Ok, so I’m sure you’ve heard of the phrase, “Go big or go home!” right? Yes, I’m all for that saying and love clients who think that way too! Dede + Jason broke many records for us in our business and as photographers. Here they are:
First, they already had a BIG vision in their mind for their engagement portraits. Usually, couples come to us for ideas, inspiration and direction for the creative aspect of the shoot, but not Dede + Jason. They knew EXACTLY what they wanted. They’re into Lord of the Rings, so that’s the theme that they were going for. Jason contacted us through Instagram (YES!) and knew that Craig could deliver his vision, and his vision included FIRE! They got Jason’s armor custom made ya’ll! Wow! Now do you see what I mean? They go BIG, and I love that! When they mentioned a waterfall, we knew exactly which one to take him to, and it was perfect because NO ONE was there, so it felt like we owned the place for sure!
Second, they broke the record of the most rescheduled shoot ever in the history of our business. The most it has ever been was three times. For them, it was SIX times! LOL! They go BIG with that too! Ha! Those rescheduled times was due to the infamous Rona and the infamous thing called rain. Through all of that though, this couple was the sweetest… they’re THE MOST chill couple. I’ll prove it to you - keep reading. With them, there was no stress, so difficulty…. just nothing but understanding and kindness.
Third, we broke another record by experiencing the most rain (I mean down pour) at a shoot EVER in the last 11 years of shooting. LOL! It’s funny now, but…. ok… let me just tell you the story. So, you know how we said that their shoot got rescheduled so many times? So when the day finally came, the weatherman promised us no rain, but I guess he lied because at the end of the shoot when Craig and our couple climbed up the waterfall, it started raining while I stayed at the bottom with all the equipment. But ya’ll… it didn’t just rain, it POURED! I started freaking out and grabbed all of our equipment from the most expensive to the least. I didn’t have ANY cover other than my thin shirt and our luggage. I put the camera under my shirt and then next, I tried to unscrew our trigger that was holding the flash from the tripod, but the stupid thing just wouldn’t come off! Ugh! Out of all times… I somehow finally got it off and just threw it in the luggage as fast as I could because those are not water proof. At this point, I’m 100% completely drenched and shivering because it was so cold, but Craig, Dede and Jason didn’t know it was raining at this point because they’re literally on the waterfall and just assumed all the water was coming from the falls. As Craig was coming down to get the shot, he saw me frantically running around and realized that it was raining. He started to freak out and yelling and omg…. it was utter chaos. We used our soft box as our umbrella which still didn’t work that well because there’s a huge hole in the middle because it’s not really an umbrella. He got the shot, literally ran up to the waterfall to get our couple down, slid down on his hips on the rocks as fast as he could and got the biggest bruise I’ve ever seen on him. By the time they all came down, the rain started to subside… it became a drizzle. But, there was one more shot we had to get. One thing that Jason wanted was his sword on fire. While it was just drizzling, we got that shot as fast as we could in COMPLETE darkness. I so wish that we could have gotten some footage of what happened, but doing instastories and recording anything was the last thing on my mind at this point. I was stressed that our equipment was dead and worried that our couple was freezing and just wanted to get them home. We have insurance on our equipment, but still… Our luggage is very waterproof, so I was hoping that I got everything in there in time. Anyways, we all quickly got our stuff in our hands and on our backs and went back to the car. Thankfully, the hike is only like 10 minutes, but it felt like 30 because it started to down pour again and it was completely dark, so we used our phones’ flashlights. What adventure, right? Our story still isn't over… But, before I finish, let me tell you… we were STILL laughing, we were still having a good time, our clients are still not complaining and we all just embraced what was happening the best we could. Remember how I told you that they’re chill? Yeah, they still were! So patient! Gosh, I love that about them! I really need to learn more of that in my life… Ok so back to the story. We finally make it to our car. Craig and I had rubber boots on, but our clients had like sandals on so imagine how muddy it was in the woods while it was pouring? Just imagine all of us carrying all sorts of bags, DRENCHED and muddy. Oh my goodness… It was quite a sight. As we packed up the car, the rain started to slow down again and we talked more because that’s how much we loved talking to them. Then, Dede told us to go ahead and go because they forgot something at the waterfall. When I asked her what it was, she said, “the key to their car.” OH NO!!!!!!! They kept telling us to go home, but how in the world can we leave them there? No way! We are in the middle of nowhere with NO cellular reception, so they couldn’t even call anyone let alone an UBER. Oh no… we are not doing that. So, Craig went back with our light saber (if you’ve had a shoot with us, you know what that is) with Dede to look for it at the waterfall while Jason and I stayed in our car. OMG I just loved talking to Jason and just getting to know him more! They’re seriously the sweetest couple, you guys. Yes, a lot of things happened, but you know what? That was one of the most memorable shoot we’ve had to date and it was another reminder for me that it’s NEVER the circumstances that affect you. In the midst of chaos, so much good can come out of it. Had not these things happened, we wouldn’t have gotten to know our couple more and in the end, that’s what it’s about. LOVE! FRIENDSHIPS! RELATIONSHIPS! JESUS!!!!! And are you wondering if they found the key? YES!!!!! What the what?! I mean, how do you find that in that darkness??!!!! We had the backup plan of taking them home if we couldn’t find it and in some ways, I wish that happened too because then we would’ve talked even more. Yes, this is my most favorite part of our job. Making these kinds of memories with our couples and experiencing adventure with them.
Dede + Jason, can we seriously be friends? I think we have proven that you guys are pretty darn amazing. Thank you for being you. Thank you for being so sweet. Thank you for enduring all the fun and crazy adventure we went through to make these photos happen! Thank you for going all out with your outfits and being creative! We love you guys and can’t wait to celebrate you two on your wedding day in JAMAICA, baby!
With much love,
Craig + Unchong
