“In photography there is a reality so subtle that it becomes more real than reality.”
— Alfred Stieglitz

Obsessive. It's how I feel about so many little things. In reality I feel like I spend a lot of my life trying to multitask just because it's what I'm "supposed" to do. But if I were honest enough with myself to just settle into a spot full of joy for a few moments I'm pretty sure I could easily narrow down the few things that would be on my mind. I love light. There is something about light that has challenged every great artist in history and though I certainly wouldn't put myself on that kind of shelf, knowing that I get to struggle through the same thing that they did gives me some kind of hope for where I'm going as an artist. I love people. The entire reason I'm in this industry is because I have the rare opportunity to see people at such a vulnerable time in their lives being completely intimate and transparent. There's so much beauty in humanity. More than anything I love the realness of a moment. The way God spent so much detail shaping every little speck of dust and petal of a flower from the beginning of creation defines just exactly how incredible a moment is. For all of the art in creation what God really made, out of nothing and nowhere in a snap of his fingers is something that now rules every element of our lives : time. To think of a time, before time is something that will give you a headache in a hurry. But to realize that the fragility of a moment that cannot be relived has a slight chance of being caught by a camera is the most exciting thing I can imagine.

If you're wondering why I just spent the last few minutes getting entirely too deep it's simply because there is so much in this shoot that represents what I love. Blaire + Tyler stepped out of the car in love : not only with each other but also the moment. The story to this shoot on the surface is hilarious. In fact we had barely been out of the car for 5 minutes before we realized that Blaire and Tyler had locked their keys in their car and our first location would be spent shooting and waiting for a locksmith to come save the day. All the laughter and happiness of this shoot gave way in a hurry to something really deep between these two. It's complete joy. It's completely happy. But it's also completely real - and that is a wonderful thing to witness. Blaire sent me a message a few days before the shoot and said "Miles, we'll do whatever you want." (That's actually not a direct quote) BUT the point here is that they gave me complete freedom to just enjoy the whole process with them.

Bottom line is that this shoot did exactly what it was supposed to. I may ruffle feathers here - but what if the entire point of engagement sessions are NOT great photos? That's my approach completely. This isn't about giving a couple a million photos for their save the dates and Facebook profile, it's about spending a few hours learning what makes these two tick. It's about giving them a chance to let their shoulders down and just be together - and it's about letting them see that what I'm trying to do is simply interpret for them what they see in each other. A HUGE thank you to Blaire + Tyler for letting me spend this afternoon with them seeing them exactly for who they are. Beautiful, sweet, funny, kind.... happy.