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Photographer captures her grandparents' 63-year romance in stunning shoot

Wedding photographer Shalyn Nelson was feeling jaded in an age of social media perfection — until she shot some unlikely subjects: her grandparents.
/ Source: TODAY

Shalyn Nelson, 30, has been a wedding photographer since 2011 — and a self-professed "hopeless romantic" since birth. Her husband, Andrew, also 30, even assists on all of her shoots.

But rather than filling her life with love, a few years on the wedding circuit left Nelson feeling surprisingly jaded.

Joe Ray and Billie Wanda Johnson, grandparents of Shalyn Nelson
"My Papaw was a little nervous at first, but he got really into it!" said Nelson.Shalyn Nelson

"With social media and all the pressure nowadays, people can get caught up in details and forget that they’re getting married — that they're in love," Nelson told TODAY. "I see them getting divorced, not fighting for it.

"As a photographer, I wanted to tell stories that inspire people to value marriage like they used to," she said.

And Nelson knew just where to start: with her grandparents, Joe Ray and Billie Wanda Johnson, 86 and 83 — whose own love story sparked Nelson's appreciation for romance. In November 2014, she asked "Mamaw and Papaw" (as she calls them) if they would be up for their own photo shoot, a gift for their 63rd anniversary.

Joe Ray and Billie Wanda Johnson
"My eyes got watery. I thought, 'This is just so special.'" Nelson said.Shalyn Nelson

They were game — "But Shalyn, what will I wear?" asked Mamaw. Nelson, of course, had a plan. After shopping for a dress on the sly ("Mamaw is short with really big boobs — I was stuffing my coat into dresses to make sure they would fit!" she said with a laugh), she rallied a team of florists, hair and makeup artists, and other vendors from the wedding world. The crew traveled several hours from Austin, Texas, to the little town of Jewett to bring Mamaw and Papaw's big day to life.

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Joe Ray and Billie Wanda Johnson
Vendor friends ("friend-ors") from the wedding world all chipped in to bring Mamaw and Papaw's big day to life.Shalyn Nelson
Joe Ray and Billie Wanda Johnson
"It's the little things that make you look at them and say, 'That's what I want,'" Nelson said.Shalyn Nelson

What Nelson didn't plan for is how emotional she got behind the lens. "I went to take the very first picture, held the camera up and pulled it back down," Nelson recalled. "My eyes got watery. I thought, 'This is just so special.' Even my friend who was doing hair said, 'Shalyn, I can't watch!'"

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"They were laughing; their eyes were sparkling," Nelson said. "My Papaw is a big goofball ... He said, 'This is the most action I’ve gotten in a long time!'"

Joe Ray and Billie Wanda Johnson
To add to the romance of the day, Nelson had asked her grandparents to write letters to each other and read them aloud during the shoot.Shalyn Nelson
Grandparents wedding shoot
"And just think the license only cost $2. Best bargain I ever made," wrote Joe Ray Johnson.Shalyn Nelson

To add to the romance of the day, Nelson had asked her grandparents to write letters to each other and read them aloud during the shoot. But her favorite moment was a silent one, in which they simply sat and stared at one another.

"He was holding her face and looking into her eyes. You can see every wrinkle. It was so intense," she said. "I think they forgot how to look at each other. Now it's something they'll never forget."

Joe Ray and Billie Wanda Johnson
"I think they forgot how to look at each other. Now it's something they'll never forget," Nelson said.Shalyn Nelson

Nelson teased the photos on Instagram before first sharing them on popular wedding blog Style Me Pretty on Valentine's Day 2015, and was shocked and delighted by how others connected with her grandparents' story. The shoot has since become part of a larger series called "Love, the Nelsons," in which Nelson will travel the world photographing "old love stories" in hopes of eventually compiling them into a book.

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Shalyn Nelson, wedding photographer
Shalyn Nelson hopes to compile a book of "old love stories" to inspire lovers around the world.Shalyn Nelson
Joe Ray and Billie Wanda Johnson
Mamaw and Papaw continue to live out their love story every day.Shalyn Nelson

And Mamaw and Papaw — now married 65 years — continue to live out their love story every day. "They have their own love language," said Nelson. "She cooks for him. There's a rose bush outside their bedroom window, and he'll cut a rose and bring it to the breakfast table, because he calls her 'the rose of his life.'"

Joe Ray and Billie Wanda Johnson
Joe Johnson calls his wife "the rose of his life."Shalyn Nelson

She added, "It's the little things that make you look at them and say, 'That’s what I want.'"