One of my favorite parts of being engaged?
Getting my photo taken, ALL THE TIME.
It’s not that I love having my photo taken. I get weird about it. I worry about double chins and if I’ll remember to stand up straight. I joke about only being photographed on my Good Side but then actually insist on it. (Before you roll your eyes — I totally have a noticeable Good Side vs. Not-as-Great Side. God blessed me with uneven nostrils. What can ya do.)
But what’s more important than getting my Good Nostril is capturing that precise life moment. Almost four years later and I still treasure my wedding photos immensely. Obviously it symbolizes all the stereotypes — the best day of your life, the day you begin your union, the day spent celebrating your closest friends and family, the day there’s an open bar in YOUR honor! Cool!
But even moreso, it symbolizes that exact time period in your life span. When I look at my wedding photos, I see different versions of Max and me. We’ve grown so much since then; we’ve grown as individuals and we’ve grown together. And I ADORE these people we’re becoming.
But after the proposal, after the engagement, after the showers and the parties and the brunches, after the wedding, after the honeymoon… it’s over. All the pre-baby major life things are done and gone and the cameras are put away. You settle into your newfound life of being a husband or being a wife, and unless you’re a photographer yourself, the only photos you get of newlywed life are the occasional selfie the one time you put on some lipstick and go out to dinner.
Unless you take some Just Because photos.
Over the summer, my friend Brittany invited us and Heather Nash Photography for a fun little summer shoot. All she had to say was “field full of Queen Anne’s lace” and I was sold. For an hour or two, we laughed and ran around this field, posing and sweating and holding hands and sweating and smizing and cuddling and sweating. It was hot but so fun and so worth it. Max is the funniest person and is the most charismatic — he just cracks a joke or runs through some flowers like a lovestruck, slow-mo Nicholas Sparks character and it’s enough to loosen my nerves. He is completely wonderful.
Working with Heather was a dream. It was like hanging out with some old friends where someone just happened to bring along a camera. We brought a cooler of our favorite beers and traipsed through the field, eventually making our way to the sleepiest lake tucked in the forest. We waded in as the sun set behind the trees and yes I’m completely self aware that this sounds awfully cliché. Worthy of an aggressive eye roll. But you know what? 2016 Laura don’t care. 2016 Laura hiked up her skirt, waded into that heavenly still water, got real close to her main man and breathed in every blissful minute. Just Because.
If it was even remotely acceptable to use this photo as my professional headshot, I would. It’s me in my natural state: giggling with a good beer and my favorite person.
We look silly and melancholic and not like ourselves but DAT LIGHT THO. Heather, you are so good.
Heather, thank you so much for your time, your talent, and the gifts you’ve given us through this session. I feel so grateful to have these Just Because photos to honor and preserve this time in our life together.
Just two kids in love, one watercolored lake, countless Queen Anne’s lace, and one Good Nostril.
All photos taken by Heather Nash Photography, who you should ask to capture your Just Because love, too
