Beloved

“My beloved is mine and I am hers.”

– Song of Solomon 2:16

As you may remember, Bobby and  I recently celebrated our 10th wedding anniversary. Months before this, I got the idea that I’d like to have our pictures taken to commemorate this event.  After all, the last time Bobby and I had our pictures taken together was…at our wedding! Sure, we’d had a couple of so-so family pics taken once the kids came along, but nothing together.  And I thought, we really needed to do it to take notice of our 10 years of love and work.

When I got the idea, I knew I wanted our friends Shannon and David Perlow of Locke Innovations Photography to take them.  We are privileged to be in house church with them, and our kids are good buddies, too! I’d seen and admired their work, plus I love to support people I love!  Especially when they have a small, local business.

As “luck” would have it, Shannon and David had just decided to start doing a new kind of photo session with married couples, called a “Beloved” session.  (We got to be their first Beloveds!) Here’s what Shannon writes on their blog about a Beloved shoot:

“First off, it’s not a photo shoot. It’s an experience for a married couple to walk through together…you are given different ideas to think about, things to walk through together, memories to create and to remember.

All of the “experiences” are to help focus you, and invite you to those thoughts, feelings, and emotions that are ALREADY inside you….and bring them to the surface for you to experience. Some are fun and silly, some are lovey & romantic, some are serious and contemplative, and some are for healing.

Why photograph it? Next time, you have a horrible day at work, or the house is a wreck, or the kids are driving you crazy, and your ‘to do’ list is a mile long, or your in-laws are getting under your skin, and your spouse just says or does the wrong thing… wouldn’t it be great to have a canvas on your wall….that has a photograph or two of you and your spouse having a real authentic moment and experience…to REMIND you of what’s really inside of you? To Remind you of your love?”

The Beloved Session was a great experience for Bobby and me. I will confess that I think my hubby had a few reservations about it, but he ended up really enjoying it!  We had a great time, and to be honest, even though David and Shannon asked us some questions and gave us things to think about – we hardly even noticed they were there! We had a great time just being together and focusing on each other – and now we have some AMAZING pictures to remind us of why we love and to celebrate that we do. Because what is our family, without our marriage? It needs to be celebrated, focused on, and venerated.

If you are in Dayton, Cincinnati, or Columbus and are looking for some beautiful portraits for family, wedding, maternity, newborn, or BELOVED I highly recommend Locke Innovations. Not because they are my friends, but because they are pros! (and you should totally “like” them on Facebook, by the way!) We just did a family shoot with them also and I can’t wait to share those pics with you as well.

Thanks Shannon and David for an awesome experience and the beautiful memories!

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Disclosure: Bobby and I paid for this photo session and these photos with our OWN money!   True story.  And it was totally worth every penny!