CGM Photography

Sometimes, you meet a group of people and you connect. You set up the shot, point the lens, and you attempt to capture what is authentic about your subject. You try to get the lighting right, set your aperture, ISO, and white balance… and then you do what you can to make your subject(s) comfortable enough to show you what is authentic to them. When it happens, as a photographer, you feel a connection to the people you are capturing. It’s as if they are inviting you into their world and showing you who they are. And that’s a space that Ginny and I try to get to with the people we capture. You want to live in that space on a photoshoot because that’s where you connect with people. For us, it’s special when you can connect and find authenticity among those you are photographing. It makes the experience special.

We had a special experience with the Clayton family. We went out to shoot a family group shot and we ended up staying awhile, visiting, and shooting off random candid shots. It was a great session. In that short hour and a half, we felt connected to this group of people who had traveled from Colorado to spend a family vacation on Lake Max, a place they had never been. Fortunately, we caught up with them at the root beer stand a short while later, as they had the same idea for lunch that we did. We loaned them our boat for the remainder of the week and kept in touch. I worried about them the way I do lifelong friends when the big storm of Friday hit Culver. At the end of the week, the kids left us homemade thank you cards and I saw them off on their travels home. For awhile, I almost forgot that we were their photographers for that short session and not people we had known much longer.

I hope the pictures reflect how special this family is, as they truly made these two photographers rethink what it is to be fortunate enough to experience connections through our cameras.