Friday wrapup

Here I am on Monday morning at the home of Gene and Sandra Bayless, Maria’s parents, in Thorntown, Ind.

I’m actually seated at the end of the table and facing Gene and Sandra, but the iPhone panorama feature makes it look like I’m sitting off to the side.

I’ve spent the past few days reviewing and editing photos shot my me, Maria, Morgan and various other people who handled our cameras during the two days of Austin and Megan’s wedding and preparations. All told, we shot more than 3,000 images of the setup, rehearsal, rehearsal dinner, wedding and reception.

It was an impressive pooling of special talents from our photography and Maria’s quilting to Mike and Kim Gill’s organizational skills, to Dan and Dana Dunbar’s custom grown flowers and his grandfather’s antique Farmall tractor that Austin and Megan used to chug away from the barnyard at Dull’s Christmas Tree Farm.

We’ve photographed a lot of weddings, including a ceremony and reception at the Ritz Charles in Carmel, but this was the best. The ceremony was short and simple, the catered reception was tasty and efficiently served and the overall ambiance and amenities of Tom and Kerry Dull’s barn and cabins was warm and picturesque.

I even got to put my Nikon D200 aside and dance with my bride.

This was our second trip back to Indiana in two months, but the demands on our time were such that we never got a chance to visit with some of our closest friends. I hope our next trip won’t be so rushed.

On another subject, today was the day the folks at The Indianapolis Star learned whether they would be retained or fired as the paper goes through yet another episode of reorganization and downsizing to go along with the relocation of its offices from 307 N. Pennsylvania Street to improbably quarters at Circle Center Mall.

My old friend, photographer Joe Vitti, who worked with me at The Indianapolis News and later The Star, took a buyout. I hope it was a good package. He deserves it.

As I pointed out on one Star photographer’s Facebook page, not working at The Star can be a good thing. I have never regretted my decision to take early retirement 14 years ago when the job of education reporter in the Metro North Bureau stopped being fun.

I miss my Indianapolis News friends, but not the reptilian management team that came with Gannett ownership.