Today is Memorial Day in the United States.  Several things presented themselves over the past month that made me ponder photography and how important photography is to memories and to the act of recording them as they happen.  Every single photograph you or I have ever taken is a memory of something - an item we can keep in a book or view on a screen throughout our lives.  

A friend of mine attended a wedding in Lake Tahoe two weekends ago and was kind enough to send photographs from the wedding.  Two photographers and a videographer documented the event, and the images are stunning.   It made me think about the weddings and engagement events I have photographed over nearly 50 years, and how important they really are.  If the couple remains together throughout their lives (or not), chances are, few things from the wedding or commitment ceremony - be it lavish or intimate - make it through what are probably multiple moves, and natural disasters effecting peoples' homes and lives.  (Some brides keep their wedding dresses.  The one shown below has probably been kept in an elaborate box.)  But the past week and weekend have been an example of the havoc nature can add to life.  Chances are, photographs remain in some format, representing a singular moment in time.  

Bride at South Fork, Colorado

Weddings - Robin James

So my mission for the last three days was to take a deep dive into my assorted photographic formats - CDs, digital, slides, and prints - in order to make my website "wedding" gallery as interesting and impactful as it can be.  More is not necessarily better.  I was looking at the the best for the gallery, and it was full of far too much.  Remembering, I include a few of the  most interesting, funky, and lovely of almost 50 years of wedding and event photography.

engagement shoot with Jessica and Joe along the Santa Fe River
Engagements - Jessica and Joe at Santa Fe River

  engagement shot,  Ashley and Gene, Taos, New Mexico
Ashley and Gene engagement photographs

Not all wedding photographs feature both bride and groom, as the photo below demonstrates.  It features the groom with the flower girl, and is one of my favorites.

Grubb-Trujillo wedding 2011

bridesmaid along the windy Rio Grande del Norte in southern Colorado

WEP - Wettig-Davis wedding (11 of 12)-2

a work of art in itself, the wedding cake

Babb-Varianien wedding final-101

Kara and Eero at Prairie Star, Santa Ana Pueblo near Albuquerque

Kara and Eero

Christie and her father Earle, greater Los Angeles area

bride and her father

Jessica and Joe at Leaping Deer Ranch in Sapello, New Mexico

Joseph and Jessica in his head

Cathy and Javier, Hannagan Meadow Lodge, White Mountains, Arizona

Hannagan's Meadow bride and groom

WEP - Watkins-Telles wedding (4 of 11)

As I wait for Zenfolio to complete their weekend's work on the website platform along with the shift to an archival system, I will continue to make my galleries more interesting and less cluttered.

Thanks to Barbara F. R., Victoria, Jean & Sam, Steve, Rebecca, Bill P. Christina W., and Marilyn G. for writing this week! 

I hope you had a safe, thoughtful, and peaceful Memorial Day weekend, and that the week ahead opens a summer of photography, good work, friends, and family to you.

until next Monday,

db

a passion for the image©