Wayne & Eileen

Just like with the image of Michael that I posted earlier sometimes from a shoot there comes just one image that really brings it all home for you. Below is that image for Wayne and Eileen.

We got them as a client via a silent auction. Their son won our gift certificate when he bid on it at the Kansas City March Of Dimes Blue Jean Ball auction. They got it as a gift from him and we met two incredible people.

They thought that they would be coming in for some business portraits, but do I ever make it that simple? See we always have a planning session for every portrait to really learn what the clients wants and to fully explain what we do.

These two chatted about getting a portrait and head shots for their small business. It then evolved into a great shoot. I wanted to share this image as an example of how to fully enjoy a session.

We spent time shooting some standard portraits of them, then all of a sudden they seemed to just forget about me. They were just lost in a moment for a bit. Well fast forward to the live portrait viewing when they came in see the images.

They kept coming back to this one. Well we got the ones ordered for their business and for gifts then we were deciding that to do for them. We were talking about this image and the one they wanted for their home. Suddenly Wayne started to get emotional. He said it just hit him out of the blue. Now I can not fully remember exactly what it was, but he said it just perfectly symbolized their marriage. The empty space and the way they were holding each other. He said it really felt like they were together in this large world. They also told of how it shows their need for each other but also their ability to be their own person. They shared all of this with me and it just really hit home as to why I love what I do.

Even if I am creating a portrait in a controlled situation the ability to tell stories is still there. The told me of a reading they had at their wedding to illustrate the point. I found this very profound. I am gonna paraphrase this the best I can. They said in order to have a strong marriage you need to be together and supportive but also be individuals. They said if the pillars of a building are to close to each other the building will collapse. If they are spread out the stronger the structure. Good food for thought!

Anyway, I was very proud of them for choosing this as their wall portrait. It was totally the unsafe, unexpected route to take and I am sure that risk will pay off with years of enjoyment out of their piece.