I met Jessica and Mark for a cold glass of wine on a super hot Sunday afternoon in Boston (engagement sessions are always on weekdays with weekends are reserved for weddings and time with Mr H. I obviously make exceptions for out-of-town couples) whilst they were in town for a reunion and wedding planning. Mark and Jessica live on the West Coast but will be getting married in September at the State Room.
As we headed out into the bright sunshine to shoot I mentioned that sometimes couples feel a little self-conscious at the beginning of the session but it soon fades. And Mark was all "Oh no, I'm totally into public displays of affection, I mean, look at Jessica, why wouldn't I want everyone to know I'm with her?"
How awesome is that?
Jessica laughed and told me about meeting Mark's mom for the first time and how Mark sat alongside her, totally relaxed and stroking her arm :)
When it comes to picking a location for your engagement pictures - I'm going to let you into a little secret here - the location isn't really that important. For real. There really is no need to go on some crazy hiking tour of the city :)
Joking aside, of course sometimes there'll be a place that has a lot of meaning to you both (the scene of your first date, your first kiss) and that's great. And if there isn't, my advice isn't to get too worried about the location - a beach is a beach, a park is a park - my focus is always on the two of you and your interaction with one another and finding beautiful light often in unexpected places.
Jessica and Mark were GREAT because they were like "Well, we thought maybe we could stop by the Public Gardens but we're pretty relaxed, wherever you think might be good." Hoorah! With the super bright sun and the fact that we met for a drink at the Colonnade hotel I thought we'd start by taking advantage of the shade offered by the Christian Science Plaza at Northeastern University in Boston.
It almost felt like we were in Italy:
Jessica and Mark met at grad school. Mark asked Jessica out and she told him she was busy. She was. So he asked again and this time she agreed :)
You know how some guys play games? Act a certain way when they're really not like that at all. Or maybe they have commitment issues and keep back certain stuff. Well not Mark. He explained how on their first date he just put it all out there. Was just himself but kind of magnified x10 figuring if Jessica agreed to another date then she must really like him! I think this is a pretty cool way to approach dating...and it obviously worked because these two are ridiculously happy together.
Then we left Italy and headed to France:
I figured if we were going to do engagement pictures in the Boston Public Gardens then we may as well go all out and get the swan boats in there:
And you can't beat a good weeping willow:
After a quick outfit change we continued on. Yes - that IS a Bruins shirt on the Washington Statue - it was the week of the Stanley Cup Victory. I normally advise my brides to avoid black in favor of a pop of color for engagement pictures but it so works on Jessica. I arrived home that evening and announced to Paul that I was thinking of dying my hair red. He laughed. He's probably right, it wouldn't look as gorgeous as Jessica's hair does :(
Jessica and Mark are not only fabulous and fun to hang out with (did you guess that I really like them? :) but they're pretty darn photogenic too. See these two pictures below - they're just straight out of the camera - not a single thing done to them - if only we could all look this cool and hip lying in the grass...
Usually when I'm shooting certain images I just know they belong in black and white. And other times I'll notice it when I'm editing. And then sometimes a whole shoot is wonderfully colorful and there are only a couple of obvious monochromatic images:
As we headed back to our cars I spotted the interesting interior lights of this store on Newbury Street (see what I mean about location being somewhat open to interpretation?) Mark had spent a fair portion of the afternoon picking Jess up, spinning her around, throwing her up on his shoulder and he broke out some mad dipping skillz. The leg action was all Jessica - no prompting from moi! Do you see where I was going with my hair envy? So want to be a red head right now.
Oh go on then, one more picture. It was a Sunday and so the Boston Public Library was closed but I love the drama of the steps and the lights:
And that ladies and gentlemen is all for today. Check back in September for Jessica & Mark's State Room wedding (but don't wait until September because there's WAY more good stuff coming up before then), if you want to keep up to date then slide your mouse on over to this link "Leah Haydock Photography Facebook Page" and when you get there click on "like" and you'll be all set. Thank you and goodnight.
No comments