Military Ceremony

Words can not express my gratitude to the woman who hired me to photograph the military ceremony found in this posting. I met her while she was caring for my mother at the hospital that my mother was a patient at this year. She was one of the many medical professionals caring for my mother during her stay there but she made an impression that will last a lifetime. She always performed her rounds in the evenings after most people were no longer visiting. But I stayed there most of the time so I was always there to talk to her when she came in to treat my mom. She is a beautiful woman inside and out and I will forever be thankful to how she treated me, my mom and my family while my mom was so sick. It was here that I showed her the pictures of my mom that I had in the room and told her that I was a photographer. She later asked if I would be willing to photograph her husband's ceremony in the summer in Virginia Beach. Things worked out so that I was able to photograph it and the day couldn't have been nicer. I was glad to help her after all that she had done in caring for my mom. 

(Due to the secretive nature of what the men and women do for our military, I can not name those in the photographs.) It was a change of command ceremony which is when one leader is leaving for a new post and a new leader is taking over the command in their place. The military base was on the water and there was a large tent set up for the ceremony due to how hot is was going to be. There was a lot of pomp and circumstance. Afterwards, I was able to walk on the beach and took some photos that I thought the family would like, but I also went because it was a favorite place of my mom's. Anywhere that my mom could be near an ocean, she loved. As the water rushed up over my feet, the sun started to make rays of light come through the clouds and it felt as though my mom was watching over me from up above. Here are some of my favorite photos from the day!

Military Band

 The color guard

 WWII veteran

 Family looking on