now, how does that song go? oh yeah! “way down yonder on the chattahoochee…i learned how to swim, and i learned who i was — a lot about livin’, and a little ’bout love.” well that very river (that’s right, the same one that, as alan jackson discovered, rhymes with nothing except “hoochie coochie”) is still teaching the same lessons. that’s what we found out sunday when we arrived at the walton on the chattahoochee apartments for a trash-the-dress session with a truly amazing couple, jonathan and sarah.

yes, we learned how to swim. well, the river didn’t actually teach us to swim. but it did learn us a thing or two about staying afloat in ice-cold water. that’s right. as you’ll see, this particular shoot took us out into the deep — cameras and all — on a 60-degree day, in mid may! (only in georgia.) brrrrr! and believe me, you can forget about holding the camera steady when your teeth are chattering like a wind-up toy. you could say we learned a lot about livin’, too. if you ask me, the fact that we survived those temperatures at all is pretty convincing proof of that.

we certainly learned a little ’bout love. jonathan and sarah are models of that. their romance is, in many ways, that of storybooks. after meeting on a mission trip to thailand, the two became good friends, keeping in touch long-distance for the most part. over time, jonathan’s feelings secretly grew into something stronger. unfortunately for him, sarah wasn’t quite there yet (ouch!). oblivious to his intentions, she began to confide in him  — even about her love interests. (double ouch!)

i remember those days. one night at jonathan’s apartment, he told me about his feelings for sarah — about his firm faith that she was the one. i committed to pray for him, that he would know how and when to reveal his love to sarah. (to be honest, i was mostly praying he wouldn’t be too devastated if she turned and ran screaming into the night when he made his declaration.)

one night soon after that, sarah was on the phone asking jonathan his advice about a guy she was interested in. (ouch! ouch! yowee!) finally, the truth came out. jonathan wisely — and unbiasedly, i’m sure — discouraged sarah from pursuing that path. as an alternative, he proposed… himself. from what i understand, sarah was somewhat shocked. but she did not go screaming into the night, which proves that, even then, she really did know jonathan for the kind of man he is — an honest man. a good man. a man worth hearing out.

apparently, he is also a very blessed man. only a few months later, jonathan and sarah were engaged. and what a catch! it didn’t take the rest of us any time at all to see why jonathan used to light up every time the phone rang. not only is sarah incredibly artistic and fun-loving (the reason eileen and i were so ecstatic when she mentioned the idea of a photo session), she’s also the most sincere, caring person you could hope to meet. these two are great individuals — but they’re even better together. a testimony to the good God they now follow together.

we had a blast with sarah and jonathan during the shoot! sadly, they’re leaving us soon to roam the world. we just wish we had more days like this together before they went. but we know they’re going in good Hands, and we can’t wait to hear what adventures are in store for them. wherever you go, you two, we know the love you have won’t be kept only for yourselves. God bless!

this is what makes a session like this so much fun. see how creative these two are!? i love the colorful sense of style. when a couple is easy-going and up for anything, it’s always a blast to push the envelope a little and get some really edgy images.

enter ali, the faithful k-9 companion. he’s very protective, which explains why he howled desperately when it looked like jonathan and sarah were being forced into freezing water. once off his leash, he seemed much more comfortable.

“way down yonder on the chattahoochee… it’s a good place for a smoochie smoochie.” (ha! eat your song-writin’ heart out, mr. jackson!)

we saved the really messy shots for last. taken in broad daylight, i had to slow everything down and shut out the sun and light the river artificially to look like moonlight. a little role playing — jonathan is the heroic gentleman saving the bride in distress who… errr… apparently went night swimming in her wedding dress.

(big shout out to emily, jonathan and sarah’s friend who assisted by holding on to flashes, reflectors, and a very large dog who would have loved to be in every picture, i’m sure.)

…and a little chlorine to wash off the yucky river germs. cannonball!!!!!