129C & Fiance

Last week was one of the most fun engagement shoots to date. We did the usual beach and pier portraits and then it got fun when they agreed to get wet!  I love it when my couples are up for anything....so here they are, they rolled around  on the shore and then James decided to go all the way!   

Lissa is a VB police officer, this would explain her advice to me as I was shopping for my daughter's graduation party.  I'd mentioned how there would be 75-100 people or so coming and going in my house/backyard and she said, without missing a beat  "make sure you lock up your valuables"  Words of Wisdom, thank you Lissa, I did put away my cameras!  

I've known James or as I like to call him 129c only by voice for about 6  years.  He is a police officer and I am one of  his dispatchers. Here recently I got the opportunity to meet Lissa and James as a couple at Ryan's wedding. I was so excited when Lissa emailed me about covering their wedding coming up later this year. The more I talk to Lissa the more I love her, no wonder James wants to marry her, he'd be crazy to let this one get away!   

Chad and Kasey

I felt like it was such a long time coming meeting Kasey. We've gone back and forth via email for several months now and last Saturday we finally met as we went out for her engagement portraits. Her and her fiance Chad are so cute together, not only a good looking couple, but so real, they are fun and laid back, I love them.  I'm thinking their wedding in October is going to a great time.

 Kasey lives just off Shore drive, and it was her idea to do their pictures on the bay. I've always wanted to do a shoot at or under the Lesner Bridge so this was perfect. Since it was my first time on a shoot near the old Duck Inn I had them trying out every nook and cranny :)









God was smiling down on our shoot --- He made that very clear.  Beautiful

a lot of people don't like lens flare....I on the other hand love it!!  Lets call it my thing, a rule I like to break, to me it makes it feel real.  I wonder what other photographers think about it.  Do you go out of your way to avoid letting the light hit the lens directly?  If I did that I don't think I would get the look I'm after.  To me it doesn't take away from the picture, especially since the subject is completely dark anyway, it's not like the flares are in the way of something important.  Maybe I'm just weird.  Comment if you have any thoughts on the lens flare, I want to hear your thoughts.

 

I love her being on her tippy-toes, they fit so cute together

Austen and Priscilla

Priscilla and Austen are getting married in June and I've been chosen to be their photographer, I met them Sunday for their engagement shoot and as you'll see from the pictures we had fun. They were willing to try all of my ideas. I put my newest lens to work - the bada bing shot and the other wide angle shots came from my new 17-70mm 2.8f lens.

TJ & Laura

This engagement session took place on Fort Story base, the goal was to make it happen at the Cape Henry Lighthouse, but it was closed, so we moved over to the beach. It was only 48 degrees out and with the wind it felt about 32 degrees - seriously.
I enjoyed trying out every kind of pose imaginable, some worked great, some not so much, best part is they were a lot of fun and up for anything.  The sun was setting but it was very bright when we got started, I tried to use the sunlight to my advantage. As for my work flow, the toughest part was cutting down the pictures, I'd taken over 400 pics - I brought it down to 200, keeping only the good shots. I did a bunch of cropping in photoshop lightroom, and I did my color adjustments in there as well. I LOVE lightroom!