coronavirus

Christmas In Paris /  by Bradley Hanson

Based solely on the limited evidence of the last 3 years, we are in the new habit of traveling internationally every other holiday season. We were last in Rome and Naples, Italy at the end of December in 2019, weeks before it became THE Covid-19 hotspot in the world.

This winter, we were in Paris for 4 days, (with one day visiting the surreal Mont Saint-Michel in Normandy, France) from Christmas Eve until the morning of the 29th. Mont Saint-Michel was a 4.5 hour bus ride from Paris, but is definitely worth the trip. I first learned of it from the 1990 movie “Mindwalk,” starring John Heard and Sam Waterson. The day after we left, Paris reinstated an outdoor mask mandate as Omicron rages across the world. France requires all visitors to be fully vaccinated get a vaccine pass to visit museums and restaurants, and the US requires proof of a negative Covid-19 test 24 hours before arriving in the US. We passed the Covid-19 tests in Paris required for our return to the Minneapolis airport, which was reassuring.

We were traveling with our 8 year old autistic genius son, Oliver, which both changed the activities we did while altering our timeline. It also required us to be extremely flexible with our choices, as well as the duration in any of our desired destinations. He is a very creative kid who will only eat about 4 things in the world, and none of them were convenient in Paris (except cold milk), so he lost a lot of weight on our long days of walking.

Oliver also is a creature of deep obsessions. We never know what is coming next, but we know from experience it will be both interesting and deeply pursued, as well as vehemently enjoyed. On this trip, Oliver became enamored with pigeons, which are in great supply. He feed them, loved having them gather and fly around him, and, at one point, tried to get one to jump onto his arm. Oliver also began sketching in earnest. We got him a few sketchbooks and he started a book of his drawings, appropriately named “Book Of Pigeons,” which helped the reader through the process of drawing pigeons, part by part, beginning with the feet. (Video below paragraph text)

We hope Oliver will always remember this trip, particularly because it allowed him to finally get some closure on another lifetime obsession of his: the Mona Lisa. This painting is hanging in the Louvre Museum, and is obviously a huge part of the draw to many of it’s visitors based on the line required to see it. Pro-tip: Musee D’Orsay (Orsay Museum) nearby is a much better museum if you are interested in more modern art and has a wonderful collection of the French impressionists.

It is easy to feel overwhelmed in Paris, particularly if you are claustrophobic and crowd-averse. It’s a large city with a cafe on literally every corner, and it’s like watching a sunset where you keep thinking it can’t get any better and then it keeps happening. It takes a while to get your bearings because there are no tall buildings, though the Eiffel Tower is often visible depending on where you are. Montmartre is probably the densest and the most interesting neighborhood, directly at the top of a deceptively steep hill beneath the obligatory Sacre-Cour cathedral. Loaded with shops and restaurants, it’s also loaded with people. (See link to video below).

Hard-wired to always have a camera with me, I remembered to be a parent first and a photographer second. I brought one camera and one lens, a 35mm. I watched a lot of amazing moments appear and evaporate right in front of my eyes. I saw a man walking that was a dead ringer for what I imagine Jean-Paul Sarte might have looked like at age 30. My hands were usually full of other things I had to carry, including baguette sandwiches, cappuccino, and an umbrella from the ubiquitous daily rain. I wanted to be as present as possible, occasionally catching myself taking photographs more for my memory enhancement than pushing myself creatively, the latter being my usual motivation, as well as using my phone to record videos of our son Oliver being Oliver.

For those who haven’t had the experience, Paris is still the most beautiful city I’ve been to, bustling and full of vibrant people who’s formality is occasionally mistaken for rudeness to the untrained eye. Even with my minimal French vocabulary, we found everyone to be extremely helpful and friendly. My rudimentary French was not an issue in any way until the very last morning, when our plane ticket didn’t specify which of the three terminals was required for our flight home. The Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris is enormous, so I’ve learned a good pro tip is knowing exactly where to be dropped off to shorten the distance you have to run to the gate…

The last thing I learned in 2021: If you can actually taste the food on the airplane, you definitely don’t have Covid-19!

