Sammy+Kristyn Engagement | Hudson Valley, New York Wedding Photographer,

I did an engagement session for Samuel and Kristyn, whose wedding I'm shooting this fall (insert happy dance, wooohooo! ). The location for this engagement session was at a camp site in Port Jervis, NY. For it I had to travel 1 hr plus from my job in New Jersey to upstate NY. Just the trip to the site alone felt like I was travelling to another country. It's amazing how things change around you as you go north. Homes are not on top of each other, they get bigger and bigger, and you start seeing a lot of road kill.

The Camp was amazing, tall trees and a beautiful lake all surrounded by little rustic camp houses. . They showed me the clothing they were thinking of wearing and did a little bit of a fashion show for me. Kristyn, to be honest, would look great if she was wearing a potato sack! I'm serious, this girl looks like a modeland I have photographed models before, so I know what I'm talking about. Sammy was trying too hard, so I told him just wear something you will feel comfortable in.. They started showing me around the camp and I could visualize different images for the photo shoot in my head. The place was truly beautiful and romantic. There was even a stable with some beautiful horses; you can't get more romantic then that.

With this session, I dismissed most of the mental catalog of poses I had planned in my head. These two love birds were so good and natural; they took me by surprise with their gestures and fun interaction with each other. This is the kind of photography I enjoy the best, just taking a step back and let the couples be themselves.

Enjoy!

Bear Mountain, New York Engagement Photographer

I live in the woods .. I mean the suburbs, on the Hudson valley in New York, because I'm so familiar with Bear mountain state park, I suggested this location to my friends James and Katrina. It had been a while since I've been to the park during a holiday weekend, since I usually got there during the week or the fall and spring, as I get to the parking lot, I realized I was in big trouble. There were masses of people, there was hardly any patch of grass not covered with people's picnic tables and kids running everywhere. Clearly not the romantic setting I had in mind, on top of that  the couple had already told me they were not the best at taking photos, which usually means they get nervous about getting their pictures taken, so this setting was not going to help me. But I enjoy a challenge and  I had to work with what I had, and decided to just try to make them feel comfortable by talking to them, making jokes,at one point I even "attempted" to flash them,  (I never said my techniques were conventional). As the shoot progress, their walls came down, and I was able to get some really great shots along with some good laughs. Enjoy! 

 

Brooklyn, New York engagement Photography

At first I could tell Juan was a little nervous about the whole thing, but as soon as I took a step back and told them this was like a fun date and just be themselfs his walls came down. LaSheanma on the other hand, was a natural. She has the most beautiful smile, you can't help but to smile yourself when you see her. We all had a great time, and I think I had the most fun making them do silly stuff all day.

Brooklyn

Today is my first engagement session, I'm waiting for the couple to arrive, so I'm just chilling under a nice shady tree and looking at one of the most amazing views of NYC. I've been here so many times and is really cool to see that the city is actually investing in making this place full of activities,walk ways, big open fields of green grass to lay down and enjoy the sun. After all parks in New York are everyone's backyard.

When life gives you lemons...

Last week David decided to wake up at 5:30 am everyday, this baby is taking the daylight savings time to an extreme, and of course he wants mommy to play with him while he is up. So Wednesday, I was a total zombie just barely staying up, then Thursday he did it again but this time I had my mind set that he was not going back to bed, so I start getting him dress and I notice that the sun is just starting to come up. Bingo! is the magic hour. For those of you who are not familiar with this term, us photographers call the golden or magic hour to the first and last hour of sunlight during the day, when the quality of the light is at it's best. You don't get this quality of natural light at any other time in the day, so I take my camera out and start taking some photos and here is one of my favorite ones. Pure magic!.