i would see that name pop up now and again on in the comments section on the blog from my very first days as a photographer---the one i loved so much, the one i wished was my name. sofia. so pretty. sofia. i'm such a name person, and to me 'sofia,' feels soft, light, elegant, strong, and true. such a perfect combination of connotations. she was one of those people i friended from a distance--do you know what that's like? you know them, casually, through others maybe, or through some connection, but not really directly. still you think of them as someone you get along with, someone with whom you share a connection that's maybe never been acted on. the connection was in part this--sofia worked at the newspaper at byu-hawaii about the time i got hired. the newsroom had a computer with all of her music on it. she left soon after i started working there, and i took over that computer along with her itunes library. so so so many good bands. and also during our college's "guitars unplugged," event, sofia participated, while i watched shyly from the audience. she sang a song while playing the guitar (!!!!). with her eyes closed. i couldn't have adored her more.

then here she was a handful of years later, commenting on my blog, throwing bits of much appreciated support my way. she knew i was doing photography because she and her husband had developed a friendship with my sister in law, darcie and her husband. (all four of them are musicians comprising the bands canoe, and adam and darcie, respectively,, and you should check out their beautiful music here). so when sofia contacted me and said they were coming from portland to ut, and would love some family pictures, my heart leaped. finally a chance to pay her back for all of those hours of listening to rad music.

(these photos are a mixture of digital and film. 5D mark ii, contax 645 and canon eos3, portra 400, fuji 400h).