Today I want to tell you the story of how Nichole and Tina were married on a perfect sunny summer afternoon on the lawn of The Maker’s Son in Los Alamos, California.
But first, let me tell you about how the universe is a tricky fairy godmother sometimes. At security check in Atlanta, I pulled out my giant ziplock bag of film and passed it over to be hand checked. The very polite and friendly agent pulled the rolls out of the bag. Then he swiped the little piece of magic paper over each roll and inserted it into the special machine. All very routine and normal so far. Beep-beep-beep went the machine, to my absolute horror. The agent informed me that my entire bag of film would need to be scanned.
Now, gentle reader, Atlanta is the busiest airport in the world and always has the most state of the art security equipment. And it is well known to film photographers that the newest state of the art security scanners frequently ruin film. Yes, even slow film. And so my bag of film that I had so carefully packed was now unusable for paid work.
By the time I landed in L.A., I’d downloaded the address to Freestyle Photo and had it programmed into my GPS. I drove directly there from the airport and waited in the parking lot for them to open. Freestyle Photo is well known to anyone who is a fan of alternative darkroom processes, as well as most film photographers, so it was actually pretty neat to visit them for the first time in person. I’ve been shopping with them online for a couple of decades.
So I walked around the store and made some mental notes about a few things to order later. Then I went up to the counter to select some film from the refrigerated display. And there it was: Fuji 400H. The Holy Grail of California wedding photographers. Discontinued in 2022, with the remaining available supply dwindling, it was the last thing I expected to see on the shelf. I bought a whole box. Suddenly the sting of the ruined film was forgotten. Ok, not forgotten. But it was lessened a bit.
And so as you look through these photos of Nichole and Tina’s amazing day, you may notice a certain glow in their portraits. That’s all them. They glowed radiantly all day and their eyes sparkled brilliantly every time they looked at each other. However, it was still really wonderful to have some of the wonderful Fuji film to make their portraits with, because a couple as amazing as them deserves only the very best.
So I want to thank you so very much Nichole and Tina for trusting me to document your memories on your most amazing day. For bringing me to your perfect weather in southern California and allowing me to escape the brutal Georgia heat for a moment. Thank you for your amazing infectious enthusiasm for everything. For making it so easy and so fun to be there with you. And for just being you. Congratulations to you both.
Nichole and Tina’s Creative Team
Venue and Food – The Maker’s Son
Music – SB Paradise Music
Hair and makeup – NV Glam Studio
Floral – Nini’s flowers
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