Little Italy :: Stephanie and Mason :: Engagement

Chemistry is everything. First and foremost, when you hire your photographer for your wedding, you must be on the same page. Your photographer is the only vendor that will be by your side almost the entire day. That is why I love face to face consultations. There is no creating a false persona through email or over the phone, but I get to be myself and hopefully by the end of our meeting we have created some sort of connection that allows them to open up and truly be themselves. The reason this is so important to me is because I feel my best work is a direct reflection of those couples who fully trust me and are able to be themselves during their photography session. Trust me, I know it is not easy being in front of the camera, but as long as your are intentional in letting your true self shine the rest is up to me to produce artistic, raw images that you will love.

The second part of chemistry is often neglected during photography sessions, but is vital to the images I am trying to capture. I want my images to speak of emotions. I want you to look back 10 years from now and be able to rekindle that significant moment by looking at an image I took. Chemistry between the couple makes or breaks these types of images I am tying to capture. So what am I going to ask of you during our photography session? To genuinely LOVE on each other. To genuinely LAUGH with each other. To genuinely get lost in the moment with each other and be playful. For instance, look at the second image down. I asked Stephanie to look up at Mason, which could easily be done with a blank stare. But I don't think she is just "looking" at Mason, but rather "gazing" at him. The definition of gaze is a good one: "to look long and intently. Gaze is often indicative of wonder, fascination, awe, or admiration" I don't know about you, but I feel her eyes show you how much she adores him.

I loved this shoot. Not because I magically did something with a camera, or had the most epic location ever, but because Stephanie and Mason walked away from the shoot truly loving each other more. And as a result, their pictures had that special ingredient that sets them apart.