Paris videos from my iPhone:

Accordion player in Montmartre

Mimes near the Eiffel Tower

Walking Marche Du Montorgueil

Oliver and the pigeons

People milling around at the top of Montmartre

Fellini moment from a vendor market on Christmas Day

Here are some highlights to give you a feel of this legendary city. Clicking any image will pull it up at a larger size, which will also allow you to scroll through all of the images with the < and > buttons.

I was just interviewed in World's Best Wedding Photos about how I got started in Seattle shooting weddings on film, how I work, and why I never ended up delivering pizzas. They also selected some of their favorite photographs of mine. If you’d like to read the entire interview and see the accompanying gallery, click here.

https://www.worldsbestweddingphotos.com/artist-interview-bradley-hanson

If you want to follow me on Instagram, I have two accounts: @bradleyhanson is my personal one, all square images from my iPhone since 2008. @bradleyhansonphotography is my professional portfolio, a mix of weddings, family and portraits, as well as black and white and color landscape images. If you are still reading this far, you’ve already figured out how to find my website…

I am a Minneapolis/Saint Paul, Minnesota based wedding photographer, specializing in documentary style weddings and Indian/Hindu weddings all over the world. To see more of my wedding work, click the wedding galleries under the portfolio heading. To inquire about my rates and availability, call me at 206-393-8292, email me at bradley@bradleyhanson.com or fill out the contact form (click the “contact” link on the top right above this paragraph).

Yes, It Is Possible To Get Married During The Pandemic In Minneapolis And St. Paul Minnesota /  by Bradley Hanson

In March of 2020, I was about to photograph a wedding in Negril, Jamaica. At that time, the Covid-19 pandemic was clearly snowballing to the point that flights began to be restricted. Those clients eloped in their living room in Vermont, while the rest of my clients began looking for alternative dates for 2021. Almost all of the 2020 weddings either canceled or rescheduled their weddings for mid 2021 and it was clear that 2020 would be not only a year we’d never forget, but a rocky road for restaurants, small businesses and the self-employed like artists and craftsmen.

I just received this review on Google:

“Planning a wedding during a pandemic is definitely difficult. Having vendors who do their best to make your life easier, like Bradley did, becomes top priority. From start to finish, I cannot express how much we appreciated Bradley and his quick wit and talents. During our engagement photoshoot it became evident that he was willing to go the extra mile to make sure the photos reflected our personalities and our relationship as a whole, venturing to a nearby park so we could include our passion of canoeing. He was such a sport about any of our crazy ideas. I never had to worry about communication or updates from Bradley, he was very proactive. Knowing how busy our wedding day would be, he knew to ask ahead of time what photos were a priority to us. His eye for a great shot was the icing on the cake!

On top of his obvious skill behind a camera came what I would argue is even more important than that: his ability to make everyone feel comfortable in front of the camera. Not everyone enjoys getting their picture taken, but you would never guess that from the interactions our small guest list had with him. Everyone enjoyed having Bradley around, he was a fantastic addition to our small family gathering. We are so appreciative of Bradley and his capturing our day so perfectly. With a quick photo turnaround we were able to relive the day sooner than we had even anticipated! I could not recommend Bradley highly enough. You cannot go wrong with this very talented photographer!” - Elizabeth and Thad

The current rules for weddings in Minnesota, as of this writing, are much less restrictive than they were even a month ago. During the current Polar Vortex, no one is getting married outside here, so we will ignore those rules, but for indoor weddings that are serving food and drinks, the only limitation is that masks and social distancing are required, and the number of guests is limited to 50% capacity.

If you want to follow me on Instagram, I have two accounts: @bradleyhanson is my personal one, all square images from my iPhone since 2008. @bradleyhansonphotography is my professional portfolio, a mix of weddings, family and portraits, as well as black and white and color landscape images. If you are still reading this far, you’ve already figured out how to find my website…

I am a Minneapolis/Saint Paul, Minnesota based wedding photographer, specializing in documentary style weddings and Indian/Hindu weddings all over the world. To see more of my wedding work, click the wedding galleries under the portfolio heading. To inquire about my rates and availability, call me at 206-393-8292, email me at bradley@bradleyhanson.com or fill out the contact form (click the “contact” link on the top right above this paragraph).

