When Cat was 10 years old, her father Dan died from a disease that had been killing him slowly forever. For years he had taken his family to Lake City in Colorado for holidays and reunions. When he passed, his final wish was that his ashes would be spread on Gold Hill, overlooking Lake San Cristobal.
16 years later Cat came back to the same spot to get married.
This is the story of that day.
The first day of September started with my alarm going off at 03:45. Immediately I woke up and heard the rain pounding against the window. "We have time," I told myself. I had curled my hair the night before so I set to work doing my makeup. "Just keep going." At around 04:30 I remember looking at the radar; it had changed, and not for the better. At that point I stopped what I was doing, shut my eyes, and I said "Dad, if you have ANY pull up there, I need your help and now's the time". "
The previous day we had driven up here with Sarah and Jonas (our photographers) so they could see the lighting first hand. It was beautiful- pink, soft, serene. But the morning of September 1st was something magical to behold. The rain had indeed stopped, and the clouds fell below the mountains. They left behind a thin blanket of the first snow of the season in the San Juans.
So for those that may not know- my father passed away many years ago. The exact place we were having our ceremony is the place where my family released his ashes. It was his very favorite place in the world too. I believe in my heart he had a hand in how beautiful the morning turned out to be.
The day was everything I've ever wanted.
It was perfect.
When Cat told me her story, I thought Super 8 would be perfect to capture something so beautifully nostalgic. so I asked Sarah if she'd come along.
This is Cat and Stewart's story through her eyes.
A few years ago my wife and I started documenting life with an old Super 8 camera. The results are flawed, but beautiful, much like life itself and I have fallen in love with both the process and the final product.
