I think anyone will agree with you if you say that 2020 has been an absolutely rough year. From trying to work at home and juggle laundry and the kids and the dogs to learning at home and trying to stay focused long enough to learn something, it’s definitely had it’s share of challenges. A friend of ours in California said he was laying on the couch, during quarantine due to a global pandemic, there are wildfires raging all over the country, he’s reading a newspaper about all the chaos and division in the world when an earthquake rumbled through the state…

“You’ve got to be kidding me.”

I’m sure that pretty much sums up our reactions to anything else that is happening this year. We can’t do anything but stand back and shake our heads in amazement and say “You’ve got to be kidding me.”

It was no different for our session with our amazing friends in Billings. We had traveled to Billings, MT for a double weekend with Family Photo Sessions and while Friday proved to be bright and warm, Saturday showed itself to be smoke-laden and hot, with a stiff breeze stoking the flames of the Bobcat fire that was burning at 0% containment that weekend.

From the Rimrocks that encircle the heart of the largest city in Montana, you can usually see the buildings that make up downtown crystal clear, all the way to the Beartooth Mountains and the runs of the ski resort.

On this day, however, the sun at 5:00 had been smothered by a think orange blanket and looked more like dusk. Standing just a dozen feet away from our friends, there was a haze of smoke between us, and the air smelled of a campfire.

To add to this? The fire was currently eating away at the ranch of one of our friends we were shooting for!

In the midst of all of the chaos that this year has brought, life still goes on. It has to. While it may seem like the world stops spinning- our kids don’t stop growing up.

Our loved ones don’t stop aging, and our families don’t stop facing challenges.

That is why we are so happy when we get to do family sessions, for friends or strangers. Sure, the images may be a little hazy, it may not be the day we had pictured, but you have those memories. You have those moments frozen in time to look back and gauge how far you’ve come by the next year, and you have those precious, precious moments when you were just together and enjoying the good things in life- each other.

It’s so important to take time out of the craziness for what matters most, and that is the people around us. That is becoming increasingly more evident as time goes on.

I read an article recently that people are facing starvation that has nothing to do with food, it’s starvation of the human touch. We are physical creatures, we were created to interact and feed off of each others joys and sorrows, yet, in this world that is becoming increasingly distanced, we realize just how much those around us mean to us, or should. Don’t take that for granted. Don’t take for granted the hug that your husband gives you, or the push that your sister gives you. Appreciate those small things, because it is a possession that so many do not have right now.

So, in the midst of this crazy world, with a pandemic, earthquakes and fires, it can be easy to get caught up in the day to day, but just take a second to look at those around you and say a quick prayer of thanks for having them in your life! It doesn’t matter if they’re in your home or across a computer screen, that connection is what is going to get us by!

It was a bit hazy this day, but we are so happy that we were able to spend time with our friends and get so many images that we loved! We hope you love them, too!

Denton & Chian.

Now THIS is the way to get to a photo shoot location! 🙂

 

Aaaand, we had a GREAT time on the session, but just to sum up how everybody feels about 2020…