving with my family and then hit the road  for another out of state gig on Friday.  Editing the last folder of images, I ran across this photo.  On one of the most important days of their lives, Kate and Justin paused to take a photo with Justin’s sister who was battling cancer.  I remember someone shouting from over my left shoulder “Heather, smile!” which was followed by a perky grin.  And for a moment I didn’t see the sick body before me,  I just saw a sweet spirit.  It was the same sweet spirit that the family surrounding her was so in love with.  I woke the following morning to hear that Heather had passed away.  Out of all the thousands of photos of one person’s life, I was the stranger with the camera given the honor of capturing the last one.  That my friends is powerful stuff and I’d take so great an honor over tea with the Dalai Lama any day.