In January Azzi & Rom flew me to Asmara, Eritrea to document their homecoming & wedding celebration. I stayed for 15 days and ate injera and curries for lunch, rode a bicycle out of the city into an arid landscape devoid of electricity and running water, and happily found myself lost in a city of decaying Italian architecture. I’m missing my morning greetings from grandfathers on bicycles who cheerfully called “buongiorno!” at me, and the gaggle of kids I spent my afternoons losing soccer matches to.
In February Brady and I loaded up our little sedan and hit I-5 South for San Francisco. I had a meeting with one of my wedding couples– so we decided to turn the week into a full-fledged road trip. On our way down we hit snow (surprise!) in Grant’s Pass, and pulled into blanketed Ashland, Oregon at 3 in the morning, teeth chattering, eyes tired, but excited to lay our heads at the quaint Peerless Hotel. The next day we drove through Northern California’s rolling hillsides, our eyes scanning the road for grape fields, pine trees, and coyotes. When we made it to San Francisco our friend Josie opened her townhouse up to us and we explored the city from there. I shot in that beautiful, honeycomb, Cali-light I go ga-ga over, opted for twilight hikes around the city in sandals over the bart, and consumed more delicious food & coffee in a 72-period than I ever thought possible (tartine, flour & water, mission chinese, outerlands, sight glass, four barrel, ect). On our way back to Seattle we hit up Petaluma to stay with our friend’s Jazzmyn and Dennis. Jazzmyn (one of the most talented baker’s on the west coast) had four different kinds of cookies ready for our tummys, including lavender lemon shortbread (melt). We hiked through point reyes, making imprints in the sand with our toes, peering out into fog so thick, the ocean disappeared before our eyes. And then we went home.
These dear friends let me take them to one of my favorite places on Earth– the San Juan Islands– for their destination engagement session. We spent the day exploring Lopez Island, snapping photos along the way. I brought them to some of my favorite secret spots on the island, and we ran around in the foggy mist, climbing over moss, drinking in views of the sound, and running through hydrant yellow wildflowers. Best day ever. After our adventures we went to the Lovedog Cafe for bread pudding and then hit the ferry home.
After I delivered the photos to Natalie here’s what she wrote me:
“Ahh, Chantal they are gorgeous!!!! Once again, I am just so floored by you and your work. So incredible. Some of them capture such beautiful sentiments that go so far beyond words. I can’t wait to display them in our houses for the rest of our lives! You are such a huge blessing, thank you for capturing such incredible scenes. I can’t wait for you to photograph our wedding. Best investment EVER!”
She made my week with her sweet note. I feel humbled that I get to do this as my job. Hang out with people I totally dig, capture moments from their awesome lives, and then get thanked like that. Gee whiz.
Side note: Natalie & Ty also asked me to shoot Polaroids during their session (which I LOVE to do). There’s seriously nothing like snapping a Polaroid, slipping it into your bag, and 15 minutes later huddling around it to examine the unexpected toning and beautiful imperfections that continually make me fall more in love with instant film.
Wanted to send my thanks to the folks at Rare Medium & The Impossible Project for working to save this art form. You guys rule.
Step 1: Gather all of your friends from around the world (Latin America, Germany, the east coast, Colorado, ect) and invite them to camp with you for a week on Orcas Island, one of the most beautiful islands in the world.
Step 2: Consult your almanac and be lucky enough to have your outdoor gathering land on one of the most gorgeous days of summer.
Step 3: Be as kind and carefree as Marlaine and Erick.
Step 4: Hire local pizza-makers from Ani Sparks at the Inn at Ships Bay to roll their pizza oven over to your venue, and craft local, organic, and straight-up mouth-watering pizzas alllllll night long.
Step 5: Drink good beer. And hug a lot.
This was definitely one of my favorite wedding weekends of the summer. Marlaine & Erick are incredible and inspiring people who want to make this world a better place. I’m so glad I met these two! Look out for their wedding up next.
Big thanks to my partner in crime, Brady MacDonald for shooting this with me. Some of his images are in the mix.
