This post is Part 2 of a 4-part series. Read Part 1 – Read Part 2 – Read Part 3 – Read Part 4

I’ve had many chances by now to witness the phenomenon of the nervous bride. I always imagined the nervousness came from the public nature of the ceremony, from knowing how many people will be watching her walk down the aisle, speak her vows, manage her dress/veil/shoes/hair/makeup/jewelry situation. That’s what I’d be nervous about, anyway. But what if there are no guests? Does a bride still get nervous before the wedding?

If Jill is any indication of what brides do, then the answer is definitely yes. Despite the fact that there were only four people watching her get married, despite her high level of comfort with all of those people, Jill was quite jittery before the ceremony. So jittery that Jill G. (the stylist) and I had to coax her out of the door towards the altar, where Chase was waiting patiently. He, of course, knew exactly how Jill would react to the walk down the aisle, and had the perfect encouraging smile on his face to draw her to where he stood under the canopy. By the time she got there, Jill was confident and laughing.

Why the nerves? Without firsthand experience, I can’t say for sure, but I think it might be that whole making-a-lifetime-commitment thing, guests or no guests. That’s a very big deal even when it’s not done in front of a crowd. Or maybe it’s the feeling that comes from suddenly realizing just how far the current of love has carried you. All the way to this moment, to these promises, to a point you didn’t think of reaching when you were first swept off of your feet by that wave.

It’s a very solemn and serious thing, this matrimony stuff, which made it extra funny when the ring got dropped before the ceremony could even start, and everyone under the canopy had to get down on the ground to search for it under the flower petals.

The vows for this ceremony were sweet, written by Jill and Chase themselves, and they integrated beautifully with the words of the officiant, Dr. Carrell Zaehn. You can find out more about Dr. Carrell here. The vows describe their love better than I ever could, and I was touched as I watched them say the words to each other from my vantage point under the canopy, a mere three feet away from them. It’s rare to have an opportunity to shoot a bride and groom at such close range. Patrick shot from the balcony that looked over the ceremony garden. Such opportunities are less rare for him. Give that guy a hill or a balcony or a rickety wooden thing to stand on while he takes pictures, and he’s right at home.

And now it’s time to let the photos tell the story. Tune in tomorrow for Part 3! For more about Pacific Oaks Vineyard Estate, click here.

Were these photos taken by me this last weekend at Nisene Marks State Park, or were they snapped by young Georgina Honeywell in 1932 and only recently found in an old steamer trunk purchased at auction?

IT IS A MYSTERY.

Regular readers know of my love of cellphone pics. (To see cellphone pics from previous months, click here.) The gallery below has 60 photos from my phone taken during June and July.

Alas, I have sad tidings: around the beginning of July, I dropped my phone (again). Suddenly, the camera could only see life from a psychedelic perspective. Now my cellphone photos look like this:

No, they don’t all look like photos of Caffe Pergolesi on a Saturday night. But they do look like the strangest dream I’ve ever had about ordinary, everyday stuff. They show what the world might look like if my soul was suddenly trapped in the body of some other species- possibly a species nobody knows about because it’s invisible. Sure, these photos are kind of interesting, but after just a few I find myself feeling queasy and uncertain about my grip on reality. And I simply cannot lose my grip on reality, not during WEDDING SEASON.

You can see a few more of these trippy photos at the end of the show below.

The bright side of all this is that I now have one more reason to buy the phone Patrick uses, the one he described in this post. But first there are a few lenses I want to acquire. As soon as I can fully justify a new phone purchase, cellphone pics posts will begin anew! Until then, what you see here will have to suffice.

So long, Samsung t439 camera, you fragile beauty…

CLICK THE RIGHT SIDE OF THE IMAGE BELOW TO GET STARTED.

The story of my trip to Joshua Tree this spring is being told in a very disjointed fashion on this blog. I’ve given you a tiny preview that didn’t show the park at all, and an image from a Wal-Mart parking lot. Now I’m going to show you a handful of images from the drive home, none of which are from inside the park itself.

Behind the scenes, of course, the photos from that journey are being made into a fabulous multimedia production. Which you will be able to acquire, if you want it, eventually.

Most of the pictures below were taken from inside a moving RV, so any smears or splotches you see are probably bug guts on the windows. The top picture is from the end of our first restaurant meal after we emerged from the park. This was at a Thai restaurant in the town of Joshua Tree. After spending five days in a windy desert, it felt very strange to eat in a restaurant.

Which one of these fortunes do you think I got? You can post your guesses in the comments. The first person to get it right wins a copy of the Joshua Tree trip dvd when I’m done with it. Which will be soon, I promise!