Leila and Colin have quickly become two of our favorite people, and they’re so stupidly easy to work with that our job looks/seems/feels like the easiest job ever when we’re with them. They’re giggly and laugh a lot and look really good and also have a dog named Bobby (Mr. B/Chicken Boy). Bobby is from Bulgaria (we had a cat from Russia last month, and now are looking forward to our stint of foreign pets), and also appeared at their wedding in Asheville last year. Bobby wasn’t sure how he felt about Leila at that point. He is very close with Colin, and was, perhaps, somewhat jealous when Leila entered the picture, holding a truly cat-like grudge in a totally benign situation. However, we are proud to announce that since the wedding, Leila and Bobby’s relationship has turned a corner when Colin had to travel for work, leaving Bobby alone with Leila for a week. Bobby then realized that Leila was ALSO nice, and would ALSO feed him and walk him and cuddle with him, and now Bobby has truly accepted both of his parents and is 100% supportive of their marriage (thank goodness). This photo session was a celebration of Leila and Colin’s love for each other and also their enduring and endearing relationship with Bulgarian Bobby. All three of them are moving to Boston shortly, which I think should inspire a new sitcom called Bulgarian Bobby in Boston, which I would surely watch. We’re so glad to have photographed this crew yet again, and glad that Leila hasn’t texted us to tell us that Bobby got sick after eating a chicken bone found on the roof of a garage during the session, so we’re going to assume he’s okay.
Category: Couples
We are so lucky to have connected with Jen and Jon, and not just because Jen is also Celiac so pointed us to a great restaurant called Over the Falls in Wake Forest where we all went after their engagement session to eat gluten free chicken fingers, but because they are genuinely wonderful human beings who care quite a bit about themselves and their sweet dog. Before their engagement session, they warned us not to approach Sam, the adorable black fluffy face of a doggo that you see pictured before you. She isn’t aggressive and doesn’t bite, but she is easily startled and afraid of humans. The problem is that she’s really, really cute and really, really fluffy and anytime there is a fluffy animal in front of me I just want to hug it. So it required a great deal of self-control to not hug or pet Sam, and I spent most of the session clawing at my own face and gritting my teeth in baby voices in order to restrain myself. I did briefly forget and try to pet her, and she jumped really high and then I jumped really high and terrified reactions were had all around. Still think she’s cute.
They also warned me that Jon is the human version of Sam, but I’m pretty sure we gave him a hug at the end of the night and he didn’t jump. Him and Jen are pretty adorable human creatures who enjoy comics and Pokemon and good television shows and walking around with their pup and occasionally dressing said pup as Pikachu. Jon is a lifting instructor and lifted both Sam and Jen during their engagement session with great ease. Jen is an incredibly good sport who allowed herself to be lifted and frightened and tickled all for the sake of photography. We like them both a whole lot and are so excited to photograph their wedding at the new Wakefield Barn in November! It’s a new venue that looks incredible, and we’re sure Jen and Jon will make it look even better (also Sam, who will make it look fluffier).
WE NEED MORE ENGAGEMENT SESSIONS WITH CATS. Do you hear me, internet? Cats. More cats. We are not short on adorable doggos, but we are short on cats. That being said, you have to hire us fully prepared that your engagement session is just going to turn into pictures of your cats. Jessica was prepared for that (cat dress, cat blanket, book on how to talk to your cat about guns). RJ did stop us during the session to say something like, “Wait, aren’t these supposed to be pictures of us?” but I’m pretty sure he was joking due to the cat salt & pepper shakers, Jackson Galaxy books, and polaroids of their cats adorning their walls.
These guys have two cats: Lola, a tortie, who gave us several hisses of love while trying to drag away an entire bag of treats with her teeth up the stairs, and Misha, a black and white tripod cow cat from Russia. Yes, literally from Russia. Jessica and RJ adopted him in the states after he was already a tripod. We have been told he was “in a car accident in Russia” when he lost his leg, which brings up several questions for me. The phrasing wasn’t “hit by a car,” which is what it normally would be, but rather that he was “in a car accident,” which to me implies that he might have been driving. So, my conclusion is that Misha is possibly (probably) a Russian spy. His owners claim he’s not smart enough, but he’s literally the only cat I’ve ever know who can do tricks (sit, shake, turn around). Jessica and RJ claim that this is because RJ works from home and has time to train him, but both Geoff and myself work from home, and our cats are untrained in almost every way. So… before I get all the evidence in, I’ll watch what I say around Misha… just in case. Both cats are adorable.
So now that their cats have been covered, I need to move on the second most interesting fact of this session, which is how Jessica and RJ met, because it’s quite possibly the best meeting story we’ve ever heard in our 10 years of doing this. Jessica needed a wedding date “to show up an ex who was a groomsman, [and] naturally, I posted an ad to Craigslist.” Then, bold soul that Jessica is, she met several people who responded in order to conduct interviews as to who would be the most convincing/best date to show up the ex-boyfriend. RJ claimed in an e-mail that he’s taller than he really is (Jessica had a height requirement), but they met, instantly clicked, and Jessica decided she could overlook his lying about his height. I can’t even make this stuff up you guys. Best. meeting. story. ever. In like, one million ways. And it gets even better, because several people asked RJ how he met Jessica while they were at the wedding, and RJ recounted a very emotional fake story. This worked for a while until one of the other guests said, “Isn’t that a Subaru commercial?” (and it was), and his cover was blown. But guys… clearly this couple was tailor made just for us. We love everything about them. We are so excited to shoot their wedding in DC next year… where I can only hope that one of the guests brings a plus one and then steals another Subaru commercial ad to explain how they met.