As I posted below, I was going to do one slideshow, to show my first international destination wedding, on Isla de Mujeres, in Cancun. However, I had such a hard time finding a song that would be both sweet and romantic enough to represent Matt and Katt, and also fun and upbeat, to show our day-trip to Chichenitza. And then I decided to throw some of my birthday shots in (since that's where I was when I had my birthday) for my friends to see, that it turned into two slideshows. One is of Kate and Matt's beautiful wedding day, on Isla de Mujeres, on Zama Beach (which is a quick 20-ish minute trip over by ferry from Cancun), and one that shows a few shots from my birthday, the hotel, and our day-trip to Chichenitza, with Kate, Matt and their friends (Tom and Joette, who we also fell in love with -- incidentally, if you're reading this, would love to hear from you, I lost your emails on the trip back to the U.S., so if you've got a moment, I'd love to say hi!), and their parents. So, without further ado, I give you:
Also, just a technical aside, if you watch both slideshows you'll notice that the Chichenitza slideshow is a lot bigger, and the reason for this is, I was almost done with the wedding slideshow, when I had some issues with the program I use, and went and found there was an upgrade, so I downloaded it, and the upgraded version had the ability to make larger slideshows (YAY!!!), but I had already basically finished Matt and Kates, and these slideshows take SO long to make (we're talking days), that the thought of doing it all over again, just to be a bit bigger was just more than I could take, so the size of the slideshow in no way reflect my love of their wedding photos! I hope you enjoy them.
Also, I need to talk about my birthday, and Kimmy for just a moment. Despite this being the first birthday I hadn't spent with Ross in 10 years (which made it a little hard for me), Kim made sure I had a good day. We had room service for breakfast, and Kim proceeded to whip out a birthday hat and plop in on my head along with one for her (you'll see me in the slideshow paying the room service with my hat on, and bedhead and jammies). She schlepped a birthday gift and card for me, as well, to make sure I had something to open. Now that's a friend. The day was really wonderful, like I said in the previous post, we spent the afternoon, after we'd scouted out Zama Beach for the wedding (this is on the island, Isla de Mujeres, that we took a ferry to), floating and playing in the surf, collecting a myriad of shells, (that's a portion of the shells we collected, in the photo below), jumping off the dock (that you see in the slideshow, and the photos in the post below), having lunch on chaise lounges in our suits, beach-side, and laid in the sun for just a bit, before we had to hoof it back over to the mainland, where we were JUST in time for our 'couples' massage (which we still giggle about). And despite the not-so-great lobster dinner, that made us both feel sick, it was still a great day. I was able to relax, and just be in the moment, which given that this was a work trip, should've been harder, but Kimmy made it really easy for me. That, combined with the thrill and fun of driving like a maniac all across the island in our golf cart, and her great company made it a wonderful birthday to remember, despite the fact that I spent a large part of it working. And of course, I can't forget Kate and Matt, who put us up in a great room at the Marriott, which made the stay just as pleasant as could be.
And not only is Kim my dear friend, but she is a great assistant. We've been shooting together for awhile now, and she really anticipates me and my needs, helps me stay calm under pressure, and generally just makes shooting even more fun for me. I am so grateful that she's my assistant this year (not to take anything away from my other previous/current assistants, of course). And she really worked her tail off (well, we both did), during our trip, which I can go into more of later, suffice it to say, she was incredible, and a total trooper, and I truly couldn't have done it without her (besides the fact, that I really just like being with her, in general).
We had a great trip, and despite some bumps and bruises (remind me to tell you all about the mile run through LAX carrying all of my equipment), we had a great time, and I'm indebted to her, and thrilled that Kate and Matt wanted me enough to have Kim and I join them , and be a part of their big day. We both felt incredibly blessed to be there, and be there however we could for Kate, (whether photographically, or otherwise). I would love to shoot more destination weddings, both international and otherwise. It was an adventure, and one I'd have fun doing again, for sure. Phew, this is a much longer post than I intended, but there you have it. I hope you enjoy the slideshows of the journey, I had a fun time making them.
Oh! And one more note, the song playing on the wedding slideshow is called, "The Luckiest," by Ben Folds, and it might be one of the best 'love songs' I've ever heard in my life. Seriously, watch the show just to listen to the song, it's so beautiful.