I met Elissa & Ben to make engagement photos in DUMBO, too. Ben just makes Elissa laugh so much, and it warmed my heart every time. They were having so much fun together that it didn’t even feel like we were on a photo shoot. I can just picture how much fun their wedding will be, and I can’t wait. I photographed Elissa’s brother Eric’s wedding at Natirar a couple of years ago. I made a special connection with their family, and when I got the call from Elissa’s mom that they were planning the wedding, she immediately wanted to know my available dates so they could book the venue on a day that I was available. How awesome is that?
Rebecca & Josh took me to the spot where Josh proposed. It was a fun challenge for me to find something really beautiful when I was making their engagement photos – I wanted to make that spot even more special for them somehow. Rebecca & Josh are morning people, too. They run together every morning at 5am. They wanted to bring that ritual into our photo shoot, and so we made a couple of engagement photos in Central Park of them jogging. You can see on their faces how much they just enjoy each other. They wanted to make a photo next to the Fred Lebow statue in Central Park, but we had scheduled our engagement session for the day before the New York City Marathon, and the park moves it once a year to the marathon finish line. Rebecca is my daughter’s first grade teacher. Gracie is at the Waldorf school and in Waldorf education, the teacher is their teacher from 1st through 8th grade. So Rebecca is now like part of our family! (I better not screw it up – haha!!)
Making engagement photos with all of these couples this Fall really warmed my heart and reinforced for me why I feel so lucky I get to do this kind of work. I get to be part of something really special, and it’s a really sweet time in their lives. Not every couple asks me to do an engagement shoot, but I’m always glad when they do.