Alright guys- This session is an oldie but goodie, and I can’t believe I’ve gotten by so long without sharing more of it! It seemed appropriate to go ahead and blog it this week for a few reasons.
1- These two were just at our house for dinner the other night and we had the BEST time catching up.
2- Chari’s birthday was Friday of this week (HAPPY BIRTHDAY CHARI!! I didn’t get this up by midnight EST but it’s still your birthday in a lot of other parts of the world so it counts, right?)
And the last (most important reason) 3- Dane recently dropped his first album “Thank You FATHER” and if you’re reading this- you need to go check it out! In fact, why don’t you pull it up right now and listen to it while you finish this blog post? You can find it on iTunes here. This album is GOLD and has become the sunshine-y, sing-along soundtrack to my life for the past few weeks. It’s wonderful.
Okay, now onto the pretty pictures…
Chari and Dane’s styled elopement shoot was one of my favorites of 2018 (well, let’s be real- of all time). A brief back story- I’ve known Dane since gradeschool. He and Chari have been together since late high school and are one of those #relationshipgoals type couples. (Once you see more of these pictures you’ll understand why, if you’re not lucky enough to already know them.) Though I’d heard a lot about Chari over the years through mutual friends (all wonderful things, like “How do you and Chari not know each other yet? Y’all remind me so much of each other”) we’d never met in person until we did this session. These high school sweethearts had initially planned to do a courthouse elopement, which I was going to tag along to photograph, and at the last minute decided to go ahead and do these photos as an elopement/wedding style portrait session and then throw an intimate surprise wedding and say their vows in front of their closest friends and family the following weekend. (So cool, right?) Enjoy a few favorites from our time together and a little bit more on why these two are so dear to me.
As far back as I have memories of Dane, he’s had such a strong love for the Lord. Like, the type of guy who would come up to you on campus in college and ask “What’s God been teaching you lately?” and then ask if he can pray with you. Though I can’t imagine it any other way, it’s so inspiring to see the priority that Chari and Dane make Christ in their relationship, from spending time traveling all over the world and sharing the gospel to being a light in the lives of their friends and family here. You can read more about their travels over the years and learn about the local projects they’re currently a part of by following their non-profit @worldpeaceconnection.
Both of their outfits were thrifted, and Chari’s long loc in the lower right image is a Love Loc. She said she started growing it years ago once she knew she and Dane would spend their lives together, and she kept it going up until the week they got married.
Loved their W.W.J.D. bracelets. #90skids
If you’re thinking that the dock looks familiar, it’s because it’s our old dock from when we lived in the little log cabin! We did this shoot during the last month of our lease last year. I’m grateful to have gotten to end our time there with such a special session.
Because they were having their official wedding ceremony the following weekend, they had a videographer come along to our shoot to capture some footage together and ask them some questions about their relationship. This added such a fun element to the session.
“What inspires you the most about life and living?” is their favorite question to ask people they cross paths with. This sign has come with them all over the world.
Aren’t Dane and Chari just the coolest? If you’re not already, take a second to follow them on Instagram (handles linked below) and go get Dane’s album “Thank You FATHER” on iTunes!
Photog friends- The color images from this session are Portra 400. The black and white images are Tri-X 400. Film was processed and scanned by Dunwoody Photo.
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