Our lives change in unforeseen ways. Change creeps in, at first imperceivable, like the movement of the sun across the sky. The movement is so slight, the initial change goes unnoticed. Once the change is fully developed, we see the full impact only in hindsight. At first, many of our most important life events creep silently into the room.
You could be out at a bar with friends with no particular expectations. Caught in a small group of companions surrounded by a larger group from some foreign college. Moving through the group, conversation after conversation, the change goes unnoticed at first. You meet some new people and chat for a while. Before long, you set off into the night for “midnight pancakes” with friends and some new acquaintances. The night ends plainly enough. Unnoticed, your foot has already landed on a new path. A golden path that will change everything, but whose scintillation cannot yet be seen.
Flash-forward and you find yourself in a familiar place. The path has lead you up a far away stream in a distant land, past Velma’s house, and deep into a jungle. This place is real and known, and not a metaphor at all. The guide who lead you there recedes into the darkness, leaving just the two of you swimming under the waterfall. The path started so long ago is now bright and plain to see; it’s scintillation manifested in the ring presented before you. The promise bound on this day, under that waterfall, becomes a promise to keep to the path – together and forever.
Before Katie and Jeff’s Cleveland engagement photography at the Museum of Art and Huntington Beach, they were kind enough to share their story with me, encapsulated loosely above. Below are just a few highlights from their gorgeous engagement session captured on film this autumn. I certainly hope you enjoy both the story and the images.
