[MUSINGS] – IN THE FIELD WITH SM

special thanks go out to Sophie + Jason for doing the immense amount of climbing that made this shot possible…

one of the best things about what we do has to be the amazing variety of things we get to experience, and all the wonderful people we meet. and because we always want our imagery to have a deeper meaning, we make the effort to really get close with the people we work with, so we can really be in touch with the inner workings of their story. it means we have a lot of fun, pretty much all the time. it’s amazing to always work with people we like, people we connect with.

but every so often, there’s a group of people that sticks out. and the one that comes to mind right now is the family we got to know during our latest trip to Hungary. we were made to feel like family. immediately…

let’s start off with Sophie’s mom. within 30 seconds of our first conversation, she already had her arm around me. she was telling me about her own career and how proud she is to support her daughters, who are doing something very different. by the next day, she was treating me like an adopted daughter. by day three, she was calling me one. she and Sophie’s dad were basically our waiters at the traditional goulash dinner, making sure we always had what we needed, but mostly making sure we were having a good time. we were having an amazing time. Sophie’s parents live in Louisiana part of the year and in Hungary the rest. they made sure to have grape-themed Mardi Gras beads for us to wear the night of the wine tasting, something that really made us feel at home with them, but on top of that, we were invited to stay at their lake house in Hungary, anytime. we’ll DEFINITELY be taking them up on that offer!

then there’s Brad, a seemingly random guy with really high socks. that was the first thing i noticed about him as he helped lug our countless bags of gear from the buses to the hotel the first night. he was a guest at the wedding who made a point to learn all our names right from the beginning, and offered his help with pretty much anything related to lifting heavy stuff. after the long trip, he totally could have hung out with friends he hasn’t seen in a long time, spent time with his long distance girlfriend, or really, just been a guest enjoying his time. but what’s great about Brad is that he wouldn’t be HIM if he weren’t helping. we love people like that and hope our friendship grows from here. in fact, we may be getting to see him during the KNOW tour! stay tuned for more on that…

can’t forget Dora, Sophie’s sister, and her husband Toru. Dora was in charge of making sure everyone was happy, comfortable, and knew where they were going. but it was really her smile that did all that. and Toru, well, we only chatted with him a little bit while we were there, but we got together with him for dinner the next week in NYC when we were there… and what a FASCINATING guy. he’s the kind of person who’s always ready with the right solution, connecting the dots, and coming up with really cool concepts. we were talking to him about SMAPP, the educational app we’re launching soon, and after about 5 minutes, we realized how many ideas he had to contribute. we spent the whole dinner talking about how to make it the best app of its kind, and so far we’ve totally brought it to a whole new level!

and then there’s Miklos, who helped us in countless ways, and without whom, none of what we did could have been possible. after blogging about the fact that we’d be heading to Hungary for a wedding, Miklos emailed us saying he’s from around Budapest and would love to help in any way possible. from sourcing rental gear, navigating, translating, shooting, providing BTS photos and footage, wining and dining us (even though we insisted on wining and dining HIM), and overall just making the trip SO much better than it already cold have been, Miklos was indispensable.

finally, we’re gonna thank Sophie + Jason. but we’ll save that for a post with images, films, and enough blog-real-estate to do it in style. they hosted such an amazing group of people. it was like a big family. so much so that i’ll go as far as to say that i’ve never seen so many people be so openly affectionate at a wedding. and during the ceremony, maybe it was the setting, or the warm shower that came down on us, but everyone seemed to be touching in some way. it was really beautiful to be a part of.

even though we’ve really only known Sophie and Jason for a few months, and their guests for a mere 3 days, we were as much a part of the family as anyone else who was there.

and for that, we are forever thankful.

-Amina