Abby And Brendan's Vibrant October Wedding At Paikka In St. Paul, MN /  by Bradley Hanson

Abby and Brendan changed their original plans because of Covid-19, scaling down their wedding in 25 guests. The couple and their wedding party got ready at an Air BNB in St. Paul and their beautiful wedding was held at Paikka in St. Paul, MN.

Abby and Brendan met me in 2018 while I was photographing a wedding for their friend, Kathryn. Kathryn was the officiant for this wedding, her first in that capacity.

Abby’s dress was a striking and vibrant yellow and really stole the show.

From Abby:

How we met: 

Initially, Brendan’s perspective was that Abby only goes to potlucks because it took three of them before Abby accidentally turned down Brendan’s attempt to go on a date. Luckily, Abby followed up shortly after and we’ve been together since. We continued to have non-potluck and potluck related memories, and eventually moved in together in Northeast Minneapolis. Brendan finished medical school and our adventure moved us to Denver, Colorado. We got engaged at sunset in the Sand Dunes National Park on a Colorado road trip.

Planning from CO to MN during a pandemic: 

We are definitely happy with the end result! We found wedding planning to be generally challenging, but adding distance and a pandemic, nearly impossible. 

The original plan was to have our big families together in a 150 person wedding. We chose MN to make it easier for most guests to come - being that most of our family and friends live in Minnesota or Chicago.

When the pandemic hit, we thought we were so lucky to have planned a fall wedding (hah!). We both work in healthcare, and stayed up to date on all Covid info because it was ingrained in our everyday work lives. Once it became clear that the pandemic wasn't going anywhere, we tried to change gears. We cancelled the big party, and planned to have the wedding once the pandemic was over. 

Some very important family members had some serious health issues this year and it became more important to have our wedding ASAP. We went through many different plans and struggled to find the perfect fit to have the people we care about present and to keep them safe.

At each step, we questioned whether or not to keep going. But we did - so that those few special people could be there. After many plans failed, we decided to push through and make the final sprint. We did all the planning and wedding work aside from two vendors already booked in a matter of four weeks - Bradley Hanson Photography and Brasa Catering. Planner, venue, floral, all decor, makeup, hair, bartender, new website, coordinated with our 25 invitees, and worked on all the little details up to the morning of the wedding!

Oofta. And for all of it, we’re glad we did it. The day went by fast, but we had the most important people there. They all had fun. We had fun. Even the most nervous felt safe with the Covid precautions in place. We got to see family members and friends we hadn't seen in far too long. All the small details blended together and looked great. We will literally cherish these pictures forever. The ceremony was exceptional, made so special by our friend and officiant Kathryn's surprise speech, and reading our vows in front of the small group (something we wouldn't have done with the big group).

After the wedding, our families were so thankful that we did it, and that we did it when all of our family members could attend and enjoy it. AND! After two weeks, no one has gotten sick. Our safety measures paid off. Even with masks and following rules, we knew there were risks. After the wedding was over, it was the only thing still on our minds. We are so thankful we were able to have our tiny wedding, have a few more delicate guests attend, and have everyone stay well. 

-Abby

Click any image below to see it at full size. If you click on the first image, you can scroll through the larger images with the arrows in the edges of the photographs.

Other vendors:

Venue: Paikka in St. Paul

Wedding Coordinator: Bre Ward with Bre Is Fun

Floral: Studio Emme

Hair styling: Cristina Ziemer

Caterer: Brasa in St. Paul

Bartending: Liquid Motion

Dessert/Cake: Caffe Latte in St. Paul

If you want to follow me on Instagram, I have two accounts: @bradleyhanson is my personal one, all square images from my iPhone since 2008. @bradleyhansonphotography is my professional portfolio, a mix of weddings, family and portraits, as well as black and white and color landscape images. If you are still reading this far, you’ve already figured out how to find my website…

I am a Minneapolis/Saint Paul, Minnesota based wedding photographer, specializing in documentary style weddings and Indian/Hindu weddings all over the world. To see more of my wedding work, click the wedding galleries under the portfolio heading. To inquire about my rates and availability, call me at 206-393-8292, email me at bradley@bradleyhanson.com or fill out the contact form (click the “contact” link on the top right above this paragraph).

