NYC Engagement Session
What is a story? It is a series of events that are interconnected. An author takes multiple pieces like a jigsaw puzzle and puts these events together. A photographer, specifically a wedding photographer, takes these events, these moments, such as the dress, the suit, the rings, an invitation, place card holders, flowers, etc, etc and presents these as Wedding Story.
However, before we get to the wedding, there’s a Promise of Commitment, an Engagement.
It is rare for photographers to be capturing a couple who are professional models. It is also rare for a photographer to capture a wedding where the photographer is given unlimited time to photograph everything that is needed. Therefore the Engagement Session becomes a critical element of the wedding day. Unlike an engagement party or even a proposal, which is a live event, an engagement session is a training session so to speak, and helps both the couple and the photographer to get to know one another from the perspective of the camera.
This engagement session was no different… I met Natasha and Christian back in January and one of the first things that we discussed during our initial consultation meeting was the engagement session. Most people do not walk and have a camera follow them along, therefore most people act differently when having a camera lens face them. ~ Notice: Movie actors do not look into the camera directly ~ Engagement session, is also an opportunity for a couple to get comfortable with being the center of attention.
We chose the place and we chose the time however, as we get closer to our day of the session it seems that the weather was not working in our favor. Basically, all the weather channels were telling us that it will be raining that evening & therefore we ended up rescheduling the session for another day. Meanwhile, as the evening came, not one drop of rain or any precipitations fell on the ground. July 3rd came around, we got together and we started photographing and capturing different emotions, and different moments at different locations.
All was done to see and capture what works the best way to highlight the features of our couple.
As we were walking through different areas of the park, capturing different moments, what was supposed to have been an hour session turned into two and a half hours of beautiful connections. I had so much fun that I lost track of time with Christian and Natasha. They made it very comfortable and easy to be surrounded by them. This was the couple that wanted to be there and wanted to participate in creating these moments.
I think the best part of the night was the last surprise… As we were finishing up our long excursion LOL. It was pitch black outside and I was looking for this optimal location, with the alley pole light, shining on the walkway. Finally found a beautiful, mysteriously dark, location. The beautiful alley pole light softly falls on my couples and illuminates them into their future journey – dark to light… At the same moment, neighbors in the houses nearby were lighting up their fireworks, lighting up the skies in preparation for celebrating America’s Birthday – the Fourth of July.
Three of us made a little adjustment in posing, in lighting and we were able to take advantage of this unique day.
I strongly believe that everything that happens has its reasons… like a jigsaw puzzle, pieces are being placed. Sometimes, we are lucky to learn and to see why the pieces fall the way they do… We had to find the optimal day to schedule the engagement session, then rescheduled because of the weather, then the weather ended up not being an issue followed by feelings of regrets and disappointment. Finally, we got together, created opportunities, captured moments, and ended the evening on a high note, in a poetic fashion, with Fireworks.
