I first became aware of Coach when I was in the middle of practice during eighth grade track. It was the spring of 1995, I was 14. Middle school and high school shared the track for practices; that day Coach grabbed a few of his best guys and brought them over to a few of our best guys in an effort to remind us what we could become if we stuck to high school track and field and did good in school.
When I got to high school, turns out Coach was the art teacher too. By the end of high school, spring of 1999, I was a two year team captain, the one going to speak to the eighth graders (and dodging his 12 year old twin daughters), three of my seven class hours were advanced arts, I was headed to Grand Valley State University to run track and field, and registered there as an art major.
All through college we met on most holiday breaks to discuss track & field & art. We would discuss races, and review my portfolio at his kitchen table while one of the twins stared over our shoulder and the other ran around the yard with my dog.
In 2008, with his retirement on the horizon, I was invited as one of the speakers at the new Williamston High School stadium where it was to be renamed and dedicated as the Coach Paul A. Nilsson Track.
For the last 18 years, Coach has been a constant in my life. We’ve gone probably no more than 12-15 months at a time without speaking during those years, and with the advent of Facebook, and ArtPrize in Grand Rapids, it is much more frequent than that. Besides my father, I can comfortably say that Coach has been the most influential man in my life. So it was a great surprise and honor when I was asked by one of the twins if I could photograph her wedding. I was thrilled and excited, and nervous. For crying out loud this was Coach’s daughter – and to boot she was a wedding photographer herself! Double pressure!
“So how old are you now, like 22, 23, something like that?”
“Uh, no. I’m 26.”
Whoa. Somewhere in there I got old. Not sure how that happened. Also, I’m not sure which twin it was that was looking over our shoulder and which one was outside playing with my dog. Maybe they remember?
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So Jennifer married Justin back on Memorial weekend outside Lansing, Michigan, at the Lakeview Banquet Center overlooking Round Lake – it was a beautiful sunny and 72 day. Perfect for an outdoor wedding filled with bright vibrant colors all around. I started off the afternoon meeting at Jennifer’s house hanging out with her and the bridesmaids;
“Hey Jennifer, what’s your ‘something blue’?”
“My sister,” she responded with a big smile.
The bride and bridesmaids were all beautiful so my job was going to be easy!
We headed to the lake where the guests were starting to arrive and the wedding party was getting excited to get rolling. It was a neat venue for a ceremony, tucked right on the edge of the lake, there was not quite enough chairs for everyone as it was standing room only by the time the ceremony started!
After a beautiful ceremony (where the boats and wave runners even refrained from running until the conclusion), and a musical performance by her father, Jennifer and Justin quietly and quickly snuck under a giant willow tree and shared a private moment while everyone transitioned to the interior.
During the group photos, it also became “glaringly obvious” that the girls were getting a little loopy, were causing trouble, and were ready to get inside to get things rolling! Justin, as handsome as Jennifer is beautiful, was also very easy to photograph. For this, the bride and groom helped make beautiful photos.
The party was great, everyone had a blast, the girls ran the dance floor, and the ‘cake pops’ were a big hit. As the party wound late into the evening, and J-Squared went out for another round on the dance floor, I started packing it up and calling it a night. After dropping my gear off at the car and coming back for a goodbye and a coffee, Coach walked right up to me and ‘asked’ in his Coach way, “you’re still going to get a photo of them under the full moon, right?” And how am I supposed to respond to that other than, “of course. Let me just run back out to my car and get my gear.”
A few minutes later, ripped right from the dance floor, J-Squared was lined up under the moon. With some trick lighting and some patience, we finished out a beautiful day by making an incredible photo.
Thank you, Coach, for being you the last 18 years. It has gone further than you think. I was honored to share this day with your daughter and family. Thank you, Jennifer and Justin for asking and trusting me to be your photographer. It’s difficult for a photographer to choose a photographer; clearly you trust me and I am honored, but there’s always that extra pressure 🙂 I hope you enjoy the photos. You two are a great couple; Jennifer it’s been great getting to know you a little better in the last few months and Justin I look forward to getting to know you a little more in the future. If you ever find yourself in GR and need a place to crash…..
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