Heather And Peter's Rustic Outdoor Summer Mountain Wedding Weekend In Washington State /  by Bradley Hanson

As the first couple months of 2020 unfolded, it became clear that things were going to be different. I was supposed to shoot a wedding in Jamaica in March, which was canceled because there was no guarantee that guests could return to the US at that time. Wedding after wedding rescheduled into 2021. Work didn’t technically evaporate as much as it all turned into delayed gratification. A few weddings turned into elopements, and the rest turned into dramatically reduced guest lists, coining the word “minimony” as the brides and grooms figured out how to safely get married in the middle of a pandemic. The number of guests allowed to gather varies from state to state, but typically under 30 as of this writing. Guests are typically seated at least 6 feet apart, wearing masks at all times unless they are sharing air space with their pod of people in their regular social circle. Hand sanitizer is readily available in multiple locations and masks are provided. Guests that would have been present from other states and other countries often find themselves watching the wedding through a laptop via Zoom. Outdoor weddings are a lot less risky because air moves rather than recirculating.

Peter and Heather decided to move ahead with their wedding in late August after moving it from the original date of May 9th, dramatically reducing the guest count and making the needed modifications to proceed safely. They got married a few hundred feet from the home Peter built in the tiny western town of Mazama, WA, near Winthrop and about 5 hours from Seattle, nestled neatly in a low area surrounded by beautiful mountains. It requires a drive through winding cliff roads with views that cannot be described with adequate reverence. To give you some idea of the beauty, the final photo in the gallery is from Highway 20, part of the North Cascades Loop, a 400 mile drive I used to make regularly on my motorcycle during summer weekends when I lived in Seattle (1997-2009).

In order to accommodate all of their guests safely, wedding planner Kate Faoro of Tapestry Event Company released the guests in groups to maintain a safe social distance for the duration of each activity.

As Heather and Peter are both extremely active and fit, the guests were all encouraged to take part in morning runs and bike rides, and on the third and final day, everyone who wanted could go horseback riding in an area with scenery that looked like it was right out of a movie set. I even went on the bike ride through the woods and successfully took photographs with one hand while biking over rock, rocks and deep gravel.

Meals were catered by Table Catering Co of Seattle, served outside at Peter and Heather’s house in Mazama. The food was stunningly good, and they achieved the nearly impossible task of perfectly coordinating and packaging every meal individually and to each guest’s needs. Kate Faoro of Tapestry Event Co did an amazing job of wrangling everything from different locations and dealing with the challenges of trying to juggling timelines in an area with essentially zero cell phone coverage, particularly at altitude. Beautiful flowers were provided by Twisted Willow Floral.

I typically write my impressions of the wedding, the couple and how they met, etc, and my thoughts on the photographs and then share some photographs that communicate the feel of the wedding. Well, I’m still doing that, I guess, but this time I decided to share the words of their officiant, Emily Sterling from Rooted and Wild: Spirited Ceremonies, below the image gallery.

Heather and Peter had a great connection and seem to be living a nearly perfect life together. I wish them all the happiness in the world.

Click any image below to see it at a larger size

From officiant Emily Sterling:

“Hello everyone and thank you for being here to honor and celebrate Heather and Peter, as they join their lives together in marriage today! We hope you’ve had an adventurous weekend of activities thus far, joining Heather on a run or Peter on a bike, experiencing the beauty and the adventure that make up a day in their life when they come to their Mazama mountain getaway. They wanted you to experience a slice of heaven because you are all so important to them in this life. So thank you for traveling to be here with them today. We know that it has been a journey to get here in the midst of a pandemic: some of you drove from New Hampshire or California, and others of you boarded a plane with all of your masks and PPEs to witness this moment. So, thank you. Your love and your presence is so appreciated in this moment. We know that times are strange and things feel unpredictable, but love is resilient and an anchor in the storms of life. And so today, we celebrate the love between Heather and Peter and the love for these two that you all bring to this moment, exactly as it is: beautiful, vulnerable, and full of joy!

