Pandemic Pivot
Like most photographers my 2020 schedule got pretty much cleared around the middle of March. On the 12th I was just getting settled into a hotel room in Little Rock when I got a call saying tomorrow’s job was cancelled and, by the way, just about any other work I had scheduled with this company was off. What about that thing that was a couple months off? Surely that would still happen, right? Who knew? At that point, it really hadn’t sunk in just how much the COVID-19 pandemic would change the world.
Soon I realized that most things that I had on the calendar would be cancelled or have to be rescheduled. Weddings got pushed to the fall, then next year, then were postponed indefinitely. Those family photos? Maybe in 2021. Things didn’t look good for my schedule and painting the house and baking bread was looking like my new normal. Then I got a text from Erik. He and Bridget didn’t want to wait for next year. They didn’t know if next year would be any different than 2020. They wanted to get married on their own schedule. They asked what my availability was. I literally laughed out loud as I opened my schedule for the next month or so. We planned to meet in Estes Park early on a Thursday and hike to a Sprague and Dream Lakes in Rocky Mountain National Park.
Sprague Lake
The light was amazing as we made some photos around Sprague Lake and the forest immediately surrounding it. Bridget is a pilot so it made sense that these two were flying by the seat of their pants as they looked around for the best spot to exchange their vows. I loved that they were working on intuition. Many people passed by us on the trail surrounding the lake so we decided to head to Dream Lake to see if it would offer up the perfect spot.
Dream Lake
It was beautiful but there were just too many people for even a quick ceremony. The surrounding mountains offered a spectacular backdrop for photos so we took advantage and made photos against the bowl surrounding the lake. It was so calm and the water so blue. I didn’t want to leave.
Trail Ridge Road
We made our way up to the timberline of Trail Ridge Road and discovered that even on a Thursday during a pandemic, the park was packed. We stopped at a couple spots and waited to see if a window opened for these two to exchange vows. The only ones to open were too short for a comfortable intimate ceremony. I let them work it out. I didn’t want to rush it. They said this wasn’t it so we pushed on to a spot higher up. We saw a place with only a couple of people and they were walking away. It seemed perfect. Bridget and Erik walked up to the ridgeline with 14,000-foot peaks as a backdrop. I held back knowing this moment was going to be theirs alone. The wind came up and swirled around them and I couldn’t hear a thing they said. They exchanged vows known only to them. I made photos as the wind encircled them and, just like that, they were married. It was perfect.
As we drove back to Estes Park, they told me they still want to have the party for their family and friends next year. The pandemic has made it difficult to share our lives. Work, school and happy hours over Zoom just doesn’t compare to a touch or a clink of a glass. These two were lucky to have each other and they had the courage to stare down the pandemic and make something out of their 2020. They know life will return to some kind of normal, and hopefully soon they’ll be able to cut the cake and share a new life with their family. But until then, they can celebrate in their own intimate way, the love they've found in each other. And when we can get together and party, I can’t wait to see how they celebrate.
