But I have to admit that there are a few people in my life that I admire so greatly that I forget they are just regular people too. That they type emails in their pajamas and go to the dentist and read Reader’s Digest in the bathroom. Well, maybe that last one is just me and anyone over 65. 

Jasmine Star is one of these people for me. She is a wedding photographer based in California and her work is, in my mind, perfection. It is where I push myself to go. And this is a good thing. All of us need that person to admire to make us want to be better. And for me, Jasmine Star is my girl.

So I thought that I would send her an email with a few questions in hopes that maybe she would someday answer one question. Just one. In her spare time. Maybe…

And you know what? She responded! She sent me a nice email and answered my questions on her blog. Yes, I was mentioned in the blog of my number-one-wanna-be-girl! This is a big day for me. And it reminds me that we are all just regular people. That she is just a person at her computer sending me an email, maybe even in her pajamas.

And then the beautiful ships came through and interrupted our ceremony with their horns. And then the wind picked up and we got some fun laughing photographs with my veil blowing straight up into the air. And then during our candlelight dinner the storm passed and there was the rainbow. Yes, a beautiful rainbow that made everyone stop eating and “ooh” and “ahh” at what a divine thing this weather was. And then I knew that the day was made even better by plan C. I found myself thankful for this plan that we were too stuck in our ways to see beforehand. Yup, plan C pushed us out of what we thought we wanted, and gave us something marvelous. 

I was reminding myself of this as I was quickly trying to find a plan C during a company event I photographed recently.

They are a recycling company who wanted lots of candid photographs of their friends and family shindig, and they wanted a new employee photo for their website. No problem. 

And then the day actually arrived…rain and all. And the great group photographs I had mapped out all fell by the wayside. As the scheduled time for the group shot approached, and the rain continued, I kept naively thinking that the clouds would magically open and the rain would stop. Yes, we would all run to our designated spots and I would be hauled up in the lift/boom and poof! the perfect image would be captured and everyone would be happy. Suddenly the speeches were over and it was time for me to decide what we were doing – everyone was waiting for direction. And then I jumped to plan C…in one of their warehouses against the recycling. The lighting was so far from perfect. The people were wet and tired from long speeches. The pressure was on. And I was doubtful. I had forgotten the power of plan C.

I must admit however, that now looking at the image, I like it better than I would have liked the same ol’ same ol’ image in front of their trucks. This tells a story that we would have missed. This is their unique story. And I have to admit, plan C came through for me once again.

This is an amazing company with truly great people. I felt so blessed to be a part of their party and touched by their consideration of, and care for, one another. (It also helped that they have fun spirits which made those speeches go by a whole heck of a lot faster.)

After the group photograph I turned around to capture this shot which pretty much speaks for itself…

The rain started to show its power during the speeches and was coming in the sides of the tent. This group toughed it out and I have the images to prove it!

Sometimes I just love the story in the day, and to share that with you I included a few “story” images, not all from my “polished” collection…