As we begin today, we also want to recognize those who were unable to travel today who are in our hearts and who are celebrating from afar: Peter’s siblings Freddy and Meredith and their children Nora, Eloise, Sam and Ellie, and Connor, and Heather’s sister Melissa and her son Quinn. Peter’s aunts Margaret, Lily, Ann Louise, and Lorraine and Heather’s aunt Debbie, Uncle David, Uncle Tom and Uncle Steve. We also want to recognize Heather’s father, Jim, who we lost in 2017. He was an incredible man whose devotion, thoughtfulness, patience, wry sense of humor and unconditional love are gifts that we carry with us forever. His memory, his spirit, and his presence are celebrated here with us today.

Let’s take a look back at the trail that these two have been hiking/running/biking/scootering to bring us to this moment of marriage. Peter first noticed Heather about three years ago as a blur running past him through the Eastlake neighborhood. As neighbors sharing the same alley, their paths crossed more than a few times at the local coffee shop or walking their dogs, sometimes with Peter helpfully pointing out that Heather’s car lights were left on. They both noticed each other: their cute, athletic neighbor with the sweet dog, and started making small talk about running or cycling, and the merits of their Bernese Mountain Dog and Rhodesian Ridgeback companions. When Peter’s relay race group needed another person for a race in Mazama last spring, he saw the perfect opportunity to spend some quality time with Heather. The race actually started just feet from where we are standing right now. And though they found more and more in common on this adventure race weekend, and a few bike rides were shared, there were several more missed cues and subsequent calls made to friends for advice before they finally went on a first official date.

From that first date, these two found in each other their adventure partner. They found a person who was similarly ambitious and athletic, adventurous and competitive, who had a drive to balance work and play in a way that complemented one another’s lives. Heather has a way of opening people up, helping them to feel safe to reveal their inner worlds, and Peter described that she did just that with him. In Peter’s own words, he’s not the most forward guy, so with her gentle presence and persistence, these two deepened their connection. Meanwhile, for Heather, after the early days spent trying to decode Peter’s neighborly cues, such as bringing her old couch to Goodwill for her, Peter’s life partnership qualities quickly became obvious to her. His warmth, sense of humor, athleticism, constant quest for adventure, and generosity all stood out to Heather well before their first date, and this transitioned almost overnight into a sense of being in the right place with the right person.

Over the past year and a half, they’ve gone on runs, long bike rides, driven countless miles to Mazama listening to music for a weekend of mountain relaxation and adventure, traveled to Paris and Anguilla, hung out with Haedyn, schemed up big life dreams, and experienced so many other moments big and small that make up the story of their lives together. Along the way, they both realized that this connection was something significant. Peter said it was love when he heard the Lumineers lyrics “But I must admit it, that I would marry you in an instant’ and the first thing that popped into his mind was Heather’s smiling face. And Heather knew it was love from those first hikes in Mazama, first weeknight dinners, first road trips, first movie outings with Haedyn, that feeling of being at home. The compatibility and the authentic love they had for each other felt right from the very beginning.

So, when out on a jog (a warm-up run for Heather) near the University of Washington campus last spring, under a shower of cherry blossom trees, Peter got down on one knee and proposed. Yes, they were in the middle of a run and I can think of no more fitting of a time or place for these two athletes, to make the commitment to one another.

Heather, Peter loves the way you throw your head back when you laugh wholeheartedly, he loves that you patiently jog with him at a slower pace than you’d normally go, and that you can talk about anything and everything together. He loves that you let him sing along to songs on roadtrips even if he isn’t the best singer, and that you’ll spend hours in the back of an airplane as he and Haedyn learn to fly. You are an incredible partner, a loyal friend, an accomplished athlete, and he feels like the luckiest person in the world to be marrying you today.

