Aha! Christopher Maxwell photographed CS Hayden's wedding...

[twin2]

Why do so many people seem to think they can buy a high-end camera, throw up a website, take pictures of other people's kids, slap a logo on them, charge hundreds of bucks, and suddenly they're "professional photographers"? Moms are often the worst offenders.

Ugh, tell me about it. A former classmate of mine did this and posts her stuff on facebook. All her former classmates are like ZOMG!!!!!!SO GOOD!!!!11!! At best they are on par with Christopher's. My SIL's brother is a for real professional photographer (went to school for 3 years plus an internship) you can easily tell the difference between his work and hers.

[starfish]

ITA with the remark about Lauren winning the prize for the "total dork husband". She doesn't really seem all that enthused about marrying him, but at least she's got a husband now.

[gilora]

I kept thinking... why did no one get out of the way for the actual photographer? I would have been cranky if all of my wedding pictures were pictures of other people's digital cameras and iphones, with me and grandpa, blurry in the background.... learn your aperture and zoom lens, dude.

C'mon, that's part of his artistic "photojournalist" style. Plus the other photographers have already set up the shots. :P

[Feberin]

Ugh, tell me about it. A former classmate of mine did this and posts her stuff on facebook. All her former classmates are like ZOMG!!!!!!SO GOOD!!!!11!! At best they are on par with Christopher's. My SIL's brother is a for real professional photographer (went to school for 3 years plus an internship) you can easily tell the difference between his work and hers.

I am friends with so many moms on facebook who think of themselves as photographers. Only one of them has actually taken classes and shockingly her pictures are by far the best.

[SamuraiKatz]

I looked at his site.. The pictures were okay...none of them stood out enough to say WOW!

Question: Why do these dorky, not particularly handsome fundy guys end up with really gorgeous women? Lauren and CS just don't look like they belong together.

[punkiepie]

I looked at his site.. The pictures were okay...none of them stood out enough to say WOW!

Question: Why do these dorky, not particularly handsome fundy guys end up with really gorgeous women? Lauren and CS just don't look like they belong together.

The most likely answer is that there are waaaaay more fundie women than men. My guess is that when there is a super hot fundie guy, as soon as he realizes he could actually (gasp) date more than one girl, and maybe even share an illicit kiss, before getting himself a SAHD- that he's not going to be fundie much longer. Guys that know they're hot tend to see girls as conquests. (I'm not saying ALL, but for the most part, at least until they've grown up some and/or truly fallen in love) And the beautiful fundie girls are left fighting over the slim pickings that remain. What else could explain how the beautiful Kelly (Brown) Bradrick wound up with Peter? I mean, "Mr. I didn't tell Kelly she was beautiful or that I loved her before we got married lest I insert in her an emotional flutter in her weak, can't-control-herself-heart"- doesn't even have a semi-good personality! And then there are those two girls who even married themselves fundie sexual predators! And you can't forget Blair (Brown) Tsantles who found herself to be a spinster at the ripe old age of 23 and married herself to her 17 year old husband. It's obvious that these girls just want to get married so badly that they don't care who the groom is- the only important thing is that there is one.

And the beautiful fundie girls can't really leave the compound like a guy can because they have no real skills, training, education, or real world experience. Leaving would mean giving up their only source of survival, support, and social connection(s)- yeah, it's an option, but not really one that's viable or realistic. A SAHD prepares for only one thing her whole life and that's being a (shudder) helpmeet. The whole thing is actually really really sad.

The only super hot fundie guy I can even think of is Cleve Morton. I know some will probably say John Maxwell, and while he is very good looking, if he was just a regular guy you passed on the street, he wouldn't really stand out as exceptionally hot. It's because he's a Maxwell, a virgin, a never been kissed cutie who needs some defrauding that makes him stand out.

(Edited because I can't spell tonight)

[YPestis]

On that line of thought, fundie guys, regardless of their looks, have more options to leave the lifestyle. They are given more freedom, a better education and certainly raised with the idea of interacting with the outside world. The girls have no way to leave. These fundie girls reside at the most extreme right wing, so they/their families are less willing to agree to a more "liberal" spouse. The guys, because of the belief that guys are less impressionable, "leaders" etc, may find more acceptance in marrying a more "liberal" spouse.

We get this situation where guys find it easier to leave the fundie lifestyle, guys have more choices in spouses (i.e they don't have to find someone just as fundie as them). The end result is, for the most fundie girls, they are left with a lopsided ratio of guys to girls.

[gardenvarietycitizen]

Add to that though, a super controlling patriarch is probably more likely to let his sons marry than his daughters, because sons marrying bring new people INTO the cult, while daughters marry out and escape Dad (they leave and join new families). Combine that with the idea that because the husband controls the wife, such families are probably more willing to "compromise" on the wives marrying in because they think they can elevate those wives into the family lifestyle, and it really does look a lot more appealing for the sons, even the ones who stay consuming the family Kool-Aid.

Even if Dad is willing to let a girl go, as YPestis implies the girl (read: Dad on the girl's behalf) will need to be way more picky about potential mates.

[QueenMother]

At Christopher's wedding he did stand in front and proudly gave a photography lesson explaining that Joesph wastaking all the photos and using the artistic "photojournalist" style, and went on to explain exactly what that was. Atthe reception, Anna, Sarah, John--they all had cameras. Good cameras. They have expensive professional model Nikons and all the toys that go with them. Money does not seem to be a problem when it comes to what the Maxwell's buy to play with.

[bbfreethinker]

At Christopher's wedding he did stand in front and proudly gave a photography lesson explaining that Joesph wastaking all the photos and using the artistic "photojournalist" style, and went on to explain exactly what that was. Atthe reception, Anna, Sarah, John--they all had cameras. Good cameras. They have expensive professional model Nikons and all the toys that go with them. Money does not seem to be a problem when it comes to what the Maxwell's buy to play with.

I think photography is becoming an idol to the Maxwells.