A Wedding Journey to the Old West

Last month, when Kathryn and Rich contacted me about photographing their nuptials, I was more than happy to oblige. Over the past few decades, I have had the privilege of traveling to photograph weddings in some unique places, but I never dreamed one day that would include a journey back in time – to the old west.

I agreed to meet up with the Bride and Groom, at the Esplendor in Rio Rico. The ceremony site was still undetermined. Therefore, I arrived early to survey the grounds for an area that offered the best combination of lighting and backdrop. A short time later, a hotel employee came over and suggested we use the old ghost town replica, hidden at the bottom of the hill. Alright! We didn’t know a ghost town existed within our reach, but then apparitions rarely appear in plain view.  So, we went down to take a look and it was darn near perfect!

Digital photography seems so fast-paced and modern day! For an old-southwest second, I thought about making the experience more complete by renting an old Daguerreotype camera. However, since that would require very lengthy exposures and fitting my subjects with neck braces, we reckoned we would pass on that idea.

Ghost Town ~ Rio Rico, Arizona

The Nuptial Exchange

Man and Wife

Home On The Ranch

Mesquite Mystique

Spanish Garden ~ Take 1

Spanish Garden ~ Take 2

Kathryn & The Laughing Lawman

Ghost Riders ~ Kathryn and Richard

Don’t they look terrific! While I was taking their photos, for a brief moment, I had this urge to pinch them. I wanted to make sure they were not, in fact, ghost riders from the past, for they truly made me feel like I was back in the early nineteen hundreds.

Thank you, Kathryn and Rich! It was an honor, a privilege and a hell of a lot of fun!