Stefanie & Joel: The sweetest goodbye

Stef and I have been friends for three years now. We met around the time both of us first moved to Seattle and became friends instantly. We've done so much together these last three years like celebrated our birthdays, taken long drives through the mountains to explore, met up for holiday festivities, she took my engagement photos and she even married my husband and I. This lovely gal has been such a wonderful light in my life therefore, you can only imagine the overwhelmingly humbling feeling I felt when she asked me to take photos of her and Joel. 

Joel and Stef met through the modern way of the internet but, seriously couldn't be more perfect for each other. After spending some time dating here in the PNW, Stef felt that God had other plans for her and called her to move back home to Texas. With a leap of faith, she began preparing for her journey back home. Joel and Stef didn't have many photos together except for the occasional selfie while out on a trip. For this reason, Stef asked if I would take photos of the two of them for her to take on her new endeavor. 

While I was waiting for them to arrive to take the photos, I stopped and thought "My goodness, this is going to be the photos they frame, glance at before bed, and hold close to their hearts when they miss one another". The thought really resonated with me and at that point I just couldn't contain my nervousness. Once Joel and Stef arrived however, I felt completely relaxed as I began to pose them and give them direction. Might I add, not much direction was needed, these two knew exactly what they were doing. I find photographing couples to be such a beautiful experience, it's something you simply cannot pose or prepare for. If the love is there, it will overflow into your lens and flourish more and more with every press of the shutter.

These two are blessed to have found one another. Stef has since then moved back home to Texas while Joel remains living here in Seattle. They say that distance makes the heart grow fonder and I am a true believer of that. I am so honored to have been able to take these still memories they will cherish until they are in the same state again. This may have been goodbye for now but, it was definitely the sweetest goodbye I have ever witnessed.