I got a totally awesome opportunity this week that as a civilian I never thought I'd have. A good friend of mine asked me to come
take photos of their family as they welcomed home their dad who has been deployed for
the past 6 months!
After background checks, I went on
base early one cold morning. It was 0
degrees; so cold that their 2 year old daughter was just sobbing and begging to go back inside the hangar. So cold that I couldn’t even feel my
fingers to tell if I was pushing the shutter button all the way down or not. So cold that my camera sort of froze up and stopped focusing for awhile. Here are some of my favorite shots from the day.
Our friend is the one in the lighter tan jumpsuit in the middle of the stairs in the photo above. I have to admit I was the tiniest bit disappointed that they came in on a charter plane instead of a wicked, cool, tricked out, classified, stealth bomber or maybe parachuted down or something, but then maybe I've watched too many movies. I'm sure this was a much more comfortable way to travel halfway around the globe, and they absolutely deserve it.
Every welcome home sign should have a flag, a pink unicorn and a Star Wars joke.
When I got home and edited the photos, I was
quite dissatisfied because I felt like I just hadn’t captured the moment well. It was such a privilege to be there to join
in the cheering for our returning soldiers, to see all the excitement on the
kids’ faces, and the happy tears of the spouses and parents. Believe me, those images that escaped my camera lens were
well recorded in a tender, patriotic corner of my heart.
1 comment:
Are you kidding? You captured this perfectly. It gave me the chills and put tears in my eyes. Thanks for sharing. We just have to be so grateful for what those men and women, and their families, do for us and make possible in our lives. Thanks Christy.
Post a Comment