Horseshoe Bend in Page, Arizona at golden hour is nothing short of magical. Add in a gorgeous bride and groom and 60 of their closest family and friends bathed in the warm desert light and you have something like a dream. Sheri + James said their joyful, tearful “I dos” earlier this month canyon side and I had the honor of being there to capture it all.
Here we are in the heart of a frigid winter (even for us Floridians at times) and I’m dreaming of warmer days. So why not share a peek into Alexa and Jordan’s seaside Sanibel Island wedding from this past summer. Revisiting these images is like a treat! I can almost hear the lull of the waves and the rustle in the palm leaves and nearly feel the sweet summertime sun on my skin…
In reflecting on the last year I took some time to note things that had given me life or drained me in the past. (It’s an effort in aiding in decision making for this “decision fatigued” gal right here. And the idea is all thanks to Emily P. Freeman and her “The Next Right Thing” podcast!) Something that undeniable breathed life in to my work and inspiration was the process of shooting creatively with film. (You can check out my past blog post about the process and love affair by clicking here and here.) So I set out to spend more time behind my film camera pointing it at beautiful things and lovely light by marking down a few “inspired styled shoots” in my calendar. This is the very first of them…
Anna Grace’s Senior Session at Dark Hammock Legacy Ranch was nothing short of a dream…
Jade and Brett's Bok Tower Garden's wedding celebration was nothing short of high style heaven. Beneath the towering oaks, with the Singing Tower in the background these two said "I do" in an intimate wedding ceremony surrounded by their nearest and dearest plus all the classiest of details and I loved being there to capture it all (on film too!).
There's nothing quite as sweet as the newness of life...
Cape Perpetua, Oregon / October 2016
I worked all weekend long photographing my last wedding of the year and a sweet multi-family session on Sunday. So Monday was my full on Sabbath this week. I didn’t set an alarm and slept in with my hubby. I drank not one but two cups of Santa’s White Christmas coffee. I sat on the couch and read my bible and a Christian women’s magazine @deeplyrootedmag that made me laugh and cry and feel totally inspired. I pondered and prayed. Then I loaded up and headed to my favorite park with a rented film camera and a roll of film in hand and wandered. The sound of the shutter all alone in the immense of a forest is something to take your breath away. A sweet gift. I slowed down. I breathed deep. And I waited to press my finger down to release the shutter for just the right time.
Behind the lens I smiled. And I whispered prayers of thankfulness to my Heavenly Father for quiet beauty and space to breathe just one week away from Christmas. And how forever ago when He created Sabbath he thought of me and this moment and how much I’d need it. And when he asks us to be obedient to things He knows what He is doing. He knows what’s best.
The hustle of what we’ve made Christmas pressed in from all sides on this Sabbath but I’m thankful for a moment of wandering in the quiet of the wild and being refreshed by my Savior.
On Tuesday, refreshed, I sent off a handful of film for developing and processing filled with images spanning three weddings, a sweet family session and captures from that restful stroll in my favorite park. And now we wait...
I never imagined (but should have guessed) how much capturing images on film would teach me about way more than just photography. With every roll of film I learn more and more about holding things lighter, about being slow and intentional, thoughtfully responsive and less instantly reactive, patient and purposeful but certainly not perfect. And I'm learning to be okay with that.
It's a practice in the art and beauty of patience.
Here's a little classy red, white and blue wedding glamour at The Acre Orlando for you all on this fine Independence Day! Thank to all who came together to bring us this beauty at this Rising Tide Society, Tuesdays Together Lakeland styled shoot. I loved the road trip up to The Acre Orlando with my super talented sis-in-law Jen Maxcy with Hair and Beauty by Jen to capture all the loveliness she and the rest of our talented team pulled together (credits below). Enjoy, enjoy!
Happy 4th, y'all! And thank you to all the brave men and women that serve to keep this the land of the free from sea to shining sea. <3
xoxo, Caroline
In collaboration with the Rising Tide Society, Tuesday's Together Lakeland crew
Photography: Caroline Maxcy Photography (shown here) and Love, Asha Photography
Hair and Makeup: Hair and Beauty by Jen (Jen Maxcy)
Florals and Design: DHS Design Guild / The Wild Hare Flowers
Location: The Acre Orlando
Models: Natalie DePerez and Ethan Keen
Film Camera Rental: Contax Rentals
Film Developing and Processing: The Find Lab
You'll find a mix of both film and digital captures in the images below. If you have a hankering for the romance of that film look on your wedding day let's chat about adding it to your wedding day photography package. Enjoy!
When I was first officially "schooled" in photography way-back-when at Florida State University it was with a basic, strictly manual Nikon film camera and black and white film where we captured, processed and developed all of our own film. I can still remember the cool dimness of the darkroom (with the sweltering Florida heat just outside its doors). It was a dreamy retreat that place. Even in a time without the instantness of digital photography (yes, it was that long ago) the process of waiting and working for a single image was a welcomed reprieve from the hustle and bustle of college life. I fell in love.
Fast forward a few years and my digital camera and I are inseparable. The instantness is efficient, helpful and perfect for a growing photography business. And the images that a DSLR can create are getting better and better. I capture hundreds of images on a single shoot and thousands on a wedding day. Minute expressions and handfuls of emotions. It's sometimes like a little stop frame animation movie and I love this. I love that somewhere in the 20 photos I capture of a bride and groom snuggled up in that perfect golden afternoon light, they catch each other's eyes, there's a spark and they glow.
Film is different. And I have to admit I've been scared of going back. My shooting style is so much about capturing that glowing expression and emotion that I'm afraid I'll miss it in the waiting. That I'll click just a half second too late and it will be gone. While I've watched the commercial photography industry for years now slowly making its way back to film I've done just that. I've watched and waited. Photographers talk about the romanticism of film and the images captured, the perfect minty tones, the way the process has made them better photographers and I've watched and waited.
When I talk of my thoughts towards film and the possibility of exploring it again with my non-photog friends their question always is, "Why? Will it make you more money? Are there people that are looking for that?" Which are all valid questions, but in my response I have found that my motivation for picking up a film camera again more so than not entirely about myself. It is about me as the artist, the artistry behind it and cultivating my own art creation process. Its about becoming better at what I do not by grasping for more but in leaning into what is already right there in front of me, weeding out the mess and waiting for the more to bloom. There is a beauty in the process of waiting not to catch an image but for that image to arrive. Eye to the view finder. Lens focused. Waiting, breathing, feeling. The emotions of the moment crest and fall. And then there it is. That golden, glowing, emotion filled image appears. A millisecond. Click.
It's hard to miss something you are so in-tuned to.
Last month I did just that. I finally stopped watching and picked up a film camera again. This time it is the one all the cool kids use a Contax 645 rented for a long weekend from the lovely Contax Rental (who also sells Contax Kits). I bought a few rolls of film and explored the process. What fun it was, but despite the fact that I kept looking at the back of the camera after every click to see an image, no image appeared. I had no idea how I was doing. So I packed up my exposed film rolls, sent them along their way to The Find Lab and began the process of waiting again. When I got back the processed, developed and scanned images my heart swelled. I was in love once again.
I captured images across the span of a few sessions I had that long weekend and I will share more of those with you all with each session. But for today you get to see a little peek into my film exploration when on a Sunday afternoon the lovely Hannah and I ventured into Highlands Hammock State Park with my borrowed Contax and a few rolls of film. While we talked over life we explored the dreamiest of places and from time to time I lifted the camera to my eye and waited for a moment to arrive. Click.
xoxo, Caroline
