Sudha + Andrew: Philadelphia Engagement Shoot

Yesterday after we all got home from work, and it seemed that the predicted rain was not to be, I got a chance to take my housemate Sudha and her fiance Andrew out for a brief engagement shoot. Part of the reason that Ben and I get along so well with Sudha and Andrew that our personalities all seem to be foils of each other. Andrew and I have similar personalities and Sudha and Ben are more like each other. So while Andrew and I have had many in depth discussions about planning our respective weddings, Sudha (and sometimes Ben) like to pretend there is nothing to plan.


Sudha's first request for the engagement shoot was that she would like to not have to touch Andrew. We gently reminded her that despite her distaste for PDA, since it is an engagement shoot, some physical contact with Andrew may be necessary. In the end she came around and we got a few nice shots...including one of her (gasp!) kissing Andrew!

We started in a park that Sudha and Andrew had help rebuild. Here is Sudha's idea of the perfect engagement portrait: her in the front in focus, Andrew blurry in the background.

It look some coaxing to get Sudha to this point, but she finally admitted that she does like Andrew, and she gave in to relaxing a little and having some fun. Thank you Sudha!

Philadelphia Engagement Shoot: Beth + Patrick

Yesterday my Fairmount Photography cohort Matt and I had the chance to spend some time getting to know Beth & Patrick, whose wedding we are shooting next weekend. We explored the area behind the Art Museum, where the photo opportunities are pretty much endless. This is one of my favorite spots in Philadelphia, because you can get a mix of naturey photos and urban photos. (Ben and I even had our own engagement portraits taken here by the wonderful CT photographer Sarah McCoy just a few weeks ago!) Beth and Patrick are very laid back and we are really looking forward to their wedding at the Japanese Tea House in Fairmount Park. Stay tuned for those photos in a few weeks.

Patrick gets a thumbs up for bring the chess board...what a perfect prop!

The photo below is a great example of why I love doing weddings and engagement photos with two photographers. I had an idea that resulted in a nice shot, which then inspired Matt to make this even better photo.

Teamwork again! While Matt was setting up the image above, I was shooting the one below. It's a great way to get more variety and capture more natural images.

The best way to do portraits...

Kevin and Jacqui didn't want to worry about having enough time for formal portraits the day of their wedding, so the day before they rented a limo and we hit a bunch of their favorite spots in Philadelphia for their portraits. The weather was perfect, and they were such a fun couple to work with. I wish we were able to spend three hours doing portraits with all our clients!

Joanna & Joshua sneak peek

Joanna has been super patient all week waiting for a peek at the engagement photos Matt and I did last Sunday for her and fiance Josh. We met up at Curtis Arboretum outside Philly, which is a beautiful park with plenty of cool photo opps. What a great couple! Josh kept us all laughing for the whole shoot and they were pretty much professional smilers. I'm sure their September wedding is going to be a blast!

Sneak peek for John & Rachael

My Fairmount Photography partner Matt and I did our first engagement shoot together this past weekend. This shoot was rescheduled from a rainy day in February. I felt like we hit the jackpot when I found out that the forecast for the new shoot was a sunny 70 degree day. It was a perfect day for the park, but it seemed like half of Philadelphia felt the same way and we had a lot of trouble finding a spot inside Rittenhouse Square where we didn't feel like we were putting on a show. But John and Rachael were good sports and had some fun exploring the nearby neighborhood where life was a little less crowded. Here are a few of my favorites from the day:

I love that John's shoes match Rachael's dress...plus bonus points for being my favorite color!


Here's one of Matt's pictures:




We actually found a spare bench near the end of the shoot!

Carla Ten Eyck workshop

The best way for me to describe the workshop I attended last Tuesday is "empowering." Carla Ten Eyck is not only an awesome photographer, but a really great teacher as well. We went to a parking garage in Hartford for a photo shoot with Billy and Carol, and even though it was freezing, I feel like all of us got some really great shots. Plus I will definitely never look at a parking garage the same way again!


Billy and Carol are natural models...shooting them was seriously like cheating.





While Billy and Carol did a quick costume change and warmed up, the class checked out our next challenge: the puddle. I took a picture of the rest of the class while they were using me to set up their shots.


Here's what I came up with for the puddle.




Billy brought out his skateboard for our final shots. It's too bad it was so cold, we all would have loved to play in this parking garage some more, but by this time it was getting late and no one could feel their fingers anymore!