Peter, Heather loves the way you dream big. She loves that you’re always ready for anything, whether it be riding your bike up a 10,000 foot mountain in Hawaii or dropping everything to do an unsavory errand just to make her day a little bit easier. She loves that despite your busy days, you prioritize quality time together, whether it be slogging slowly on cross country skis while she learned, tending to an unwieldy garden, or taking work conference calls together at the same table for hours on end. She is amazed by you, your talents, your intelligence, the compatibility you share, and she feels incredibly grateful to have met you and to be marrying her best friend.

Though the world looks a little different than it did at the time of your proposal, you two have navigated the challenges of a global pandemic and rescheduling a wedding with grace and love as the team that you are. And most importantly, today, you are surrounded by this incredible landscape, some very important people in your lives, and the strength of this love and commitment that you make today.”

If you want to follow me on Instagram, I have two accounts: @bradleyhanson is my personal one, all square images from my iPhone since 2008. @bradleyhansonphotography is my professional portfolio, a mix of weddings, family and portraits, as well as black and white and color landscape images. If you are still reading this far, you’ve already figured out how to find my website…

I am a Minneapolis/Saint Paul, Minnesota based wedding photographer, specializing in documentary style weddings and Indian/Hindu weddings all over the world. To see more of my wedding work, click the wedding galleries under the portfolio heading. To inquire about my rates and availability, call me at 206-393-8292, email me at bradley@bradleyhanson.com or fill out the contact form (click the “contact” link on the top right above this paragraph).

The wedding coordinator, Kate Faoro of Tapestry Weddings, has also created a lovely blog post regarding Pete and Heather’s wedding. You can see that here:

Mara And Andrew's Backyard Mini-Wedding At Turtle Lake In Minnesota During Covid-19 Outbreak /  by Bradley Hanson

Click image to enlarge

It seemed like years ago when I spoke with Mara and Andrew on the phone about the details of their wedding. Mara’s parents are both experienced photographers and her father had an impressive gallery of framed images and a strong, longtime love of black and white images. They were drawn to the black and white and abstract images in my portfolio.

Originally scheduled for June 27th of this year, a few months ago we discussed rescheduling for the complications of the Covid-19 virus, which prevents a “normal” wedding because of the risk of transmission from being in close quarters, especially indoors. As it became clear that their original plans wouldn’t work in their original location(s), they rescheduled the full wedding with the originally desired guest list for next summer. A couple months went by, and because of some personal things, they wanted to have a small wedding with 12 guests in their parents backyard at Turtle Lake in Minnesota.

They quickly pulled together a very cool DIY wedding with sanitizer and masks available for guests, had all guests seated outside in couples, about 8 feet apart, and the parents, family and guests who couldn’t be there in person because of travel restrictions and health concerns were able to join via Zoom, thanks to the iPhone on a tripod and the laptop on a table near the couple during the ceremony. Mara’s sister played cello and it was beautiful. Each guest was given their own glass to keep.

Although my first love in photographing weddings is real, candid moments that happen between the seams, I thought it would be timeless to get a photo of all of the guests with their masks on, something to mark this historical moment in time that has already affected 5,000,000 Americans with no immediate end in sight. I only photographed for 2.5 hours, but it felt a lot like a full wedding. There were no getting ready photos as they were ready when I arrived, there was no cocktail hour or formal dinner, and no reception aside from a first dance just after the wedding ceremony.

Because of physical distance and logistics, there was no formal reception, but they did have a first dance and Mara’s parents danced with them, along with most of the guests. I was honored to be a part of their day and happy they were able to pull off a small gathering safely without undue health risks.

Images below chosen more to give you a sense of the short wedding, rather than my usual approach of strictly posting favorite images.

If you want to follow me on Instagram, I have two accounts: @bradleyhanson is my personal one, all square images from my iPhone since 2008. @bradleyhansonphotography is my professional portfolio, a mix of weddings, family and portraits, as well as black and white and color landscape images. If you are still reading this far, you’ve already figured out how to find my website…

I am a Minneapolis/Saint Paul, Minnesota based wedding photographer, specializing in documentary style weddings and Indian/Hindu weddings all over the world. To see more of my wedding work, click the wedding galleries under the portfolio heading. To inquire about my rates and availability, call me at 206-393-8292, email me at bradley@bradleyhanson.com or fill out the contact form (click the “contact” link on the top right above this paragraph).

