Documenting life...

{Oahu HI - heaven on earth}

I'm in Hawaii as you read this. I got on a plane yesterday last minute to come and document the next couple days of the life of Natalie Norton and her family. She recently lost her young son while visiting family in UT. (And on a side note, if your children have not been vaccinated yet, PLEASE do so NOW!!!) I'll be back on Saturday. This will be by far the hardest thing I've ever been asked to document.

The whole flight over yesterday I kept thinking of how I would approach this. This is definitely not a wedding, family session, or any form of commercial work. It is like nothing I've ever photographed before. It is literally documenting life as it is, unedited. I watched James Nachtwey's documentary "War Photographer" looking for any kind of insight on documenting something as heavy as a funeral. Obviously, this is not the same as documenting war but there will be some very similar emotions right out in the open concerning the loss of a loved one that are really close to home for me. My son Weston was in the same PICU at the same time as Natalie's son Gavin up at Primary Children's Hopital in Salt Lake City. The only difference is our son came home to his family, and Natalie's son went to a different home.

Wish me luck today. And thank you for your prayers and thoughts for this family.