Dude Ranch

...The Dude...

I am a huge country music fan and every now and then I come across songs that I just sing for days. I listened to "Cowboy Take Me Away" the other day and was like "Oh. My. Gosh. I need to do a shoot and use this song!" Happily, Dude cleared his schedule and modeled for me :D
Now, I have said it before and it will never change, but, I love this kid. So, so much.
All of these poses - yes, he did them himself. I literally did not tell him to do anything.
How stinking cute is he?!?!

I said I wanna touch the earthI wanna break it in my handsI wanna grow something wild and unrulyI wanna sleep on the hard groundIn the comfort of your armsOn a pillow of bluebonnetsIn a blanket made of starsOh, it sounds good to me I saidCowboy take me awayFly this girl as high as you canInto the wild blueSet me free, oh, I prayCloser to heaven above andCloser to you closer to youI wanna walk and not runI wanna skip and not fallI wanna look at the horizonAnd not see a building standing tallI wanna be the only oneFor miles and milesExcept for maybe youAnd your simple smileOh, it sounds good to meYes, it soundsSo good to meCowboy take me awayFly this girl as high as you canInto the wild blueSet me free oh I prayCloser to heaven above andCloser to you closer to you

Sometimes

During weddings I shoot, the person I love to be around the most is the bride. I love brides.
They are excited, beautiful and in love. Makes for awesome pictures :D
Well, the last wedding I did in Chicago was a little different. I was sent up to do the groom and his guys getting ready.
No big deal, the groomsmen seem fun... I'll get some of the bride after the wedding. But, being completely honest I was little "eeh" about doing the guys.
And this is where God comes in :)
I have never had so much fun doing a pre-wedding shoot! It was so fun!!!
The guys were really, really funny:I shot some new "favorites" pictures:And I got to know the groom! Haha, imagine that! I was so excited to see him so excited!
So all the guys and I arrive at the church.
Whoa. It was insane.
While we were waiting for the ceremony to start, all of us were waiting in this little side room.
And I got to see an even funnier side of the groomsmen. They were all sitting there talking about women - specifically engaged women. Two of the guys are engaged (well, three including the groom :D). They were making me laugh so hard!

"She asks me and asks me and asks me what I really want. And I tell her 'Babe, I really don't care. I want you to have whatever you want.' Then she says 'Okay, look at these three photographers. Who do you like better?' Then I pick one and she gets upset at who I pick because she doesn't like that one! Whhhyy they do that? Why do they ask questions they know the answer to? (turns to me) Why do you do that?"

"The dress kills me. She goes online and favorites her dress, saves a picture to the desktop, goes online and opens the site and looks at her dress. Then she says that I have been sneaking around looking at it! I don't care what her dress looks like! It's going to be white and she is going to look beautiful. I don't care about the cut and fabric of her big, white dress. We got in a fight last night because she thought I looked. I didn't look. I don't care! Then she was mad that I didn't care enough. Oh my gosh. I can't win!"

They were all chiming in and I was sitting just there laughing. Poor guys, so confused by the engaged woman :)

Eventually the ceremony began and Dana & Thomas were married. The wedding coordinator came and told me some news. She informed me that I was going to go to cocktail at the hotel with the VIP guests, instead of go to the post-wedding formals. Other than the bride, I love doing pictures of the couple. And this couple was doing formals in front of the Chicago skyline.
I was not super excited - at all. But, my job is to serve and be not a problem - at all.

So, I went in the limo with the grandparents, parents and other VIP guests.
Again, cue God.I thought I had fun with the guys, well, let me tell you, I had no idea what I was in for with the VIP's!

This is Birdie and she is just plain awesome:
This is Grandpa and he, also, is just plain awesome.
I spent the ride to the hotel talking and laughing, as I sat in a limo driving through the Chicago coastline at dusk. It was incredible.
Here is some more fun at the hotel:It was an amazing time - I will post more from this wedding, eventually.
But, part of the reason that I am doing this post now is because of a situation now.
I am having computer problems that no one can quite figure out (and, don't worry, all pictures are safe and sound :D). But, basically, Photoshop will not work. I am kind of stuck. I can't edit pictures, and I am piling up with more to do. It seems like an "eh" situation to me, but I can count on the "But, God" any moment now! I know that my trouble now is very, very small in the big scheme of life!
I know that everything is going to work out just fine :)
(So, when Photoshop is working again, I will edit all of these and re-post them!)

ps. I love this picture.
pps. I love the song for this post. It is Louis Armstrong's "Chicago Breakdown." So good, right?