Sam+Mark come to us via Jessie+Dan, and if you’re really looking for something to do, you can scroll through that blog post and find a hidden picture of Sam. It’s like Where’s Waldo for Carolyn Scott Photography stalkers! Anyway, Sam and Mark live in Durham, but were up in Pittsburgh for Jessie and Dan’s wedding, as Sam’s family is close with Dan’s family (I think I got that right) and everyone wanted to see them get married but also look at penguins. We didn’t know Sam and Mark at that time but we do now, and oh how we love them! They’re two adventurous and loving people who like exploring Durham and the Eno. We shot this session near the spot on the Eno where Mark proposed. It’s a special place for them, but it was also a super cool spot for us to shoot in that we hadn’t been to before. We braved mosquitoes and donned knee braces and I got bit by one singular fire ant but otherwise remained unscathed by nature despite rock hopping and hiking back to the car in the dark. Which, speaking of night hiking, is something that we learned Sam and Mark have enjoyed doing throughout their dating years! This sounds fun but also terrifying, but they are clearly outdoorsy people (a fact we first learned after Mark became the first person to bike away from our house after our consult). We’re so excited to photograph their wedding next year at the Durham Museum of Life and Science!
YOU GUYS, JACKSON IS A PALEONTOLOGIST!!!
Phew, okay, got that off my chest.
We were so. freaking. excited. to meet our first paleontologist client and I had a mental list of all sorts of dinosaur-related questions I was going to ask him. Then they lured us into the session only to tell us that he’s not a dinosaur kind of paleontologist. We almost walked away right there, but they quickly (and smartly) followed up with the fact that Jackson gets to go to other countries to do that thing where you chip at bones and dust them off like the opening scene of Jurassic Park. And though they’re not dinosaur bones he’s digging for, he’s still digging and dusting and chipping! Lookin’ for stuff! Old things! Mostly other species of things that came after dinosaurs but that’s not important. What’s important is that he’s out there doing the job that every person has secretly wanted since the age of 5. He found a skull of something once that they hadn’t found a skull for yet! And I have full confidence that someday he’ll be looking for something un-dinosaur related and stumble across a dinosaur anyway and then I can say I know that guy.
Sara is not a paleontologist, but she is engaged to one. She is currently in charge of making soon-to-be alumni happy at Duke! I’ll tell you what would make them happy, Sara, and that’s taking them on a trip with Jackson to go chip and dust.
We were lucky enough to come across these two by way of Kaylene and Brandon! Jen was Brandon’s neighbor when they lived in Georgia. After Georgia, we kind of lose track of Jen’s whereabouts. :) Aaron’s from Ohio, but after Ohio we kind of lose track of him too. :) Before you think we’re bad people who just don’t pay attention to our clients, know that both Jen and Aaron are military, so cut some slack! It gets confusing after about four states. :D
Jen’s currently in the Air Force in HR and Aaron’s a paratrooper in the Army. They met in college and right now are having to be apart for a little while due to military obligations (Jen just returned from deployment and Aaron is currently getting deployed shortly). They’re currently planning a spring wedding in Charleston, SC. It’s a hard schedule but when you’re as completely adorable as these guys, you can see why it’s easy for them to stay together. :) We had an amazing time getting to know them on what was a beaaaautiful sixty-some degree February day in Durham.