South End & Boston Waterfront Engagement Pictures :: Katlyn + Ryan

Katlyn and Ryan attended the same high school. Ryan remembers the first time Katlyn spoke to him in Spanish class saying "Hey! I saw you at the Jack Johnson concert!" they got chatting and Ryan said he was wowed by Katlyn's bubbly personality.

Throughout their senior year, Katlyn and Ryan continued their friendship and finally started dating. As you'd expect when you're just nineteen years old, they broke up over something silly and for a while there was radio silence.

So now Katlyn and Ryan are away at different schools and they both found themselves frequently thinking about the other. They had lots of old high-school friends in common and eventually they starting talking again.

Conversation was always easy, they shared the same sense of humor and this led to visits and their friendship was rekindled. Katlyn says that she compared every guy she talked with to Ryan and no one even came close to how she felt about him. Ryan says there was an inexplicable pull that neither of them could resist.

Mid-way through Junior year, Katlyn was scheduled to travel to Australia. The night before she floew out Ryan asked, "Will you be my girlfriend?". Katlyn said yes and they've been together ever since!

Fast forward six years and Katlyn & Ryan are in Miami for their anniversary. Ryan arranged for a corner suite at the Ritz Carlton, dinner reservations at Scarpetta AND there's a diamond ring burning a hole in his pocket. While Katlyn enjoyed an afternoon nap, blissfuly unaware of what would be happening later that night, Ryan sat on the balcony unable to read, unable to concentrate and meticulously planning everything, down to arranging for the tables on either side of their table to be left empty so he'd have room to get down on one knee.

Dinner was perfect and Ryan enlisted the help of their waiter to bring out dessert with "Will you marry me?" written on the plate. Katlyn insisted she was full from dinner and wasn't interested in dessert but luckily Ryan overruled her. 

All of the parents were on tenterhooks all night waiting to get the call! Ryan's parents had been involved in the shopping for the ring and Ryan had asked permission from both Katlyn's father and stepfather. So when the ipad shrilled with the facetime calling sound, Katlyn could barely choke out "Hi Mommmy!" before everyone was crying. Happy tears of course!

Katlyn & Ryan, it was so fun to finally meet you both, I'm super excited to photograph your wedding at Wychmere next summer!

Boston Engagement Pictures in Beacon Hill :: Libby + Blake

Good morning! The third blog post of Boston engagement pictures in as many days! I'm off to NYC for an engagement shoot tomorrow and then another in Newburyport on Wednesday night. I really enjoy engagement sessions - I get to know each couple a little better, they get to see how I work and once they see the pictures they totally relax on the wedding day as they know they're going to look amazing!

Libby and Blake decided to have pictures in Beacon Hill and the Boston waterfront with a little detour via the Boston Public Gardens. They wanted a "Boston" feel to their pictures but they weren't hung up on location which is awesome.

Engagement pictures are very much about the two of you, the backgrounds and locations are definitely secondary. I'm always looking for great light, providing just enough direction so that the couple feel relaxed and then waiting for just the right moment to make the image. In one of our emails back and forth about location Libby said "We totally trust you!" which is possibly the best thing you can say to your photographer :) We started out on Acorn Street - the most photographed street in Boston!

We then proceeded to wander around the area stopping whenever I saw something that interested me - like this little hidden garden:

If I were to name this image it would be "Libby & Blake - upside down in a puddle"

I refer to this shot as the "Mom shot" with my couples (it's always the one that parents and grandparents order to hang on the wall). I'm all about making modern, elegant images where my couples look amazing but I think an old school portrait still has its place :)

The cobbled streets and brownstones of Beacon Hill are quintessential Boston:

With a quick outfit change we then headed over to the Waterfront area, the late evening light was simply perfect. So perfect I thought I'd take a little portrait of Libby and Blake alone:

Libby and Blake are SO much fun and just so great together.

Interesting steps at the ICA:

The sun was setting and that meant our shoot was over but I had to take one more with the city in the background.

Libby & Blake - I hope you like this handful of my favorite pictures! Lots more to follow. I am beyond excited for your wedding at the Colonnade Hotel, Boston (one of my all time favorite venues)!!!

Boston Waterfront Engagement Pictures :: Christine + Alex

What?!?!?!? Two posts in one day? What is the world coming to? I can't keep the pictures of Christine & Alex from you any longer. So here we are in the Boston Waterfront area for a little mini engagement session (with the main engagement session to follow next year!)

Humor me for a moment as I share with you how they came to hire me as their wedding photographer, it's particularly relevant right now as inquiries for 2013 weddings are coming in thick and fast. In order for me to hold a date for a couple I require a signed contract and a retainer check, I wrote about the whole process **here**. So, I had two email inquiries for the same June date, after confirming that I still had the date open and sending over more information both couples wanted to meet with me.

I had a great meeting with Couple #1, they had meetings scheduled with other photographers and wanted time to think things over (in the interests of full disclosure I mentioned I had a meeting with another couple for their date coming up). I then met with Couple #2 and had another really great meeting (again in the interests of full disclosure I mentioned I'd met with another couple but hadn't heard back from them yet).

I got home from the second meeting to find an email from Couple #2 saying they wanted to move ahead asap and could I send over a contract immediately. They signed it and popped it in the mail with their retainer check (they even took a picture as proof it was going in the mail that afternoon!). Literally 12 hours later I got an email from Couple #1 saying they would like to move forward. I had to let them know that their date was no longer available :( this probably happens 3 or 4 times each year and always makes me sad.

I guess the moral of the story is if you're looking for a wedding photographer and you're meeting with multiple photographers, try to schedule your meetings close together. Things will be fresh in your mind and there will be less chance of you losing your date!

As you may have guessed, Couple #2 were Christine & Alex and I couldn't be happier to be photographing their wedding at Wequassett Inn next summer!

You know how it is when you start a new job? You have the whole "What will my co-workers be like? Will anyone ask me to sit with them at lunch?" well, these were the kind of things Christine was thinking about on her first day at a new job. As luck would have it she shared a manager with Alex. Said manager was big on having good team dynamics so he suggested that Alex stop by and say hi to his new co-worker. Alex did just that and look how it all worked out!


Christine and Alex were friends for the longest time, grabbing lunch together and then going for the occasional drink after work. As you can see in the pictures below, these two laugh a lot:

Christine & Alex both realized that it was becoming something more than friendship but it was a little awkward working together....so they kept it quiet for a while ;)

I could tell you about Alex's rather awesome proposal story involving a bench, a rainy day and lots of family subterfuge but I think I'll save that for when I blog the images from their next session ;) We met for a frosty beverage and then pootled around the waterfront area which I believe is now officially called the Innovation District - fancy!


How cute are these two?

Killer sunset. Killer legs ;)
And that, ladies and gentlemen, is it from me for now. Unless I continue on this CRAZY blogging streak and try to get one more post up today....