About 10 years ago I saw a photo by one of my friends, Audrey Hall, who had shot a wedding up at Springhill Pavillion. It was a beauiful photo of the couple on the road that went on until infinity. Everytime I shoot up at Springhill I think of that photo. How do I capture the feeling of this beautiful place but make it fresh for each couple? How do you incorporate the personality of the couple and intertwine it with the sence of place to make portraits that are beautiful, fun and meaningful? Here are some photos that I took at Jill and Graham's wedding that I think do just that.

This first one is more traditional but still just a bit unusual in its composition.


Whenever I asked Jill to move her personality really came out. I love this shot of the two of them, her sincere smile and body posture shows just a bit of her charisma and happiness.


On the following photos I used a special infrared camera. I Love the way it distorts the grey tones into an unusual tonal range. I also love the moment while they were walking back to the reception after the quick photo shoot in the field.

Montana is unusual in many ways. In regards to weddings it is one of the only states in our country where you can have anyone marry you. For a few dollars your friend or relative can go to http://www.themonastery.org/?gclid=CIi6qN-S4JQCFSEbagodWmxMSQ and become an 'ordained minister'. My husband did this recently and married two couples over the last year. Jill and Graham had a very close friend do the same thing at their wedding. Here is one photo of them at the Springhill Pavillion located just out of Bozeman.


When someone you know marries you the ceremony becomes more meaningful and interesting to you and to your friends and family who are listening and participating. At Jill and Graham's wedding their friend brought in their personal history, shared how the two of them interact with each other, and instances that demonstrated the deep love and respect that they have for each other. He did it in a way that was witty and entertaining but still had a reverence for the magnitude of the promise they were making to each other.

Over the last 17 years, I have photographed hundreds of weddings and love listening to how people decide to share their promises with each other and their guests. I think you can hire an officiant/minister/judge to do the job, and if you are very communicative with them it can be a personal ceremony.

Choosing what is said and what is not said in your ceremony conveys a lot to the guests who are listening.