A few years ago, we pressed pause on in-person coaching and small group workshops for photographers, and started teaching online. The obvious blessing was that –– because we were able to make our courses available online –– our students were no longer restricted by time and place. Which meant we could help vastly more photographers (thousands instead of just a dozen at a time) learn how to take professional quality images whether they had photography experience or not. At the same time, one of the hardest adjustments for us was not getting to meet and interact with our students in person. We missed that. Almost immediately. And still do. Thanks to new technologies (like Zoom) we’re able to do group coaching calls with our students from time to time, which we love. It’s not the same as being in person, but it’s certainly the next best thing! Just being able to see our students’ bright eyes and happy smiles helps us feel connected to them. On a human level, there’s a warmth that emanates from eyes and smiles that letters and emojis on a keyboard will never be able to replace –– which is why one of our favorite developments over the past few years has been getting to do anniversary sessions for AJ Students from all over the country!
That brings us to Kelli and her husband, Jarod.
Kelli is a student in our Shooting & Editing Course. She’s a joyful, beautiful mother of two sweet little boys. She and Jarod got married in 2007 (two years before us) in a pre-Pinterest world. AND THE FASHION AND DECOR CHOICES AT THE TIME REFLECT IT. Haha! That’s something we quickly and easily connected over with them! For example, we both designed our wedding invitations on our home computers and printed them on our home printers (ours in Papyrus font!) We all bonded over the fact that if we could do it over again, we’d probably do a lot differently stylistically. At the same time, our wedding days were sweet, simple, special and ours. And we wouldn’t change that for anything in the world.
THAT SAID… It hasn’t stopped us (and many others) from getting anniversary photos done throughout the years to right some of the wedding fashion and photo wrongs that we made when we were young and in love! Lol! Especially for Kelli, who’s always the one taking the pictures of her kids, getting to be in front of the camera instead of behind the camera is such a special thing. As people who are usually behind the camera, we can attest to that.
Kelli and Jarod, it was such an honor to meet you (in real life) and a true privilege to document this chapter of your love story thirteen years and two kids later. You are beautiful inside and out and your boys are blessed to call you “Mom and Dad.” It was a joy spending time with you. We hope you love seeing your love through our lens as much as we loved capturing it. HAPPY 13TH ANNIVERSARY!
And one more fun note: We had a “first” during this shoot! When we were location scouting a few minutes before the session started, we stumbled upon wild horses! We’ve never come across wild horses at a session before and couldn’t resist quickly taking a few photos. They were so beautiful. You’ll see them towards the end of the post!
