Today, a friend posed the question: “What are you like when nobody is looking?”  It was a general question and not necessarily directed at me personally, but it made me think.  My reply (while I began with the joke that when nobody is looking, I am rather surly..which is a joke, ‘natch) was that when nobody is looking, I’m pretty much the exact person that I am when they are looking – polite, positive thinking and generally a pretty happy guy.  I ended with the joke that I blame my proper midwest upbringing, but if I’m to be honest, my happiness comes from the good people that we have been blessed to work with over the years.

Ryan and Kristina are no exception to the rule and the first thing Kristina did when we arrived was give both my partner Sarah and I a big hug, despite my warnings that I was ‘sweaty and horrible’ from the outdoor walk up to Juno Garden in the steamy 43 degree summer day (that’s Celsius, by the way.  The temperature in Fahrenheit was a scorching 110 degrees!). 

While our schedule had us beginning our shoot immediately after the ceremony, we decided to show up around 40 minutes early to greet the happy couple and we were immediately impressed not only at how nice both of them were, but also how well we immediately hit it off.  We knew that, despite the heat, we were going to have a wonderful time together.

We took a few shots around Caesar’s Palace until the heat got the best of everyone, but I had such an amazing time working with them that I called them to take a few more shots around Fremont Street the next day.  Coming from the midwestern U.S., Ryan and Kristina remind me of everything I loved about that region – polite, friendly and with a sweet, almost delicate method of interacting with each other that not only brightened my week, but made me look forward to their next Las Vegas visit!