Kyle Hepp

April 20, 2011

How lucky am I?

I just had dinner (snacks, which I love to call dinner) with some “clients.” I love them. I can honestly say that I LOVE them. Soooo, they’re more like great friends/awesome people we are lucky enough to be able to hang out with. I don’t write that just to write that. I don’t write that just to bullshit. I don’t write that because I want more clients to think I’m cool and to want to hire me. I write that because I feel SO LUCKY that the coolest people end up finding us to shoot their weddings.
This particular wedding,Tara and Brent,was what I consider to be a sort of random wedding — ie, when I don’t have any strong personal connection with the bride or groom to begin with. Brent works with my mom and I went to my mom’s work, she told me he was getting married and told me to go tell him I was a wedding photographer. I went up to him and was like, “YO! I’m a wedding photographer. You should TOTALLY HIRE ME. But I don’t even have a business card, so let me WRITE MY WEBSITE ON A Post-It!”
Smart business move, Kyle. I’m awesome…and classy. What can I say? But long story short, Tara and Brent read the blog for a while, decided they liked our pictures and decided we should shoot their wedding. And it amazes me how they are completely the kind of people that I would adore under any circumstances — not just wedding circumstances, which obviously are a little bit dire on ocassion
When we got to the U.S. this March, we had just come off of a phenomenal streak of great weddings in Chile during high season. PHENOMENAL. There wasn’t a single couple that we didn’t mesh with. We would be friends with everyone whose big day we photographed even outside of the whole photography thing.
From there, we came straight to the U.S. to photograph the wedding of a bride who was in one of my best friend’s weddings, but we didn’t know her as well before her big day. That couple was amazing too. Actually, that’s an understatement — we had insanely high expectations for their wedding. We had met them in San Francisco for their engagement session at Yerba Buena Gardens, which was super fun. We had worked with Sydney when she was a bridesmaid in Emily’s wedding in Santiago. Yet she and Brian exceeded every opportunity they had to blow our minds with their awesomeness. I KNEW I liked them. I KNEW that their wedding was going to be a great time. But it was beyond that. WAY beyond that.
From here, we head to Virginia, where we will shoot the wedding of close family friends of Isabel and Caroline’s. I have no doubt that they’re going to be just as incredible.
Not to mention that we have received invitations in the mail for upcoming weddings in Buenos Aires, Surrey, England, and then our “Frenchies” also sent us an email to tell us the invite is on the way!

It honestly is mind boggling to me that not only do we get to enjoy the perks of a great job, but that we get to work with people we love. The people that have us photograph their weddings are hilarious and smart and sweet and charming and generally incredible. It never ceases to amaze me. And I hope that never changes.
Tonight, we were sitting, spending time with Tara and Brent, drinking some wine and some beer and just enjoying ourselves. Well, Tara wasn’t drinking any wine or beer because she’s HAVING A BABY, YAY! Though she was still enjoying herself, I think. And I kept wondering to myself — is this for real? Do I really get to keep hanging out with these people and watching them grow as a couple and as human beings, all because I just happened to be lucky enough to meet them through what other people call WORK? Yes, it appears. I am that lucky.