KJ-142 So Darrell and I teamed up for the first of many shoots. The four of us roamed the streets in Lodi, with Kaben and Jenn working the poses while...honestly, Darrell and I fumbled with settings, poses, and angles. I had brainstormed ideas before, but catching candid moments is different than creating moments to capture.

KJ-177 I look back on the whole album now and think, What are these?? Two and a half years later and I wonder what I was thinking with some of these photos. What kind of awkward angle is that? Some of the photos I can tell what I was trying for, but just failed to execute thoroughly. Still, they enjoyed them, it was quite a feeling to see them displayed at their wedding a few months later.

KJ-197 It turns out 2010 was quite a year, and by the end of it, several more of our friends got engaged. I ended up doing more engagement shoots from friends who just wanted some photos of this time but weren't in a place to hire someone. I still hesitated, thinking that they deserved a professional who could deliver more than I could.

But I remember a conversation that Kaben had with me a few months after he and Jenn were married. He was convincing me that it is worth it for my friends to pay me for their work. That if I am to become the photographer I want to be, there are steps to get there, even as basic as charging for my time so I can eventually pay for better equipment. In essence (I can't remember the exact conversation), I remember he told me that he chose to ask us to do the photos so that we would gain confidence. That he believes in paying his friends for their expertise, but that we needed something under our belt first.

KJ-225 I remember that about this shoot. The first shoot Darrell and I ever did. Not the best photos. But it was the start, the first step. And as much as I mock cheesy inspirational quotes...everything does always start with a small step.