A Quiet, Engagement Portrait Session

Margo and Sam are to be wed on October 31, 2009 at Fearrington. It had not occurred to Margo to have an engagement portrait done. But then, a close friend said, “Your not having an engagement portrait done?!” so she rethought her decision. As she explained it, she decided it would be great for them to have a professional portrait done pre-wedding so that they could get used to being photographed. As a photographer I REALLY appreciate this chance to work with a client prior to the wedding. I get used to how they interact as a couple, their style, their best sides and their general likes and dislikes. Here are my favorites from their session, which took place both on UNC-Chapel Hill campus and in downtown Carrboro.

You can see a GALLERY of their images.

I quickly discovered that both Margo and Sam light up when they look at each other. So I just let them interact rather than pose them too much.

Duke vs. Kentucky

Lauren and John are getting married on May 30, 2010. In the year preceding one’s wedding, having a few really good portraits of you all as a couple is vital. You might need them for wedding web sites, save the dates, various uses in and around your reception and as gifts for family. But most couples have not had a professional portrait taken, rather just a various assortment of snap shots. The answer to this conundrum: an engagement portrait!

Lauren grew up in and around Duke University as both of her parents are doctors there. John grew up in rural Kentucky. They met in medical school in Duke, thus beginning a lifelong rivalry- Duke vs. Kentucky! Because the Duke campus holds a special place in both of their lives we met there one summer later afternoon to take a little tour around. These are my favorites from the day.

You can see a GALLERY of their images.

Chichi and David

Chichi is Nigerian and David is Kenyan. Together they are a beautiful couple. At the beginning of our session at Duke Gardens Chichi and David warned me that David doesn’t like smiling for the camera, or rather, that he finds it difficult. Join the club, David! Me, too. But by just letting Chichi and David interact he was smiling plenty. Real smiles about being in love. These two will be wed in July of this year. We will be there to tell their story. Thank you, Chichi and David for a lovely afternoon. The rest of the images are in their gallery, which you can reach by clicking HERE.
This was literally the first shot I did that day. Normally, one of my favorites doesn’t come until we have been photographing for awhile.

At this point Chichi and I are freaking out at all the azaleas that happen to be their exact wedding day color, lavender. Good choice as she looks great surrounded by this and the yellow.

Halfway through the session they changed into different clothes. It is always fine with me if folks want to try out different looks. In general, simple is best. Even though I had so many smiley photos to choose from, I am really digging some of the more quiet, pensive moments.

They also have a great wedding web site at mywedding.com.

A Rainy Afternoon at Duke Gardens

Elizabeth and Charles are getting married in July. They wanted to have their engagement session at Duke Gardens so we met in the late afternoon to take advantage of the best light. When I was leaving Chapel Hill it was raining but in Durham it was still dry so we went ahead with the shoot. I am so glad we did! They wanted relaxed beautiful photos, not overly posed. These two are so enamored with each other that all I had to do was follow them around the gardens while they adored each other. 45 minutes into our shoot, the skies opened up and it poured! We already had so many great shots that we were all happy to end our shoot there. Thanks, Charles and Elizabeth, for a great afternoon! To view a gallery of these images from which you can purchase prints, click HERE.

And Piper makes three.

On a quiet Sunday morning, while Duke students slept all around us, I met up with Molly, Scott and their dog, Piper. Molly and Scott originally met on this gorgeous campus and wanted their engagement portraits to remind them of their time there. Molly’s mom, Margo, came along as well. She had plans to use the best shot of the day for their, “Save the Date” cards for their wedding in May of 2009.