Fall engagement session...better late than never?!

So I know I have done a lot of talking about taking "off" in Dec but mostly what I was trying to do was to get new obligations off my plate so I could get caught up on a few things. Just for the record, I am ALWAYS happy to connect with clients, answer questions or inquiries so please never hestitate to contact me! Anywho...I realized that I had a few sessions from the fall madness that I never shared. 

Here's just a small handful from a session this past October. Nicole described their style as little bit country and we had fun making their style come to life. Nicole had some cute ideas via Pinterest that she wanted to try. I am all for creating our own versions of images that clients love on Pinterest. Best of luck planning to Luke & Nicole! I cannot wait for their July 2013 wedding!

 

A Fall Engagement

I have to say that other than a hurricane, this autumn has been beautiful with many warm, sunny days! When Jeanette and I scheduled her engagement shoot a couple months back, we had no idea what mid-November would be like but thankfully, it was a beautiful day with some trees still hanging on to those pretty leaves! I always love getting to meet and interact with new clients and these two were no excpetion. 

Jeanette shared her and Joe's story with me of how they met, 

"We met two years ago in a little resturant/bar. I was out with my friends for a girlfriends birthday and I spotted Joe from across the room.  I pointed to Joe and told my friend "he's going to be my next boyfriend".  Apparently that night Joe called "dibs" on me to his buddies, which according to guy slang is he basically says the girl is off limits to everyone but him.  I eventually got the nerve to ask Joe what his name was when he passed me, we talked for a brief moment and then he actually left to buy me a chocolate covered strawberry.  That night I gave him my phone number and we have talked/been together ever since." 

Great right?! Love hearing these stories and being able to capture a couple's engagement time. 

Have a great weekend friends!

Fabulous Friday Engagement!

Nicole is part of the Lovely Girls event planning services in Wilmington. She has an eye for details and is a professional in the wedding industry, what more could a photographer ask for?! She and Eric gave me lots of laughs as we captured their engagement last weekend in Bellevue State Park. The weather sort of held out for us, with a rain shower here and there. I have to say, we had lots of fun! Best of luck you two!!

 A personal favorite from the day!

Did I mention the dogs were along for the ride?! We had to tie them to various things to keep them at bay, but it actually helped at times because the dogs would do something to make Nicole and Eric look away, distracting them from my presence!

Hair and Makeup by Gloss Salon, Newark. 

Christine and Jack, crazy fun shoot!

I love getting to meet new people, it's a great perk of my job. Christine contacted me a few weeks ago in hopes of setting up an engagement shoot. She had written in her initial email, "What really drew me to contact you was not only your photos but all of the kind words others had said about you." I was instantly humbled because here was a potential client who not only liked my work but was drawn to me as a person, she took the time to check out my website and about me. This was starting our relationship off on a great foot and of course as soon as I met Christine and Jack in person, it was all good. Besides being adorable, Christine is very sweet and bubbly and I could see why Jack took a liking to her the first time they met. He confessed to "falling fast" for her, as they shared their story with me during our shoot. 

I also have to say that I love being a natural light photographer. This shoot was FULL of lighting/weather surprises as you will see and nothing was artificially lit. I don't have anything against artificial light and sometimes need it, but there ain't nothing prettier than a gorgeous evening glow...or in this case a wicked thunderstorm to go with it! All the best to Christine and Jack, so much fun meeting you!

(And of course, I definitely want to thank all of my previous clients for writing kind words section of my website!)

Outfit number one...just getting warmed up!

Outfit Change...sun is going down....

Christine totally has an inner-super model...she works it well!

And then the storm rolled in...I was loving every minute of the crazy! This sweet couple just rolled with it too and had a blast, despite the wickedness rolling in over our heads. I secretly think Christine talked to the weather gods in order to coordinate their outfits with the awesome colors of storm clouds :)

We took this one for mom with a more formal pose but somehow I hope that this image gets looked at some day by their grandkids. I absolutely love it!

Last shot of the evening and a great way to end..the thunder and lightning were so close we thought we better take cover!

Nikki & Danny, Engagement contest winners!

Remember their story from our Love Is In the Air Contest earlier this year? They met when they were 15, but it wasn't happily ever after. Nikki wasn't officially allowed to date yet but they snuck in a friendly double-movie "date" at her house. Nikki's mom, clad in her flannel duck PJ's caught them smooching on the porch and according to Nikki, "my mom first and middle named me while Danny took off running into the snow." Fast forward lots of time, up and downs, and here we are today with them happily engaged and looking forward to a 2014 wedding date! 

Thanks to all of you, the readers of the blog who chose this couple for me to capture. We literally had to reschedule 3 different times due to the crazy summer/stormy weather we have had this year. It was either 110 degrees or thunder and lightning. It was fine with me though because the Sunday evening we finally met up for the shoot, it was nice and breezy (or at least felt that way without the intense heat!) Danny apparently was joking that every time we rescheduled that he had more time to practice his "America's next top model eyes," but it ain't no joke....he definitely had the eyes down! I really genuinely enjoyed being around these two and capturing their love! Enjoy the epic post friends and start thinking of who you want to see enter the contest next February?!

 

There's those Top Model eyes..