The light was sweet and so were the waves.

But the water and air are unusually cold for this time of year.

Kristianne Koch Photography

Kristianne Koch specializes in artistic portrait photography of families, children and couples. 949-702-7707 kristianne.koch@cox.net

So, the more I thought about it the more I realized: this is not going to be easy. Then when we got there I realized again: this is not going to be easy!! The kids just took off running. Of course it’s their favorite hang so they know every nook and cranny of the place. There the went. All four playful, energetic, adventurous little girls-gone. And Dad had just returned from Afghanistan so he was still “on the other side of the world” but he hung right in there with all his girls.

Just look at this gang-especially mom and dad! They are amazing together and we all had so much fun.

Kristianne Koch Photography

Kristianne Koch specializes in artistic portrait photography of families, children and couples. 949-702-7707 kristianne.koch@cox.net

Kristianne Koch Photography

Kristianne Koch specializes in artistic portrait photography of families, children and couples. 949-702-7707 kristianne.koch@cox.net

I am in love with you today more than ever. You are my best friend, soul mate, husband. We have been through so much together. Even before we were married I think we dealt with more dumpy dumps than most couples experience in a lifetime together: your diagnosis of a rare blood disease, my resistance to commitment, you trying to quit smoking, our boat landing on a reef and a Paumotuan “Mayor” hinting at salvage rights for it,  and a psycho crew member on a long passage who you almost tossed overboard.

Our wedding day was truly the happiest day of my life. You are my #1 because without you I wouldn’t be who I am today. You have given me strength to speak my mind, allow myself to appreciate the quirky and classy things in life and to follow my heart. Happy 7th Anniversary My Love!”

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Here are my favorite images from our wedding day. I was so blessed to have two of my best friends, Jeanine and Cindy, photograph our wedding.  Our wedding was shot entirely on black and white FILM (except for a few formals that always crack me up because Jim has this phony smile in ALL of them!) and I still have yet to get the negs scanned to digital. I keep them in a fire proof safe. So retro!

[both the "group" dancing and the shiny pile o' poo cake are where the reception went awry but I was having so much fun I just laughed]

Merrik and Maliea’s cousins

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I found this I had written for our wedding website and I want to include it here to remember it:

“In 1997 Jim and I met working at a communications firm as Art Director and Photographer. Our creative energies merged on several projects while working together and formed an important bond from the start. We became romantically involved after I left the company to pursue another photography related position. Our creative projects continued, however, as our relationship grew and we continued to work on design and photography projects together and still do to this day.
In 1998 our adventurous and free-spirited tendencies arose and produced a plan to go cruising. It had always been a dream of mine (as I had spent years climbing to prepare myself for the cruising lifestyle that I dreamed of having someday). Jim was originally inspired by his dad to sail to the Marquesas and get tattooed. Jim’s dad, Tom and his wife, Debbie cruised ten years earlier on Pelican, a 38′ Downeaster. So Jim’s dad offered up S/V Pelican as a tried and true seaworthy vessel which made the dream more immediately obtainable.

For a year Jim and I sanded and painted, pried and caulked Pelie until she shined. We studied celestial navigation and marlinspike seamanship, storm tactics and provisioning until we couldn’t read about it any longer. On May 2, 2000 we untied the docklines and set sail for the Marquesas 2800 nautical miles away. It took us 27 days to reach land at some of the most isolated and untouched islands in the world. We cruised the Marquesas, Tuamotus and Societies for nine months and then Hawaii for three. We continued to live in Hawaii for a year after we had the boat delivered back to Coronado, CA.

While we were in Hawaii we both worked at a business development firm in downtown Honolulu. Again our creative background came together to help the owners manifest their dream of an upscale business, lifestyle magazine. Jim consulted on design and production of four issues of the publication. I contributed photography and writing about our travels as their first “Pacific Canvas” article as well as created other images for the cover and fashion sections. It was truly an eye opening experience working to create someone else’s vision. We realized how important it is to both of us to be able to manifest our own dreams and how well we do focused as a team.
During this time our relationship was challenged and strengthened under non-stop difficult and wonderful conditions. We experienced every emotion imaginable. We worked as a team in extremely difficult situations and we learned to escape to different ends of the boat or island as necessary in other situations.
We also met some incredible people who influenced the relatonships with our own selves and with each other. Many we are still in contact with and hope to see at the wedding celebration. It was a life altering experience that no-one can take from us. It has inspired us to continuously pursue our dreams and to encourage the same in those around us. We have realized how lucky we are to have found each other and thankful for our families in preparing us to be the people that we are today. Without them, we wouldn’t have so much in our lives.”

Kristianne Koch Photography

Kristianne Koch specializes in artistic portrait photography of families, children and couples. 949-702-7707 kristianne.koch@cox.net