Just over a week ago, Kelly and Mike pledged their love to each other during a gorgeous outdoor wedding at the Gramercy Mansion in Baltimore. They carried a little embroidered handkerchief during the ceremony – you know, just in case the tears flowed. While that didn’t happen, anyone can see how ridiculously happy these two are together. Congrats to Kelly and Mike!

Playing outside with my niece on a warm spring day – what could be more fun?

From Laura Elizabeth Pohl on Vimeo. Song “Sweet Darlin’” by She & Him.

Hooray for the recently-engaged couple! Their first set of engagement pictures is here.

My niece is still learning how to catch.

Sweet vegetarian turkeys!

Black Friday at Prime Outlets in Williamsburg. My Mom wanted to be one of the first 500 people who showed up in pajamas (and waited in line – we were at the back) in order to receive a voucher for a free gift bag. So we waited from 10 pm until midnight and…..

…..we were the last two people to receive vouchers! I was number 500.

The last six people in line.

What I love about an airport is knowing I could end up anywhere in the world from there. Sometimes, on my way to my gate, I stop and read the departure monitors. I like imagining where I would travel if I weren’t heading to my current destination: “Buenos Aires would be fun; I’ve never been there. Cleveland would be like another world. Plus I could visit the Rock ‘n Roll Hall of Fame. Oooooh – Singapore! I could visit Sooz and Barry. Well, maybe next year. I should go to my gate now.”

The second thing I love about an airport is watching the people. Before 9/11 kept non-passengers from going to airline gates, I used to hang out at National Airport in Washington DC and watch people walk out of those tubular disembarking hallways and into their loved ones’ arms. Or not. Sometimes people came out, looked around for someone who wasn’t there and walked out to the main terminal halls. Budding writer that I was, I wrote down descriptions of these reunions (or non-reunions) and built short story scenes around what I saw.

In the past couple months I’ve spent a lot of time in airports. Which means I’ve also taken a lot of pictures in airports: the people, the buildings, the atmosphere. Some airports are like art museums, with sculptures and paintings and light displays (I’m thinking Detroit.) Some airports are like shopping malls, with people milling about the duty-free stores, picking out chocolates and perfumes and trinkets they don’t really need (I’m thinking Seoul-Incheon and London Heathrow.) It’s all incredibly fascinating. And so I’ve decided to start a photo essay on airports. Looking at the photographs I’ve posted, it seems that right now I’m interested in the architecture and the color in airports but I don’t really have a theme or an idea where this will lead me. We’ll see.

Detroit, USA

Detroit, USA

Seoul-Incheon, South Korea

Washington DC, USA

There I was, about to eat a fig bar before catching my flight to Boston at Reagan National Airport in DC, when a couple asked me to photograph them with their iPhone. Giovanni was heading to Miami. Maybe Vivi was going with him? I don’t remember. I do remember their lovely meeting story (I collect them, after all) but I won’t share it here because I don’t have permission. Vivi and Giovanni exuded happiness and playfulness and love and optimism. They were just so fun to photograph! I’m glad we crossed paths for a few minutes on Friday. Bonus realization from this impromptu shoot: National Airport is a fantastic location for engagement and wedding pictures.