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2020: Shelter In Place /  by Bradley Hanson

Our son Oliver, the human cat, is always finding fun uses for giant boxes in our living room while we pack for our move to St. Paul, MN

A family fishing at Lake Hiawatha in Minneapolis the night before the “stay at home” orders from the governor

Well, 2020 started with such promise.

We had just finished a wonderful trip to Amsterdam, Rome and Naples, Italy, 3 weeks before a massive change was underway.

Things were off to a great start, and by the end of the month, it was clear that Covid-19, the latest coronavirus, was going to upend our lives for the next few months. The year was filling out nicely and then even more dramatically than late 2008: near total radio silence as people stopped making plans and changed the ones they had.

I work all year round, but the majority of my work is in the months of June through October. The rest of the year I am booking weddings, editing existing weddings, meeting with clients, designing wedding albums and photographing family portraits, landscapes, our family adventures and road trips, and anything that catches my eye.

The current day to day is staying indoors with our 6 year old son, working on his distance online learning program until we figure out if and when his school will resume or even at the start of the next grade in September. I’m also working with existing clients to reschedule their weddings. I was supposed to be photographing a destination wedding in Jamaica in late March, then another in Washington State in early May. Both of them have been rescheduled. I’m rescheduling with all of my clients, particularly for June and July 2020 weddings, to find dates that work for them later in the year or moving them to open dates in 2021.

As always, I have my camera with me at all times and although I rarely leave the house now aside from bicycle rides for exercise and walks with my family for my sanity. I hope you and your families are staying indoors as much as possible, away from others and getting re-acquainted with the joys of organizing, cleaning, and finally unable to say “I wish I had the time to do (insert task here).” We are lucky to have some talented, artistic friends make masks for our whole family. When I go to the grocery store or food co-op, it’s clear that it’s another means of self-expression. Part of our new wardrobe!

Watching a little too much TV (Ozark 3, Fargo, Breeders, Catch 22, Lady Dynamite, etc), but also finally crossing off some great books from my reading list and organizing the house.

I’ve been self-employed for 21 years. I’m used to being home. Most people aren’t. Still, I am starting to have a harder time figuring out what day it is…

We all owe a debt of gratitude to the people all around us who are making life better: those pulling long shifts in hospitals and putting their own health at risk to help others. The restaurant workers and cooks still there making our food, the delivery people bringing it to our houses. The hard working people working in grocery stores and pharmacies, stocking the shelves, and everyone else still showing up to work.

As I write this, the US still doesn’t have easily accessible testing like Germany and South Korea, part of why we have triple the number of cases of anyone else in the world: 500,000, as well as surpassing Italy for the most fatalities. We need to be as cautious as possible. I hope people take physical distancing seriously and we can get past this. Be safe, look out for each other, help a friend or neighbor if you can, and look for the silver lining. Support your favorite restaurants with take-out orders to help keep them afloat. A lot of businesses, including restaurants will suffer.

In the middle of all this, we are packing to move at the end of April. As the old saying goes, “May you live in interesting times.” We will never forget 2020, that’s for sure.

If you want to follow me on Instagram, I have two accounts: @bradleyhanson is my personal one, all square images from my iPhone since 2008. @bradleyhansonphotography is my professional portfolio, a mix of weddings, family and portraits, as well as black and white and color landscape images. If you are still reading this far, you’ve already figured out how to find my website…

I am a Minneapolis, Minnesota based wedding photographer, specializing in documentary style weddings and Indian/Hindu weddings all over the world. To see more of my wedding work, click the wedding galleries under the portfolio heading. To inquire about my rates and availability, call me at 206-393-8292, email me at bradley@bradleyhanson.com or fill out the contact form (click the “contact” link on the top right above this paragraph).

Our son Oliver on a walk outside at the Lake Hiawatha Golf Club in South Minneapolis