Monday, April 13, 2009

Gretchen and Josh

Life is a funny thing. It's an unexpected journey, full of twists and turns, potholes and bridges, back alleys and breathtaking views. For Gretchen and Josh, their story started back in their college days. They were living on separate floors in their college dorm at Whitworth. They had a few mutual friends, but really never got to know one another. They were at different places in life, and the roadsigns on their journeys were pointing them in different directions.

However, about 5 years out of college their lives intersected again, although this time it was from 286.2 miles apart. (but who's counting?) Gretchen was working in Seattle, and Josh in Spokane, and from this distance, they couldn't really see where they were headed. They simply enjoyed the ride as they rekindled their friendship. It wasn't long though, before they realized that their lanes were merging.

As their relationship progressed, one significant and recurring theme they noticed was that many of the important milestones and moments they shared have been around bridges. Their first kiss, their first discussion about marriage, and their engagement--all happened at bridges. They have become a reminder for Gretchen and Josh that no matter what is behind or what is ahead, they are on this road together.







This next image is one of my personal favorites from this session. My initial plan was to shoot towards the sun and get some lens flare. However, as this cloud moved in, it made the sun barely visible, so I quickly metered for the sun to get a silhouette. Very little was done to this image in post-processing, other than add a little tone. Because I was metering for the sun, the clouds actually came out looking that dark!

Here are the specs for those of you who might be interested.
Camera: Canon EOS 5d Mark II
Lens: EF70-200mm f/2.8L IS @ 200mm
Shutter Speed: 1/2000 second
F-Stop: f/18
ISO: 250








Congratulations Gretchen and Josh!

Gerald

14 comments:

Josh said...

Gerald and Airika, thank you so much - these shots exceed our expectations. You two are amazing! Thank you.

Anonymous said...

Seriously. There are so many great shots here, and many that we looked at and said "that's so us!" Thanks so much! We are really grateful for you both. --G

Ilse Braun said...

Beautiful Pics - what a cute couple!

Laura Randall said...

Those are great photos! They look like such a fun couple and you captured it very well!

Jeff said...

I totally dig the sun picture, too! It has a really cool feel to it :) Nice work :)

Jen MacNiven said...

AWESOME! I love the angles you got and the true emotion. Love the ivy wall...I see a wall like that on I=90 all time (could be the same one) and I'm always thinking of how to get some photos there...nice work!

Yuka photo art said...

Amazing work! Photographs are sooo beautiful!

Heather said...

I just love that top one, great set you guys!

ryan flynn said...

i LOVE that first shot. it just reaches out and grabs you!

Stephen Andert said...

Those are great shots! I'm sure they are happy with them and it looks like you all had fun making them.

Thanks for sharing!

Lonnie said...

Wonderful stuff as usual. Amazing.

Rich said...

Ditto....great work on everything. Great vision, execution and communication.

Em said...

I always know I'll leave inspired... beautiful as always!

Sheena LaShay said...

i think this may be one of my favorites and i've been following you for awhile now!



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